Physical computing is about creating a conversation between the physical world and the virtual world of the computer, is about prototyping with electronics, turning sensors, actuators and microcontrollers into materials for designers and artists. Much of the challenge of physical computing is converting various forms of energy, such as light, heat, or pressure, into the electronic energy that a computer can understand.
This course is presented as the starting point to learn the theoretical foundations of Physical computing techniques. Through a theoretical and practical methodology, based on Laboratory examples, students can learn to develop simple projects. It involves the design of interactive objects that can communicate with humans using sensors and actuators controlled by a behavior implemented as software running inside a microcontroller.
We will use Arduino as the main technology for the course, since it is an open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software for the creation of interactive objects or environments.
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Physical Computing Fundamentals is a 50 hours subject for IAAC‘s Master in Advance Interaction.
Teacher: Alex Posada from MID
Students: Bert Balcaen, Nazaret Cano Megias, Lucas De Sordi, Habib Furqan, Antanaityte Gerda, Martin Lukac, Elamrawy Moushira and Rafael Vargas Correa.
Course contents: Tools and basic electronics, working with sensors and actuators, programming microcontrollers and examples of interaction with different software platforms.