Melanie A.

The example code  provided for me was for a pong game that used a potentiometer. However, I decided to challenge myself by using an accelerometer instead. An accelerometer is a device that measures acceleration, and  acceleration is the rate of change of velocity of an object. This is an important aspect of my project because it allowed me to tilt the microview up and down to move the paddles in the game, and I’m able to implement the accelerometer into other features.

I accomplished this milestone by first connecting the accelerometer to the microview with jumper wires. Then, I downloaded a library that gave me a demo for how to print the values on the accelerometer when it’s tilted. Once that worked, I moved on to developing the pong code to work with the accelerometer. This has been by far the most difficult part of my project because I had to learn how and what to change in the program that would make the game work with an accelerometer. I resolved one of the issues by using the Arduino map function to change the range of values on the y-axis of the accelerometer into the range of values on the y-axis of the microview screen. This is what allowed the paddle to move accurately on the screen.

Two major things I learned were an understanding of accelerometers and coding in Arduino. My next milestone is to learn how to switch between each program and to figure how I’m going to make the physical watch.

 

Assembling the smartwatch is the easiest part my project. Most of the work comes in programming the smartwatch. This is an important aspect of my project because it tests that the main part of my project works and that I know the protocol to follow when I’m uploading new features.

This milestone involved installing the FTDI driver and Arduino Software, understanding how to download and implement the Microview Libraries, and comprehending the code that was provided for me. I learned that the  FTDI driver is used to control the USB programmer, which connects the microview to my computer to program it. Some other information I obtained from completing this milestone was an understanding of libraries and programming with Arduino. A library is a precompiled collection of codes that you can reuse in other programs. I used the time library I downloaded from GitHub to program the clock. Although I didn’t write the code myself, it gave me a starting point to learn about how I can program the rest of the features on the microview.

 

 

My next milestone would be to completely finish programming the microview.

Here is how it works:

First, the button is pressed to turn off the controller and released to reset it. As soon at it resets, the indicator LED continuously blinks to indicate that the microcontroller is functioning properly. The resistor sets the brightness of the indicator LED by limiting the current going through it. The capacitors store the charge needed to power the controller when it’s turned on. Next, the oscillator makes sure the microcontroller is functioning at the correct speed. The microcontroller is what stores all the code for the controller and turns the IR LEDs on and off. Because the microcontroller cannot directly power the IR LEDs, the four transistors assistant with that. The IR LEDs send infrared pulses to the television that represent binary codes. The television translates the codes into commands. For my controller, the command is to turn the television on and off.

I learned a lot throughout this project. For starters, I learned how to solder, which is tons of fun. Most of my learning experience came from overcoming challenges. Assembling the controller was relatively easy compared to understanding my project. Because I never worked with a circuit before, I had to thoroughly research each component, their functions, and their role in my controller. Despite the work, I enjoy learning new information I can implement into future projects.