For this project, I created an interactive robotic butterfly, designed to respond to the user's proximity. Standing far away from the piece you see the twinkling LEDs illuminating paper flowers, which draws you in, as you get closer the butterfly starts to flap its wings and the LED flickers start to slow down so you can focus on the butterfly. The mix of paper and hardware make this piece ideal for an art installation; the butterfly, overall arts and craft feel of the project, and simple interaction makes it perfect for children. During the ideation phase, I envisioned something grand that would take up an entire room and draw the user in. As the project progressed, I leaned into paper, which gave it a storybook vibe, which I felt would resonate most with children.
The fabrication aspect of this project was my main priority, as a result, the interaction is simple. The user notices the twinkling LEDs and walks toward it, as they walk towards it the butterfly starts to move, drawing the user in even more. To achieve this low-cost interaction I used an ultrasonic range sensor and a simple if statement: if the user is in range activate the servo motors. Although this is not the most complex project, it was fun to build and worth the time.
Materials
If you want to build this project, here is what you'll need:
-Arduino Uno
-3 LEDs
-Solder, wires, etc
-16"x18" foam board
-Nice paper (I used that thick paper from the scrapbooking aisle in Michael's)
-Glue (hot glue and normal glue you used in elementary school)
-Some sort of T shape plastic thing to hold up the butterfly wing (I 3D printed mine)
Brainstorming and Prototyping
I started this project with hundreds of ideas, then narrowed it down to two: an RC bot that you could use to draw and a fleet of small robotic butterflies. I opted for the "drawbot" started prototyping and collecting parts, when I came to the conclusion that making any sort of RC car would be incredibly expensive. So, I shifted gears and decided to make a bunch of small butterflies that you could hang from the ceiling and as you walked underneath them they would start to flap their wings. I realize this version would be out of scope given the time restraints. As the project progressed I settled on one large butterfly mounted to a wall instead of dangling from the ceiling.
There were a lot of shifts in this project. The biggest being my shift from fabric and wire wings to paper wings hours before the project was due. I intended on using this beautiful orange fabric for the wings, I had shaped the sculpting wire, and even 3D printed specialized pieces to hold up the wire wings and attach to the servo motors, but after making the final version of the wings I realized they looked shit and knew I had to replace them with paper wings. I think it was a good call, the paper wings look cleaner and make the board more cohesive.
Circuits
This time around I didn't have nearly as much trouble with soldering compared to project one. Although, I have come to the conclusion that I hate stranded core wire.
Code
Again, I ran into issues with delay functions and I tried to work around with millis(), but that only made it worse. I also had a serious issue with the Arduino IDE, I ended having to delete everything related to Arduino off my computer and reinstalling the program.
Fabrication
Besides making a brand new set of wings the morning the project was due, I was on top of it when it came to creating the assets I needed for the project. However, I was far from on top of things when it came to assembling the entire thing. I am constantly underestimating the effort it takes to put a project together. And this time around I almost had a panic attack because I could not figure out how to attach the paper wings to the servos, but thanks to a copious amount of hot glue I figured it out just in time.
If you ever want to make this project, here's what you have to do:
1. Cut A LOT of paper. You need like 50 leaves, two butterfly wings, and 3 flowers - each with 10 petals. I did this all by hand, but in retrospect, I definitely could have used a laser cutter, so if you have access to one I would recommend taking advantage of it (who needs hand-crafted artisan paper leaves?)
2. Cut holes out of board for LEDs, sensor, and servos.
3. Glue leaves and flowers to board.
4. Get all your soldering done.
5. Glue and place all hardware. Glue servos to hole in middle of board, poke LEDs through small holes, and place servo. Then flip board over and tape or glue everything down.
6. Plug that bad boy in and hang it up.
Taking it Further
In the next iteration of this project, I would like to scale it up. Add more butterflies of varying sizes and colors and more LEDs, ideally it would cover an entire wall. As you walk along the wall the movement would follow you. If I had more time I would have also like to create an enclosure of some sort that covers the servos and gives the butterfly a body. I'm taking an art installation class next semester, so I might try and refine this idea then.
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