Developments

06/10/08-----------Data from the accelerometers were very 'jumpy' and not too useful for controlling anything. I have managed to stabalise them using the moving average object ('mavg') from the zexy library. This stabalised the output but still left some numbers which weren't any good so I used the 'expr' object to further round off the numbers. I then just placed some oscillators to see what the control is like. Things to do next: make synth, sample bank, and virtual instrument.

Here's a picture of the patch I have so far made.

11/08/08-----------I have attached 5 switches to the digital inputs on Arduino (pins 2-6). They're working. Next to get them to control something in pd. I have decided not to use Max/MSP and also to abandon the stretch sensors and I've ordered more accelerometers because they're more robust, sensitive, and generally better for what I want to do.

31/07/08-----------I have managed to get the numbers from the stretch sensors into a suitable range in Max. I have done a quick test with them controlling parameters on a granular synth. An extract can be heard here |_|. The stretch sensors aren't very robust as I've broke two of them again! The values also jump about quite a bit and change due to rubber material becomming more supple. I'm not 100% convinced that they'll be suitable for the final performance. I will continue to work with them but I may replace them with some other sensors at some point. I have also removed the z axis of the accelerometer as the readings comming out aren't really that useful; so I've got a spare pin for something else.

29/07/08-----------I have got 3 stretch sensors and a 3axis accelerometer (ADXL3xx) working with Arduino. I now need to get the numbers comming out to do something useful. The stretch sensors esspecially are only giving a narrow range and I keep snapping them. I am going to see if I can make my own as they are fairly expensive when buying them from Merlin Robotics.

I have also made some rough elastic straps to attach the stretch sensors to my arms. These are ok for testing it out but need to be made more robust for the final project. I think I broke my sewing machine trying to sew velcro onto the elastic so I have used super glue instead! Woo, it holds, but not that great. It's the first time I've ever made some kind of garment/clothing thing though so bear with me.

The resistance on the stretch sensor changes when I extend and retract my arm. At the moment it's only controlling the pitch of a sine wave to test if it works, how it's responding etc.

Stretch sensors and accelerometer on breadboard connected to Arduino.