Puppet Show Controllers
Duration: 3 hours
Project Contributions: This project was done in collaboration with Josefine Hansson.
For this project, we used Scratch as a narrative tool to make a puppet show within three hours. We developed a story on the Scratch programming environment, and built physical controllers with Arduino, cardboards, foam, and aluminum foil. The cardboard controllers were connected to microcontrollers, the microcontrollers were connected to keyboards, and the keyboards were then coded to animation on Scratch.
Scratch is a simple programming environment that is used in education. It is a great narrative tool to introduce children to programming.
Animation on Scratch: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/204468628/
We started our process by coming up with a story, made a storyboard, and decided about what kind of controllers we need.
After the initial brain storming, we made physical controllers. We made a robot figure, a rocket, 3 base panels, a lever, and a push-button. As the number of controllers grew, it easily got complicated to decide which controllers should act as a ground, and we debated about how many controllers are necessary.
The cardboard controllers were connected to microcontroller, the microcontroller were connected to keyboards, and the keyboards were then coded to animation on Scratch.
Since cardboards were not perfectly flat, not all buttons worked as expected. As a solution, we attached foam-board as a contact base.
Despite being unable to fully complete our prototype, it was an informative experience to figure out ways to interact digital realm through physical means. We discussed that this could potentially develop into a learning activity with children.
