| Week 1 – Aug 29: |
Meet and greet, course introduction, logistics. |
| Lab: |
Intro to electricity, tools and components. Materials shopping. |
| Readings: |
Physical Computing, ch. Introduction, 1, 2, 3 |
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Dunne, Anthony. "The Electronic as Post-optimal Object" Hertzian Tales: Electronic Objects, Aesthetic Experience, and Critical Design (pdf) |
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| Week 2 – Sep 5: |
Overview of Microcontrollers. Transducers. Introduce first project (Body). |
| Lab: |
Intro to Arduino. Circuits and soldering. Digital In/Out. |
| Readings: |
Physical Computing, ch. 4, 6 (first half) |
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Krueger, Myron. “Responsive Environments” (pdf) |
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| Week 3 – Sep 12: |
Memory, variables, tracking inputs, controlling outputs. |
| Lab: |
Analog In (Variable resistors). |
| Readings: |
Physical Computing, ch. 6 (second half) |
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Bush, Vannevar. “As We May Think” (pdf) |
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| Week 4 – Sep 19: |
No Class (Dalai Lama). |
| Lab: |
Analog Out (Controlling a servo). |
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| Week 5 – Sep 26: |
Review first project |
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| Week 6 – Oct 3: |
Serial Communication. Introduce second project (Home). |
| Lab: |
Sending bytes out, Connecting to Processing. |
| Readings: |
Physical Computing, ch. 7 |
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Galloway, Alex. “Physical Media”, Protocol: How Control Exists after Decentralization. (pdf) |
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| Week 7 – Oct 10: |
Concepts of Physical Interaction Design. |
| Lab: |
Thresholds, edges, peaks. Smoothing, sampling, averaging. |
| Readings: |
Physical Computing, ch. 8 |
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Dourish, Paul. "History of Interaction" Where The Action Is: The Foundations of Embodied Interaction (pdf) |
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| Week 8 –Oct 17: |
Sensing Movement, Making Movement. |
| Lab: |
Transistors and Relays. Motors and Inductance. |
| Readings: |
Physical Computing, ch. 9, 10 |
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Weiser, Mark and Seeley Brown, John. “The Coming Age of Calm Technology” (pdf) |
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| Week 9 – Oct 24: |
Touch, Sound and Light. |
| Lab: |
Controlling High Current Loads. |
| Readings: |
Physical Computing, ch. 11, 13 |
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Ishii, Hiroshi and Ullmer, Brygg. “Tangible Bits: Towards Seamless Interfaces between People, Bits and Atoms” (pdf)
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| Week 10 – Oct 31: |
Review second project. |
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| Week 11 – Nov 7: |
Advanced programming. Introduce final project (City). |
| Lab: |
Open Lab (discuss initial project ideas). |
| Readings: |
Thompson, D’Arcy. from On Growth and Form (pdf) |
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| Week 12 – Nov 14: |
Advanced sensors. |
| Lab: |
Open Lab (work on final project). |
| Readings: |
Kelley, Kevin. From Out of Control The New Biology of Machines, Social Systems, and the Economic World (online) |
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| Week 13 – Nov 21: |
Progress Review. |
| Lab: |
No lab (Thanksgiving) |
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| Week 14 – Nov 28: |
Advanced networking. |
| Lab: |
Open Lab (work on final project) |
| Readings: |
Physical Computing, ch. 12 |
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| Week 15 – Dec 4: |
No Class (Studio Reviews) |
| Lab: |
No Lab (Studio Reviews) |
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| Week 16 – Dec 11: |
Final Reviews |
