Written reports will be worth 1/3 of your project grade, and they'll be posted on the class website, so please take them seriously -- this is what folks from outside will see when they want to look at your work.

 

FORMAT FOR THE PROJECT REPORT

 

1. Construction: Mechanical and Computational Elements

 

This section is to describe the construction itself. Explain the mechanical elements of your construction as clearly and carefully as possible, and how the computational elements (sensors, actuators, and program) interact with them. Don't include program code here,but do include it as an appendix to the main report (see below). It's probably a good idea to include sketches and/or photos to show how your construction works.

 

2. Implementation: What Worked and Didn't

 

Discuss the path by which your group arrived at the construction. Were there elements of your original design that you had to scrap? Or, perhaps, opportunistic improvements that you were able to make once the construction was under way? Describe any particular hurdles that had to be overcome, and your solutions (or evasions) to those hurdles.

 

3. Context: Influences, Educational/Artistic Aspects, Purpose

 

Describe any particular influences -- either from the Cabaret or Ganson work that we saw in class, or from other sources -- that affected your design. In what ways does your project resemble, or differ from, those influences? In class, we've talked about the educational (and artistic) aspects of these automata; where would you place your project in that discussion? Are there particular aspects of the construction that you think might make for an interesting exhibit, or illustration of some mechanical idea? What kinds of ideas were you *intending* to convey with this project?

 

4. Improvements: Short-Term, Long-Term

 

Discuss how you might continue and improve your project if you had, say, a few more weeks to work on it (i.e., the short-term improvements that you could make). What would be the logical next steps for working on this project? Suppose, alternatively, that you had a year or two to work in this arena. What sorts of revisions to this project

might you undertake (using, e.g., more elaborate computational tools, more expensive or offbeat materials, and so on)? If you really want to get futuristic, you might consider what sorts of technological advances could particularly improve this sort of project, say, a decade or more into the future.

 

5.  Appendices:  Source Code and Technical Notes

 

This is the place to include your source code for pico/handy crickets or other forms of computation you used.  Also include any tips -- technical or practical that might help future ttt-ers.  You might include notes on construction, any special glues or materials you used, and so forth.