FuzzBuzz

Description:

I decided to move away from more serious topics with this assignment and, instead, create a 'pet' by recycling a strange piece of packaging I've been wanting to use in a project for a while. I thought this assignment would be the perfect opportunity to finally give this odd item a life of it's own.

FuzzBuzz is totally independent of the computer and "purrs" (vibrates) when petted on the top of it's head. The harder FuzzBuzz is petted, the more vigorously it will purr. FuzzBuzz's vibrations are emitted from an eccentrically weighted DC motor  suspended in a small can of tomato paste. This DC motor is controlled by an FSR hidden under FuzzBuzz's silky head fur and adjusted with code to accommodate the power source.

FuzzBuzz would be incomplete (and cold) without it's green down jacket, in which all of it's components are held. It was an additional challenge to free the Arduino of it's connection to the computer but it has added a new lifelike dimension FuzzBuzz and increased its self-confidance.  Special thanks to Elliot for the encouragement and assistance in hooking my Arduino up to an independent power source.

Components:

• Battery x 2
• Transistor
• Arduino
• FSR
• 1k Resistor
• Diode
• DC Plug (soldering needs to be redone due to a small error)
• DC Motor
• Fuzzy 'Bison Grass Vodka' bottle cover

Arduino Code:

int fsr = 0;   // select the input pin for the fsr
int motorPin = 9; // select the pin for the Motor
int val = 0;      // variable to store the value coming from the sensor
void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600);
}
void loop() {
  val = analogRead(fsr);    // read the value from the sensor, between 0 - 1024
  Serial.println(val);
  if (val > 500){
    analogWrite(motorPin, val/10); // analogWrite can be between 0-255
  }
    else
    analogWrite(motorPin, 0);
}