Physical Computing 9.12.19
Introducing the 3-Card Monte Snitch-Switch!
Concept
This week’s assignment was to make a creative switch to light an LED using the kit that we received in class. In my initial brainstorm process I was coming up with really uninspired ideas. I didn’t really have much of a frame of reference to work from so I found it difficult to come up with anything. It’s like trying to imagine a color you’ve never seen, how do you even do that?
Luckily, ITP is full of people with ideas, so I hung out around the space and saw what people were working on. I saw Sam Krystal’s Gatorade bottle switch that activated by tipping the bottle over and having the liquid complete to circuit. Sylvan Zheng had a really advanced switch that was activated by the heat of a candle. Nikhil Kumar had a really fun switch that was fashioned after a basketball hoop with a ball made of foil. His idea is probably what helped me figure out how I wanted to approach this project.
My submission is called the 3-Card Monte Snitch-Switch. 3-Card Monte is a game, typically played as a gambling game in the streets. The person running the game has three playing cards. They show the player what the cards are and indicates which card the player should keep track of (usually an Ace or a Queen). The person running the game then proceeds to move and mix the cards up in hopes of making the player lose sight of where their card is at. When this is done, the player points to one of the 3 face-down cards and hopefully for them they get the target card.
My switch would let the player know which spot their card is in before it is turned up by lighting a corresponding LED light. Not really a practical device, but a fun project nonetheless.
Crafting
I used the breadboard for this project. Powering it with a DC Adaptor, I ran power and the ground along both sides of the board. I then added 3 resistors and 3 LEDs evenly spaced across the board. Instead of running power directly to each row with a resistor, I connected those rows to my “Snitch Board” where there were 3 pieces of foil for them to connect to. Also on the board was a longer strip of foil that ran the length of the 3 pieces of foil but did not come into contact with them. I ran the power from the side of the breadboard to this longer strip. The disconnect between these foil pieces is where the card game comes in.
Of the 3 playing cards, only one card, The Queen, had foil strips on the sides. I crafted a second layer to the Snitch Board that had grooves for the cards to slide into, and I covered those grooves in foil. Once the Queen came into contact with those grooves, the idea is that only the corresponding light would activate. I initially forgot to separate the pieces of foil on this top row which would have resulted in all 3 lights being activated without the card being inserted. Luckily I realized this error before I tape things together.
Results
The switch works, but not without issues. In my concept, one would be able to simply lay the cards on the board and have the light respond. In application, I actually have to push down on the card to activate the switch. I think I used too much electrical tape in the crafting and the grooves don’t allow enough allowance for the card to make proper contact.
If I were to attempt this again, I would consider using sturdier materials to put it all together. Wood could be nice. Cards may not be necessary, custom tiles with electrical contacts built into them could be a sleeker look.
This is the Queen card that completes the circuit with the aid of foil strips taped to the sides.
This is the inside of the Snitch Board connected to the breadboard. Here you can see where the power is designed to move between the two devices when the Queen connects the longer strip of foil to one of the smaller pieces.
A demonstration of the 3-Card Monte Snitch Switch