Plant-radio
Introduction: Plant-radio
The plant-radio was build to enhance people's relation with their plants by being able to tap into the plant's electrophysiological signals and output the data as sound, pulsating lights and a graph. It was produced as part of a research project called Growing CoDesign, and we want it to live on here on Instructables for other people to have the same experience of communicating with plants.
In the video you can hear how the radio sounds.
Casing: The main body of the radio is made in laser cut plywood. We've 3D printed the turnknobs and also a mount that is inside the radio holding the LED strip in place. In our version we've also attached a leather strap onto the radio to make it portable, but this is optional for you to do.
Software: The radio runs on a raspberrypi 3+, where the data comes from an EMG sensor into an Arduino sketch, which controls the LED lights and forwards the data to a Processing sketch that draws the graph, and also a OpenData patch that handles the sounds.
The following libraries are used: [to be added]
Download the Github repository for the code, the lasercut- and 3Dprint-files
Supplies
Equipment and tools:
* Laser cutter
* 3D printer
* Soldering iron
* Electrician screwdrivers
* Wrench
* Tape, wood glue and glue gun
* Screws M2,5 3mm
* Bolts M2,5 25mm
* Small paintbrush for applying wood glue (optional)
* Cable shoes (optional)
Casing:
* 1 sheet plywood for laser cutting
* Transparent acrylic sheet for laser cutting (optional, can be substituted with parchment paper)
* Leather strap and patent buttons (optional)
Technology:
* 1x Potentiometer 1K resistance
* 1x Potentiometer 100K resistance
* EMG sensor
* Power supply board
* Sound board
* Raspberry pi + micro SD card with operating system flashed onto it
* Arduino pro trinket
* Speaker
* Resistance
* LED strip
* Screen
* USB cable (for power to raspberry)
* USB port extension (for charging)
* USB serial adapter (for trinket and raspberry connection)
* Wires
Step 1: Step 1: Preparations for the Casing
Lasercut
Fetch the SVG file in the Github repo and lasercut the main body of the radio, which consist of a front and back panel, and a bendable ribbon that forms the sides.
Lasercut the acrylic sheet to make the LED 'window' on the top of the radio. Do this by fetching the big rectangular shape from the SVG file of the casing. Be aware that the laser cutter might melt some of the sides more than the measurements, so this might take some trial and erroring before the window fits snuggly in the ribbon.
3D print
Fetch the STL files in the Github repo and print 2x turnknobs and the 'LED Bridge' that will be mounted inside the radio to support the LED strip.
Step 2: Step 2: Assembling the Casing - Ribbon
Glue the acrylic sheet to the ribbon as shown in the picture. 120
If you want the light to be dimmed you can tape som parchment paper (or other matte material) onto the acrylic window, or alternatively use sandpaper to sand down the acrylic.
With a gluegun, glue the USB port for charging in the hole intended for this (the one with a battery engraved besides it). Then glue the EMG sensor 'jack' in the round hole, which is on the opposite side than the USB port.
Optional: if you want a leather strap attatched, now will be a good time to mount the buttons, as this will be challenging one the technology gets in the way.
Put dobbelsided tape on the 3D printed LED bridge, this is where the LED strip will be sticked onto later. With small screws and maybe some washers, mound the LED bridge onto the ribbon.
Step 3: Step 3: Assembling the Casing - Front Panel
With small screws, mount the speaker onto the front panel. Solder wires and a resistance onto the speaker. Make sure the wires of the speaker point towards where the screen will be.
Mount the potentiometers. 1K for sound and 100K for light. Tighten with a wrench.
(with some potentiometers, there's a little tap that you might need to make room for in the wood, as shown in the pictures)
Step 4: Step 4: Assembling the Casing - Glue Front and Ribbon
Now that the ribbon and front panel is prepared, you can glue them together with wood glue. 996