The video that we have posted is an example of our working prototype and how it would sound. As you can see in the video we have set up six different objects on the shelf. The two on the far sides contain the speakers, power supply and the circuit board. The four central objects hold an ldr in the base, a fish tank with a fish held with in it and with in the top there is a laser and a led contained. The laser shines directly onto the ldr, this keeps the value of the ldr’s resistance high and means that there will be no music playing. Each time the fish breaks the beam the resistance value drops and this resistance change allows for the music to play. There are four difference tracks that can be played all created by Fiona from different samples and merged with other sounds. The tracks can be changed to suit the users taste, by simply changing the tracks on the concealed usb stick.

http://jonschull.blogspot.com/2006/07/fish-piloted-vehicle.html

Andy put the finishing touches to the coding and then left the code to run for half an hour allowing to allow for testing. The sounds that were used are not the final group agreed sounds that the fish will make but they were long enough for the test of the coding. This is a great stage for the group to be in as now all that is required for the group to do is finish off a few parts on the model and the last few finishing touches for the deadline a week today.

So we are on to our 3rd can..that’s the only thing with spray paint, you don’t get much and for what you get its expensive!

On Monday our group needs to discuss in more depth our final design plans- there are still a few issues we need to address i.e.

> The frames to sit the upper box to the vase will be slightly smaller than originally planned in order to create a ‘shadow’ effect, be neater and so they will not require any filler unlike our previous frame which were made to fit the underneath.

> A silly mistake was made in painting the speaker boxes before making/deciding on any speaker grill design- maybe this is good in a way because we have a few ideas for this area in the design and would like to run it by our lecturer.

> We need to fix the shelf to the speaker box ( the purpose of the boxes is to obviously house the speakers but also the mains power supply and breadboard)

>We need to make air vents, possibly tiny drill holes in the top and back of the lid to let air vent through the back and into the vases for the fish to breathe!

> we need to make a video next week when all parts are finished- this will include sounds

>We need to wade through the lists of sounds in our ‘fish funk’ play list

> Fish funk? maybe no so funky! we need to think up a decent name for our music device

> We need to write a press release as previously posted combining all our thoughts to get an accurate account of what we think the project is all about.

Maybe a bit premature but here is the work in progress before and after a few lick of paint:

still need to respraint the tops and one more coat on the rest
used a peg to solve the laser problems- lets hope it stays on!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4693307.stm

As for the making, we are having some trouble creating a smooth surface on all sides on the boxes, we have used a primer as the base which has helped even out the wood grain on some edges. We have solved some problems we were having with friction in the lids of the boxes by using spacers- which are basically thin pieces of MDF attached to the bottom of the lids.

We haven’t forgot about the fish.. While Ja’mie and Jonah have remained local in Dundee, Mr G, Celine and Rodney are on their holidays!