Our group decided to create a device which opens a door using voice recognition. On Monday we began to plan and sketch the door opener, the original sketch included the idea that the user would step on a mat, then speak a password, and if the user got it right a servo would turn on the inside of the door opening it, and if you got it wrong, it would shock you with nine volts. But in the end we took out the idea of punishment for failure. Along with the door part we also wanted a car door opener to work the same exact way, but instead of stepping on a mat you would just have to say a password. then later that day we ordered most of the parts. On Tuesday we started to build the door opener. We started by building the door mat which when pressure was applied to the correct places would allow you press a large elbow button, opening the door. This is made using a piece of foam with two holes cut into it, we place two pieces of thin copper on either side of the foam. When the user steps on the foam, the copper presses together and completes the circuit. On Tuesday we also got to experiment with the voice recognition shield and start to wire and program the arduino. On Wednesday we had to go to radioshack to select a project box to hold the arduino, wiring, and the button we bought. We cut a circular hole using the laser cutter in the box for the button to stick out of, it was a perfect fit. On Thursday we finished assembling and programming the door opener. The programming for the door opener was very difficult. It consisted of the idea that the servo would not be allowed to turn unless the door matt was conducting electricity. We finished the programming and in the end, it worked perfectly.

The overall project turned out well, what we have now is a button connected to a servo, all plugged into a breadboard. Along with that is a matt with copper pieces on both sides so when the user steps on the correct places the copper touches connect the copper completing the circuit. We have the arduino and most of the wiring in a project box to make the project look cleaner. During the process of doing the programming we ran into a bump with how to have the arduino only be able to work in a certain order, mat, button, door opens. In the end we figured out how to use a state system in programming to have the program have an order to which things are  happening. We were overall happy with the project but we wanted to be able to use the voice activation sensor to open the door instead of a button.

NuVu123 is different from other studios that have been done in the past. Usually NuVu’s priority is to have all the kids express their ideas and get them to understand the idea and iteration process. NuVu123 still incorporates those processes but the priority and goal of the studio is a little bit different. The problem was that people ended up having to wait for the teachers to finish making the technology work which takes up a lot of time. The goal of NuVu123 is to teach the basics and the foundation of the technology used to make the ideas come to life. The first thing we did was brainstorm minor problems that we could solve with the electronic skills David had taught us. Sam, Rowan, and Graeme wanted to make a way to open a door and unlock it without having to touch the door at all. For this to work we would need a sound sensor, some kind of pressure sensor or something to connect electricity to use on a doormat, a button, a servo, and programming skills.