On your web site, make sure that the following are visible:
an image, video or other deliverable of your final product
documentation of your design process
a 3-5 minute video (or slide deck with embedded audio) of your design analysis
You'll be building on Homework 1: Exceptional Voronoi & Delaunay , concepts from Homework 2: Gen2 Algorithms , Lab 1: Laser Cutting Intro and Lab 2: Arduinos & Genetic Algorithms to make a laser cut lantern!
Your lantern design should include:
a laser cut frame
an (exceptional) Voronoi diagram
if you'd rather a valid Voronoi diagram because you prefer the design, that is okay!
the (exceptional) dual Delaunay triangulation
consider how you might display this -- it could be opposing sides of the lantern or using other material as a "lampshade"
the Circuit Playground to provide an interesting light effect
this could be using Lab 2: Arduinos & Genetic Algorithms or you may decide you'd rather a different effect that supports your design
We estimate that this project should take you ~10 hours, including time for support during the lab session. You will submit everything through your portfolio web site, including:
documentation of your process (50%)
articulate your goal(s)
record your iterative approach (plan, do, evaluate)
lots of notes/photos/videos, especially when things don't go as planned!
include your code (or a link to your code) for the final Arduino sketch that you used
your final product (photos and video of the physical lantern) (10%)
a 3-5 minute analysis of your design process (40%)
This may take the form of a video (please be sure permissions are set appropriately) or a slide deck with embedded audio. You may find the following prompts helpful in organizing your analysis. Be as specific as possible, while also recognizing the limitations of the time constraint. You will not be able to walk through everything you did, but will need to nominate takeaways and important points. You will be evaluated on the clarity of your communication and the depth of your analysis.
How did you go about this project?
What parts did you find straightforward?
What was challenging?
What supported your understanding?
Were there embodied elements that helped you? Could you think of others?
What part of the process is a black box to you?
For example: You may have found code online that implements a genetic algorithmic approach and you used that to generate your creation. You may have altered the gene specification and associated drawing code. Perhaps how the genetic algorithm produces the next generation is a "black box" -- you know what to give it and what it outputs, but you do not know how the algorithm works. Or you may have an intuitive idea of how it works, but wouldn't be ready to implement it from scratch.
For this homework, you may use any resources you'd like. You must cite them appropriately (e.g., I talked with a peer about my diagram or I adapted this GitHub repo or I gave Gemini this set of prompts).
To be clear, this includes usage of AI tools, as long as you are:
appropriately documentating and citing your interaction, which should include the platform, prompt and screenshots/links of sample parts of the interaction
analyzing how the usage of the tool(s) helped or hindered your design process
NOTE: MHC's access to Google Gemini provides certain protections of your data.
Some anticipated questions:
Yes, but you can use Lab 2: Arduinos & Genetic Algorithms to get you there!
Yes, you will need to use the Arduino platform to program your Circuit Playground!
Post more questions on Ed please!