Posts Tagged ‘electromagnetic visualization’
EMF on TV
HC has requested more detailed video. Sorry HC, I still haven’t had time to check out my own video, but in the meantime, here’s a short extract that was shown on NRK Rogaland TV:
EMF at night (movie)
By request from HC, and until I’ve checked out my camcorder recordings, here’s a movie of the EMF in Stavanger that I took with my cell phone at night ……..
EMF – reality bytes
As mentioned before, co-ordinating this project in relation to equipment and budget through the summer break has been a bit chaotic since my last meeting with ROM3 and NLI. Working through the budget thoroughly proved that the previous design was too ambitious. The fountain design has been reverted to my original idea for a prototype for the Electromagnetic Fountain – to use 5 jets in a pentagon design with a larger jet in the centre. So the changes from the 03 version are:
5 jets with controllable valves instead of 15
2 variable speed water pumps instead of 5
8 RGB LED lights instead of 18
2 RGB controllers instead of 4
LANBOX LCX instead of LCE
Use the digital outputs on the Lanbox instead of Milford DMX relay/switch box to control the water/solenoid valves, with a custom made switch/relay box.
Control scheme revised
The time has almost come for ordering the parts for, and construction of the Electromagnetic Fountain. The summer break has put a nervous edge on the project. It has been difficult to contact people and keep the project flow going. The main hick-up (at least at present) has been to decide on how, and with what to light the fountain. The eventual solution is to use LED lights and DMX controllable RGB controllers manufactured by Wibre and sold by an Oslo-based company called Illuminator AS. After many communications with Svein Kjetil at NLI, and a long meeting with petter at Illuminator AS it became obvious that any ambitions to individually control 18 industrial RGB colour changing LED lights was economically impossible. So a new idea evolved during our meeting:
Each manifold with 5 jets should have 5 colour changing 3×1 LED lights.
The central jet should have 3 colour changing 3×1 LED lights.
Each set of lights (3 manifolds sets, 1 central jet set) has its own controller.
If this solution puts too much strain on the budget, then the only solution I can think of is that the number of water jets will have to be reduced. There is no point in having a poorly lit fountain.
Other changes to the scheme:
LANBOX LCX replaced with LANBOX LCE mini DMX controller.
USB connection to mac replaced with ethernet connection
x2 Milford Electronics DMX relay boxes for the soleniod valves of the water jets.
Sniffing in Stavanger – Little EMV sniffer
This EMV sniffer was put together by Erich Berger and Martin Howse during the Maxwell City Workshop I took part in at Atelier Nord in 2007. It is based on kit components that can be purchased here.
Sniffing in Stavanger – Zap Checker
Here’s a video of the Zap Checker detector in action where the Electromagnetic Fountain is planned to stand.
Frequency range: covers 1 MHz to 8 GHz.
Output: Audio Jack and needle display.
Antenna: Internal
Calibration: Can be calibrated for different signal ranges and for digital and analog signals.
Sniffing in Stavanger – Electrosmog Detector in the Rain!
Here’s a video of the Electrosmog Detector in action in the rain. Its much more noisy.
Electromagnetic Fountain design taking form
Today I had a meeting with the EMF project team (led by Øystein Lia, with Svein Kjetil Haheim, Espen Jorgensen and Geir Erbo Rougthvedt) at NLI Engineering Industry as located at Klosterøya in Skien, Norway, where I proposed, and we discussed the following water jet design and scheme for controlling the fountain:
Each dot is a valve.
The valves of each pentagon are mounted on a manifold.
Each pentagon has a dedicated pump.
Each valve is controlled by on/off signals.
As each valve can be controlled individually, it’s possible to program a multitude of dynamic jet patterns. (Triangles, spirals, random patterns, star forms, curvy lines, etc, etc …..)
The height of the water jet is in relation to the pump speed, and according to how many valves on each one of the pentagon manifolds are open – the more valves that are open, the lesser the height of the jet.
The red dot in the middle uses a 4th pump and does not need a valve. The height of the water jet is controlled by pump speed.
PRODUCT SPEC LINKS:
Hardware:
Lanbox LCX: http://www.lanbox.com/products/LCXDataSheet.html
788-LD+: http://www.lanbox.com/products/LDplusDataSheet.html
CLS 4002 Digital DMX dimmer: http://www.cls.no/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/332
Alesis iO|14 sound interface: http://www.alesis.com/io14
Mac Mini Intel Core Duo: http://www.apple.com/macmini/
Software:
Max/msp/jitter 4.6: http://www.cycling74.com/downloads/max4
Apple remote desktop: http://www.apple.com/remotedesktop
The main task for the project team is currently to find out of the options I have suggested are compatible with the products that they find most appropriate for the job, and that the total design is achievable both practically and economically. What is most challenging for me is to get around the idea that the hardware will be produced before I have had a chance to test various components, but never-the-less achieve a result that I can manage to test in prototype form (mock-up situations), and to keep the programming in the realms of something I can work on myself – and hopefully with some help from friends!
LIGHTS AND SNIFFERS
More research is needed for both these aspects of the fountain.
Regarding lights the best solution seems to be to light up each of the water jets with a ring diode underwater light. Colour changing diodes would be good, but possibly too complex/expensive for this phase of the project. A simpler option could be to have white diodes on the pentagon jets, with a red ring lighting up the central, big jet. Another option could be to give each pentagon its own set of coloured diode rings, but my fear is that the fountain will become too “disco” with this option.
Meeting with NLI Engineering AS
(A late update!)
On May 22nd I attended a meeting with Atle Barcley (ROM3) and Jean-Pierre Kjelders (and colleagues) at NLI Engineering AS, Skien, Norway, to discuss the potential of a collaboration with regards to constructing the Electromagnetic Fountain. The response was positive, with an agreement that NLI would initially provide technical drawings and a costs breakdown for constructing the fountain. I’m waiting for the results any day now.
On the basis of this, a new meeting will be organised to talk about construction issues.
The Electromagnetic Fountain 