Ultrasonic sensors are distance sensors that use sound waves to detect how far away an object is. They send out high frequency bursts of sound and listen for its echo. They then determine how far away the object is based on how long it takes for the sound to return to the sensor. This variety requires an Arduino library to operate.

NewPing Library

#include <NewPing.h>

NewPing mysensor(5, 6, 200);

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600);
}

void loop() {
  int pingTime = mysensor.ping();

  int distance = mysensor.ping_in();

  int distance_cm = mysensor.ping_cm();

  Serial.println(distance);
}

Beatrix's Brief
The Mean Bean Routine: a game designed to demonstrate the struggle of trying to make money after a large storm like Hurricane Maria. This app focuses specifically on how hard it is to rebuild a business that many farmers depend on when their crops are wiped out and their machines are destroyed. 

The Mean Bean Routine is designed to demonstrate the struggle of trying to make money after a large storm like Hurricane Maria. This app focuses specifically on how hard it is to rebuild a business that many farmers depend on when their crops are wiped out and their machines are destroyed. Players of the game start off as farmers in Puerto Rico, pre-Hurricane Maria. They have to race against a corporate business owner to produce as much chocolate as possible by turning a hand crank in real life to simulate grinding cocoa beans. There is no way for the player to lose the first round, so they automatically win at the end. After winning, the player is brought to a cutscene where Hurricane Maria passes by their farm, destroying their crops and machine. They then are given a new, handmade, less efficient machine to use in the next few rounds. After losing against the corporate owner a few times because, unlike the first round, this time there is no way to win, the player is prompted to support farmers post-Maria by clicking on a button that says “donate”. If they don’t click this, there is no way for them to win and they will eventually quit the game out of frustration. If they do click this, they are given a new machine in the game and are able to play against the corporate owner and win, depending on how fast they grind and how good they are.

This game is targeted towards anyone who is unaware of the damage Maria caused. The hope is to awaken empathy and generate donations for those suffering the long-term effects of Hurricane Maria by causing the players to experience frustration firsthand, and to realize what some farmers have to suffer through. The game will need to be installed on desktop computers so that players have their hands free to turn the hand crank.

Max's Brief
The Mean Bean Routine: a game designed to promote natural disaster recovery funding by putting the user into a realistic situation. The game shows how it is impossible to recover quickly from a natural disaster without help from other people and communities.

Our game is made to encourage donating to natural disaster recovery funds. You are a successful Cocoa Bean farmer in Puerto Rico. Suddenly Hurricane Maria hits and you are reduced to nothing. The player needs to click the donate link in the game to win. This game shows people who are not in bad situations what it is like for those who need help and encourages them to donate. We created this game using the Unity3D game engine for public display in developed worlds. The game would be set up in a public space for people to play. The crank controller for the game, which creates emersion, also makes a noise that attracts attention.

Brief:

Alex:

Some children with Autism struggle to convey their emotions to people around them. Patch, our soft plushy creature, will aid children with autism by lighting up a certain color correlating to a button with a face on it. Our project focuses on a small demographic; however it is important to assist everyone with different types of complications. Our project helps better the understanding and bond between a child with autism and their caretaker by simplifying the process of expressing their emotions. Our group has done research into what are some daily issues a person with autism goes through. We found that ⅓ of people with autism are non-verbal. Patch is easily functional and simple to understand. Patch’s stomach has six little patches that each have a face on them. Each face has a color on it which when pressed, lights the stomach the same color, making it easy to communicate your emotion. 

Zoe:

A common characteristic of those on the Autism spectrum is difficulty expressing emotions. The design is a stuffed animal with color patches, where each color correlates to a different emotion. When the child presses one of the patches, a light emitted from the animal's stomach communicates the child's emotion.

Patch is designed to provide non-verbal children on the Autism spectrum with an alternative way to communicate their emotions, and to aid their caretakers in responding to their emotional states.

Patch is a stuffed animal with color patches surrounding the stomach. Each patch has a face whose color represents a specific emotion. When a child presses each patch, a button beneath the patch and connected to an Arduino causes the stomach to light up  with the color that correlates to that emotion. The caretaker will be able to see the light and identify the child's emotion. This is a direct and intuitive  way for these children to communicate how they are feeling.

GloFlo is designed for overtaxed people to manage stress and improve focus by encouraging them to take a moment to relax their minds. The soothing white light energizes the mind and helps the user focus. The lamp consists of lights on the end of eight arms that move up and down. The mechanism is controlled by the users hands in proximity of the sensors on the device. As you move your hands closer to the sensor the lights move up and if you move them farther away the lights move down. If you remove your hand from the sensor entirely the lights move back to their original state in the upwards position. An Arduino inside the base relays information from the ultrasonic distance sensor to the servo which moves a certain number of degrees depending on the distance measured from the sensor to the moving hand. The servo spools up string that attaches to each of the arms, which then pivot on the y-axis in unison. The lights, which are always powered on while the device is plugged in, are attached to the end of each arm. The meditative motions conducted by the user in combination with the soft white lights will serve asa helpful way to reach a calm and relaxed state of mind.

Unique struggles to be independent and need tools designed especially for her. She has a tough time letting go of an adult figure. Part of this game will help with these problems. Collect The Fruit is a game that will keep Unique entertained but will also help her gain independence. Over time it will become natural for her to be on her own. 

The cardboard hands replicate human hands that Unique grabs when feeling lonely.  Imitating this feeling will help Unique slowly be able to work and have more alone time. The screen of the game is full of fruits and colors that interest her. This will help her stay focused.  First, she will grab the hands and put the bracelet strap on.  Then the game will begin, shooting fruit down from the top.  If she sees the fruit she dislikes she will clap her hands to discard the fruit and gain a point. The purpose of this project is to help Unique have fun while working on gaining independence and concentration skills.

The Light checkers are an engaging way for Lee, a person with cerebral palsy, to play physical checkers without having to move pieces. The pieces are represented by lights, that are moved using his pre-existing computer interface.

Playing checkers was something that Lee wanted to play in person. This design needed a piece that could move without physical touch. The board utilizes a system of moving lights, that simulate checkers' pieces being moved across the board. The board is plugged into the computer and the lights are set to the starting position for checkers. If Lee wants to move a piece he can choose where he wants to move it on the computer and the Arduino controlling the lights will move it. If a piece is taken, the program will turn it off. Though this is designed for Lee, it gives everyone the experience of checkers in an authentic way.