#BCT2021

[animebct]

BCT Blog Entry #13

The biggest news for today is "I'm re-learning how to code in python for my first CTEC501 assignment!" With the help of some kinds souls on Stack Overflow and YouTube, I can now commence my assignment. Last night (24 March 2021) I spent from around 7PM to 1AM trying to figure out what to say and again today from 12PM to 5:35PM I still struggled to come up with something unique to me. However, it is now 9:46PM and after a little brain break I am now happy with my script as well as started my output code.

[animebct]

BCT Blog Entry #12

After disappearing from the face of my blog for 3 days, I have returned! So... Yesterday (24 March 2021) was my first ever studio experience under BCT, it was very nervous because I knew no one at my table. Eventually once it came to group work, I decided to get out there and work together with my group to hopefully finish the tasks. The first task was to display and let other people test out Week 3's makeymakey project (didn't do this so I just looked at what my group had done, very well orchestrated to be honest - it was kind of like a piano) The second task was to design and incorporate an electronic circuit within a flag using fabrics, conductive wool and other components. I must admit the morning didn't start off how I expected but this task allowed me to open up more to my group and share my insights as well as collect other members insights too. At the end of the task, we almost completed it but the circuit didn't fully connect. It looked very good in my opinion, it just didn't light up. One thing to improve on in the future is to work out what our idea was on paper before executing because although we came up with good ideas on the fly, we did hesitate a lot throughout the task... Nonetheless very good design.

[animebct]

BCT Blog Entry #11

WE DID IT!!! What a great way to start the new week, with a debugging session and new iteration of assignment 1 program. The program was pretty much already good to go but I made a few changes to hopefully earn bonus points. These little changes are what I made: 

Constant for stroke offset 

Comment block for global color variables before setup

Comment block for mousePressed function

Changing Title and program description

Here are the reasons why I decided to make these changes for those of you that are finding it hard to iterate your programs or lacking the clarification to do so.

Using the constant variable for offset will mean all four sides (eight instances) of the frame can be altered at once. Super efficient and saves a lot of time.

Comment blocking unknown or unclarified code can help explain to others who don’t understand why your code is different from theirs... i.e using global variable VS local variable and using 256 instead of 255 for RNG function.

Changing title and program description... ALMOST forgot about this one - I don’t know about you but I went over this straight away and did the code only to come back to the assignment video and listened to lecturer Stefan Marks hint to the top comment block!

So far, I am fairly confident that this program iteration for Assignment 1 is sufficient for a B or above grade... Let’s hope it’ll be my first A hehe.. good vibes for java based programming.

[animebct]

BCT Blog Entry #10

Finalizing assignment #1 code with cleaning up unused code, adding comments and tidying up the functions. It has been a smooth semester in terms of coding so far, I am really enjoying it.

[animebct]

BCT Blog Entry #9

Very satisfying conclusion to Unit 3 balloon question. The y position of ellipse, y1 position of line and y2 position of line decrease making it look like a balloon rising above the canvas. Very cool illusion and I’m glad it turned out smoothly.

[animebct]

BCT Blog Entry #1

~Written 20 March 2021~ After a compelling 4 weeks of coding and watching lecture recordings, I’ve decided to enhance my blog entries by making them more interactive and generally personal to myself (I like anime so there is an Izumi Shinichi companion in the GIF frame). As you can see in the GIF attached, there is one of my first lines of code using Processing, a Java based programming client. The code is very simple and says (in pseudocode) generate a 500 by 500 pixel canvas and draw an ellipse 40 by 40 pixels wherever the mouseX position and mouseY position are located every 30/60 seconds (I forget the default FPS cap)

[animebct]

BCT Blog Entry #18

I wasn’t able to make it into studio for week 2 but I decided to compromise the board game into a popular hand game Rock Paper Scissors. For Week 2′s Hack a Board Game I chose to make Rock Paper Scissors more interactive by making the input options a rock, paper and scissors. I used MakeyMakey and Scratch to make my game interactive as well as a tutorial from YouTube to help with the coding of RPS. 

