Hopper Analytical - Toolkits

Arduino Homing Device Prototype

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 22:01:02 -0400

And now, for something highly dorky.

I have begun to play with DIY electronics. This is principally because it's tremendous fun. You should try it. Seriously. The possibilities are endless.

Here is a video of a range test for my prototype homing device built with an Arduino microcontroller module and an XBee radio transceiver. The portable, handheld device cost me about $60 to make, but theoretically could be a lot less if you designed a PCB and didn't rely on prototyping components.

Short-term, I hope to join fellow Boston Dorkbot members to build on this prototype and construct a location-based game. Stay tuned...

My longer-term goal is to develop a standardized radio/micontroller platform on which to load and share user-oriented software applications (like the homing software shown here) for proximity-based device communications.

The range for the "homing device" seems to well exceed the 300' that the XBee specs claim. Cool.

Please send me suggestions for improvements, other ideas, etc.

Boston Fab Lab

Wed, 6 Feb 2008 18:40:32 -0500

A couple years ago, I wrote about Neil Gershenfeld’s cool MIT Fab Lab (fabrication laboratory). On Monday I was fortunate enough to join the Boston Dorkbot crew for a tour of the Boston Fab Lab. I’ve posted a photoset of a few machines. Pictured are three computer-controlled prototyping machines, including a room-sized router, a micro-milling machine, and a laser cutter. Missing from the photos is a sign/vinyl cutter, several non-computer-controlled tools, and a nicely-outfitted electronics workbench.

The mission of the fab lab is a noble one: to empower creative people to make things with the assumption that, well, we’re all creative. Exposing individuals to commercial prototyping machines encourages people to explore, learn and have a significantly wider range of choices – both in what we might envision and make, but also in how we view the world and imagine our role in its future.

Electroplankton Noodling as Democratized Creativity

Tue, 14 Feb 2006 11:01:34 -0500

Wired just published an article on how Nintendo's new Electroplankton audio creativity game/tool represents a creativity toolkit for a new generation of audiophiles. The article compares the nascent audio tool to the word processing and Photoshop revolutions of the 80s and 90s, begrudging the imminent sea of mediocre amateur song output, yet heralding a future where this tool inspires a new level of audio fluency. Good or bad, I'm loving that Wired is writing about my passion.

Creators of the World, Emerge!

Thu, 9 Feb 2006 17:57:54 -0500

I've spent the past few days immersed in the web, seeking out environments where individually creativity is encouraged to emerge. I'm looking for successful examples of these creative environments, provided through a range of organizations, domains, media, and technologies (Got one to share?). What I've discovered is mindboggling. Providing individuals with the ability to create and distribute their own content is not a new idea, but the depth to which this idea is being embraced is inspiring. Better yet, the concept has matured. It's not about customizing your Nikes or skinning your mp3 player any more. We've got active, well realized examples like Wikipedia, crafting, and (of course) the phenomenon of blogging itself.

Core principles are developing. For example, it's not enough to give your audience tools to create. You must provide a mechanism for these creations to be distributed, shared in a network, and allowed to emerge to stimulate more interaction. This is where the magic is. It's not just providing the tools for creative expression but stimulating the very motivation to create.

This post will be the first in a series aimed at unveiling some of the core principles behind this wildly expanding phenomenon. For each post, I will highlight an environment that I believe embraces each principle, first introduces its usage, or serves as a shining example of its application.

For this posting, I present the big player, Wikipedia. Oft the shining example of distributed content development. Now not just a shining example to individuals, but apparently the new model for Microsoft

The World's Best How-to

Thu, 26 Jan 2006 21:17:45 -0500

I was excited to discover Kevin Kelly's online request for The World's Best How-to. Aside from the nifty responses (60), I am intrigued by his solictation of people's input on this topic. I secretly hope that he's thinking what I'm thinking. Kelly's penchant for knowing what's coming next (he founded Wired Magazine, the Well, and the Whole Earth Catalog), encourages me to read between the lines on all his curiosities. Perhaps he is banking on the impending importance and impact of our growing authorship-oriented society. If so, he may believe in the importance of facilitating individual creativity and better understanding how to best teach, encourage, fuel, and connect people. Either way, I'll keep reading his blog.

The Power of Toolkits

Sun, 2 Oct 2005 01:04:05 -0400

A toolkit for innovation and design is a set of helpful devices, modular materials, examples and guidelines for the purpose of facilitating the creative process.
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If you've ever seen a child discover LEGO Blocks, you've witnessed the power of toolkits in action. A child will voraciously construct, fashion, destroy and attempt everything she can imagine. She will also bend, throw, taste, and try to break - this is the nature of exploration. What is unique about toolkits over other toys is the initial level of excitement and desire to create that occurs when a child is exposed to the potential of a toolkit. For example, when a child first encounters a simple construction toolkit (like duplo blocks) and is shown an easy to understand construction, there is a realization followed by an unstoppable need to make what was just modeled. Older children working with more complex construction sets or artistic projects need only initial displays of toolkit potential and are then devising unique ideas and expressive solutions. Scale this innovative potential to more complex environments or pressing problems and you can see the possibilities for toolkit use across all areas of 'adult' learning, expression, and creative problem solving.

Toolkits are particularly powerful because:

They stimulate the making of real things
They provide a safe method of testing ideas, allowing for trial and error with minimal risk
They provide an outlet for exploration and self-expression
They teach us about ourselves and how we interact with our environment
They can be a self-rewarding method for getting stuff done, including solving problems, creating "new" things, and teaching valuable insights
They can help foster an encouraging can-do belief system

While all toolkits facilitate creation, they vary widely in form and complexity. For example, some toolkits involve physical manipulation (like LEGOs) while others are virtual (like software development kits). Some produce objects (like clay) and others help express ideas (like language). Some are unrestrained and expansive (like painting) and others are highly focused (like skinning an .mp3 player). Some are designed for innovative expression (like creating art) while others concentrate on re-fabricating existing models (like jigsaw puzzles).

Democratizing Innovation

Tue, 27 Sep 2005 18:33:23 -0400

''A growing body of empirical work shows that users are the first to develop many, and perhaps most, new industrial and consumer products.''
- Eric von Hippel

The idea that users develop great volumes of successful innovations is not new, but it is perhaps shocking in its implications. This idea suggests that our traditional view of manufacturers or entrepreneurs as the primary and best source of new ideas may be flawed. Are the billions spent on R&D misguided and only introducing limited innovations? Additionally, there appears to be a growing trend for users to freely and openly distribute their innovations (think open source). This won't help businesses relying on secrecy and legal protection to leverage their own innovative assets.

In his new book “Democratizing Innovation,” Eric von Hippel presents compelling evidence of how and why users innovate for themselves, and why they see many benefits in freely revealing these innovations. He points out that businesses that rely on innovation for continued existence (such as product manufacturers) should take note of these emerging trends and leverage methods for profitably working with user-driven innovation.

Eric von Hippel is Professor of Management of Innovation and Head of the Innovation and Enrepreneurship Group at the MIT Sloan School of Management. His new book “Democratizing Innovation” is available for download under Creative Commons License at his website: web.mit.edu/evhippel/www.