Week 25

As part of our continued work with Arduino circuits, we learned how to connect and use LCD screens with our circuits. This involved understanding how to wire the screen correctly, how to program it to display custom messages, and how to troubleshoot any issues with contrast, display settings, or data communication. We began by looking at a schematic for the screen on Tinkercad to understand where each wire needed to go. Once I became more confident using the LCD, I moved on to the task. The goal was to design and build an Arduino circuit that could represent an inanimate object using two LEDs, a piezo buzzer, and the LCD screen. For my project, I chose to represent a plant. I thought it would be interesting to explore how a plant might “express” itself if it could communicate like a human-made system. This project not only helped reinforce my understanding of basic electronic components and Arduino programming but also challenged me to think creatively about interaction design and how technology can simulate or interpret real-world concepts. As this was the last week before Easter, I chose to focus on documentation in the Thursday session and managed to finish all my writing off.

We also had another tutorial on the research essay. This allowed me to show all the sources and background information I had gathered. As I was unsure as to what I wanted to focus on specifically, I drew from a wide range of sources. I enjoyed this background research into data bias and just how common it is in society. I am hoping to start writing some of my essay soon and put these sources into actual ideas.