Plan B

• We originally thought our Arduino may have been a notorious chinese dud (as discussed in this tutorial). We looked through numerous forum posts (as seen below) online to no avail. We couldn’t find a fix for our Arduino.

  

  We then eventually got the Arduino working with that piezo we soldered. One of the lecturers simply suggested not pressing the first button on the ‘blink’ example sketch that you use on the Arduino software and just uploading it immediately. That seemed to work.

  Below is an example of the group conversation in which we are discussing the next step in regards to an error with the Arduino. We have been unable to contact Mark Sexton after many attempts so eventually Daniel took the Arduino into the studio, at this point Pere Villez found a method that successfully booted it. We are delighted that the Arduino works but disappointed by the lack of time left, in an attempt to use the Arduino we have decided to settle with using only four pressure sensors. To learn how to solder 24 piezo sensors we would need Mark’s help but we are too short on time now. We would need to know from him how to get more than 6 piezos working in MaxMSP, as only 6 appear to work. This could be an Arduino configuration issue.

  

  17:41

  Daniel Pearce
  Yknow ‘blink’ that arduino example sketch? Pere tried using that but he only pressed the upload button and didn’t press the one before it and it works..
  

  17:47
  Daniel Pearce

  Could still do this if I order another arduino and resistors with Amazon prime, breadboards and jump wires can be got from Maplin

  Assuming, like you said George, that we only need 1 lead going to the power on the arduino?
  

  17:52
  George Galway
  That is what I think… but you can’t trust my word on it!
  

  17:53
  Daniel Pearce
  Guess not

  

  18:44

  Daniel Pearce
  Anyway, we’ll stick to plan B of just triggering the loops from behind the laptop
  

  18:53

  Daniel Pearce
  Don’t even know how to get more than 6 sensors working anyway, for a start – this would all be very ambitious for the 29th April, let alone the 25th. So yea, it’s a shame but plan B will have to do
  

  18:59

  George Galway
  Alright if you think so, we need to concentrate on the blog and the paperwork
  

  19:01

  Daniel Pearce
  It’s a group decision, so tell me if you guys think we should still go ahead with Plan A
  

  19:10
  Daniel Pearce
  Plan A would require buying another arduino, a big breadboard, jump wires, resistors, soldering the rest of the piezos on, finding out how to get more than 6 sensors working through Max, finding out if we just need one wire going to the Arduino’s power
  

  19:22

  George Galway
  Yeah that is a lot of effort, here’s an alternate idea.. We wire up only the 4 randomised spots

  Therefore we include sensors and we’re not just pressing loops in time

  Well we are but there is an element of pressure sensors
  

  19:53
  Daniel Pearce
  That’s a good idea. Though will require our assumption to be correct (that you only need 1 wire for power). The arduino only has 2 GNDs

  …
  

  23:00
  Daniel Pearce
  Midday tomorrow to solder those 4 sensors then?