YouTube Code Tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C47IwQuMQJY

Full Plan Image: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JMNzLkeZ_SSrqB7ICZDmaWXnu4UR0RNm/view?usp=sharing

Changed Scratch Code: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/514681843/

Test video: https://youtu.be/Ysonif5dcAA

[animebct]

BCT Blog Entry #17

Week 1′s activity was creating a loopy about an idea or system and using systems thinking to analyze the idea/system. The system I chose was NZ’s waste disposal system and in particular I looked at how the system disposes of organic waste. I was intrigued to find out that the way we currently disposed of organic waste was with our general waste, this meant that it either went into landfill to produce harmful methane gases when it breaks down or it’s sent to the incinerator to create energy and harmful carbon emissions. The way I addressed this problem was by introducing larvae/grub/worm farms into urban households; by using this method we are saving tonnes of organic waste from creating harmful emissions. I also looked at how this new system could affect our society such as a mass job relocation if these farms become a popular household tool.  This activity was interesting because I was influenced by an internet personality about the positive effects of these farms. 

Sources: 

Full Venn Diagram: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iQr8U-PpE-ebPxjKyILe3BtLkumQE6ed/view?usp=sharing

Waste Disposal Article NZ: https://www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/environmental-reporting/waste-generation-and-disposal-new-zealand#:~:text=Estimated%20composition%20of%20landfill%20waste,Construction%20and%20demolition%20waste%2017%25.

Idea influenced by GrubTerra: https://www.facebook.com/tiktokmalaysiaofficial/videos/270085087762495

GrubTerra Campaign: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXnYU5Ti8zk

Loopy: https://bit.ly/3wJY43l

[animebct]

BCT Blog Entry #16

Week 2′s ice breaker activity was creating circuits with papertronics, however I wasn’t able to attend the second week so I did the work online. This short activity was a great way to job my memory on how circuits worked. 

Tool: https://www.brainpop.com/games/circuitconstructionkitdc/

[animebct]

BCT Blog Entry #15

This project for week 3 (musical instrument) was very fun to create. In the first and second image, I tried to make my instrument like a piano but it was awkward to lean my left hand onto the grounding point (fork) so I made the instrument onto the box using a spoon for the grounding point, the grounding on the box was more natural this way as it felt I was already naturally holding onto the instrument box. The butter knives sticking out like prongs would then be activated using my right hand. 

MakeyMakey Kit: https://www.jaycar.co.nz/makey-makey-kit/p/XC3750 

test video: https://youtu.be/7VnWAqw4l5s

[animebct]

BCT Blog Entry #14

This has been a busy week, Creative Tech Studio Assignment 1 was a struggle because I didn’t attend Weeks 1 to 3 but I am seeing the light as it is due tomorrow afternoon. Alternatively, I am very excited for the next Assignment of this class since I have been waiting to make something digitally for some time - My plan for Assignment 2 of Creative Tech Studio is a mix of Google Maps and Uber Eats with a culturally influenced twist. My inspiration for this idea was sparked by past BCT works such as Sight and the contributors feature of Google Maps where I have found my free time being spent. 

[animebct]

BCT Blog Entry #8

Bouncing ball program, basic functions where ellipse x/y position increases/decreases as a response of touching 0-r/height-r or 0-r/width-r. Not much progress currently...

[animebct]

BCT Blog Entry #7

My solution to U3Q5 - Green ellipse increasing in altitude diagonally while ellipse decreases in altitude diagonally. Simple approach to the code with varying X, Y position coords for both balls. 

[animebct]

BCT Blog Entry #6

A very weird program response to U2Q2 Question. What is happening in the GIF is the ellipse is being scaled while still maintaining its ratio whereas the rect is being scaled and transformed.

[animebct]

BCT Blog Entry #5

So earlier in semester 1, as a result of the discussion about mousepressed/keypressed because of the assignment requirements for its involvement, I got very curious about using other inputs into Processing to control an object. The ellipse GIF shows the movement from if keyPressed expressions which were particularly chunky in code for a simple forward, backward, left and right movement pattern. After learning the switch case approach, the second attempt with the rect object was a major lightbulb moment. The same outcome was executed from a shorter, yet more complex approach ~ I’ve got to use the switch case ASAP.

[animebct]

BCT Blog Entry #4

This exercise/question required a little imagination and math to figure out. Luckily I was able to discover the trick with the bottom right ellipse and eventually, the answer became a matter of switching where the adjustment for r(radius) was per ellipse. This question was more about learning coordination which was very interesting.