Toy Take Apart

This material inquiry asked us to bring in a toy, electronic or not, take it apart, and "hack" it by adding in motors and/or play with wiring. We had an array of different hobby motors, the micro:bit, battery packs, wires, and an assortment of cutting tools. What I took away from this assignment was to not stay so fixated on one component and have that push me back further. This project is one that I was most nervous for because of how difficult it seemed. The thought of what I had to create overwhelmed me greatly, but I was a bit excited to see how I can

change my toy.

Ready, Set, Go!

We started the process by being directed to a table were there were sheets of paper with micro:bit coding and varies motors. Keeping in mind what I had learned in micro:bit the other class day, we were presented with other sequences of blocks to move the motors a series of ways. After the brief talk and demonstration of each of the motor's movement, I had my interest set on one. My toy is just a regular stuffed animal with no electronic components. Therefore I wanted it to have a walking motion placed inside its feet. Once I went over to pick up

the materials I needed, I saw a set of hobby motors that I had not used before. Although trying a motor that I had not used before made me feel conflicted, I convinced myself because a motor is a motor and all of their ways of functioning are relatively the same. At least the ones presented in class. In addition, this hobby motor looked like the one I would have the most success in with creating the motion of walking. Although this motor would give me the best results if done right, that meant I had to completely start from scratch because the sequence attached to the initial motor I had in mind would no longer work as well. I take the

materials I think I need to start and just go for it since that seemed to be working for everyone else. I started by cutting a slit in the toy from the back. I chose this position because I believed it would be easier to control the buttons from that side rather than attaching them to the belly. Although the factor of it looking "clean" would no longer be a part of the new toy. Once I got the bare minimum done it was time for me to start with the wiring.

Wiring

Since I had picked up a motor I had never seen or used, I had no idea how to turn it on. After trying to figure it out on my own, I

proceeded to ask for help. I was directed to another classmate since we were the only ones using this type of motor and she had already been explained on what to do to turn it on. She shows me the wires that are required to be used, and specifically states they have to be the frayed kind. In addition, she shows me these different kinds of wires I had also never used where they are all connected and you can pull them apart easily and will remain attached (pictured on the right). I go back to my desk and I start by checking if the motors were working properly by placing alligator clips to the indicated locations. After I understand the functioning of the motor, I attempt replacing the alligator clips with actual wires. I thought I had gotten it, I turn it on and nothing happened. Before I overwhelmed myself, I went over to her again for assistance. At this time, she was being

shown more thorough steps since she too was having issues. I watched and listened to what was being said and demonstrated. I felt a lot of confusion during this because she started using numbers in a different way when speaking about the wires. Although it was helping her understand it better, it was just confusing me. Afterwards, I asked her if she can explain it to me again, which she did. I felt so relieved that it was not as complicated as it seemed. After talking to her about connections, we wanted to try to eliminate two wires from the equation and see if it would work. It did not work on mine which bummed me out, but it did work on hers - giving me hope. Now that I knew

what went where and how it functioned, I felt like I can finally make true progression.

Fixation

I grabbed my micro:bit with the micro:board. Taking this route was the one that would allow me to turn on two motors at the same time. I started doing what I was suppose to in order to turn on the motor. Once I finished assembling it, I turned it one and nothing happened. I thought to myself that it might be because the wires were not tight enough. Therefore I cut them loose and tried all over again. I attempted a different twisting method to make it tighter. Once I had it set up again I turned it on and nothing. I was confused, but nonetheless kept trying different methods. Third time around I tried to get rid of those two other wires as I had done earlier, to see if it would make a difference and nothing once more. I went back to four wires but kept cutting off the ends to start fresh. I made sure they were tight and nothing touched as it would ruin the circuit. Grabbed a new set of motors. Nothing. I was getting more frustrated, agitated, and annoyed with each trial and error. I did not know what I was doing wrong, especially because my classmates, who had the same one, was working just fine. I even got a new micro:bit thinking perhaps that was the issue. For the entire class day I was attempted to get the motor to work, but had no luck. I felt like I was at the

verge of tears, but had no luck. I felt like I was at the verge of tears. I finally asked for some help again, because I could not figure out what I was doing wrong. I thought I had done everything times two. I get shown through the alligator clips once more and everything works. I explain what I had done, how many times, and in all the ways. Then I 'm told nothing would move if I had not set a code into the micro:bit. At that moment I felt relieved, dumb, and simply just a mixture of emotions. I could not believed I had skipped such an enormously vital step. I was in awe. If I had not fixated myself with making one thing work certain way, I would have thought of all the other necessary components to make it work. But, my mind was too stuck on one idea and it led me further away from my goal. I lesson truly learned. In addition to just ask for help when needed. I let a bit of my pride get in the way because of how much I wanted to figure it out on my own. I had run out of time, since we were asked to show what we had came up with.

When it was my turn to show what I had done I felt a bit embarrassed and discouraged after seeing all the great accomplishments my classmates achieved with their toy. I then told them how I wanted my toy to move one foot at a time, and that caused an uproar of responses. I had people telling me left and right how that is too difficult and near impossible. Having this said to me made me feel more discouraged even if I was told I should feel relief hearing the responses of my classmates.

What's Next

Although hearing how impossible it was to create that movement, I was not the only one who wanted to accomplish

As a matter a fact, it makes me want to prove to them its possible. I know it is probably going to be extremely difficult, but now that I know what I'm doing and have some knowledge on how to fully get there, I want to try. I'm definitely thinking about basing this as my impossible project. I really do not like how I did not finish and don't have a picture of the finished product, but it is a work in progress. Because of how much trouble I had working with this, I don't know if I would implement these tools in my art classroom. However, I do think kids would have a lot of fun pulling toys apart. Perhaps just having them mix and match toys would be fun to them recreate.