Experiment 4 – Katlin Walsh

Project Description

While interactive media content displayed within galleries has been updated within the last 5-10 years, presentation formats for tradeshows have not. Digi-Cart brings an adaptive presentation style to the classic concept of a tool cart. Robust building materials and pegboard construction allows corporations to adapt their layout and presentation style to reflect their current corporate event. 

Digi-Cart features a basic controller layout which can be overlayed with a company’s vinyl poster cutout to create an interactive presentation that can be facilitated by an expert or self guided. Corporations are encouraged to update their digital materials & create animated graphics to capture audience attention. 

Project Context

This project is an iteration of experiment 5 – Digi-Cart 2.0 in which a home made controller and modular display were created for the use of a robotics competition team to pitch to a variety of sponsors and judges. The project was adapted after feedback on the Digital Future’s show in December 2019 to prep for the team’s competition in February 2020.

Goals

Based off of previous project and team feedback, the following goals were to be addressed: 

1. Connect wirelessly
   1. Use PubNub connectivity to remove wire requirement on the cart
   2. Connect multiple screens to the cart so that information is broadcast dynamically throughout a trade show space

Technical Updates

CIRCUIT

Heavy changes needed to be made for wireless connectivity. While Digi-Cart 2.0 featured major wiring and circuit changes with little code changes, the opposite proved to be true in the Digi-Cart 3.0 update.

CODE

Code was restructured to allow the learnings from in class assignments for experiment 4 – connectivity to be combined with existing Digi-Cart 1.0 and 2.0 code.

GitHub Code

Visual Updates

Visual updates were not made to the cart itself, rather the plan for how media is utilized within a trade show space. A full tradeshow diagram was 3D modelled in Solidworks to demonstrate how materials would sit in a 10×10’ space, including adaptability for the existing cart. 

Using a limited budget, the entire 10×10’ trade show space was created using black PVC pipe and plywood cut into shelves and painted purple. The entire space was then assembled for fit, and brought to a tradeshow to test the final product. 

The final space allowed a rolling cart to be used, with two wirelessly connected displays also featuring content controlled by the cart’s homemade controller. The final space allowed the team to present information dynamically, increasing their traffic during sponsorship and showcase presentations.

Next Steps

Moving forward, the cart will be adapted once again for the following changes: 

1. Modular Controller
   1. Create a mount adaptation where the whiteboard controller is velcroed to the cart
   2. Create multiple controller button layouts that the team can swap out
   3. Alter the circuit again so that it can plug in more securely
2. Increase cart functionality
   1. Drill a hole so that wires for the monitor can be fed to the extension cable without getting in the way
   2. Build a cover that hides the computer monitor more seamlessly and securely to the top of the cart
   3. Prototype battery attachment functionality for outdoor use