We now have a name for the overall project, and more importantly, WE DID IT!
Check out the finished product (and what feels like my baby at this point) here!
Su and I have been updating our progress as we go on twitter (check out mine here, and Su's here). But along the way I've taken heaps of timelapses and other random videos, so I've combined them to make a short video (not really a vlog as I planned since I wasn't consistent enough in talking to the camera, whoops).
The past few weeks have consisted of full days of sitting at our makeshift maker table, solving problem after problem. While Su was working on the code, I was working on the circuits (first the buttons, then adding the wind sensor and potentiometer). I also spent quite a lot of time on youtube, google and Arduino forums for DIY MIDI controller projects people had completed in the past, so I could understand the basics of the code, and see how much was possible. While I understand the basics of the language and the logic behind the code, Su was able to complete the task of rewriting the original source code from Notes and Volts.
In addition to designing the wind sensor (which involved making a drone-type propellor, attaching it to a DC motor, then copying a temperature sensor circuit I had seen on youtube to allow the change in voltage to be read by the computer), sourcing the components for the circuits and working out the most efficient circuits for our controller, I kept in contact with the other members of the group to coordinate the various parts of the project. To help put it all together, I created the wixsite, so that the intention of the project, the theory/thinking behind it and all of the resources could be available and clearly set out to people. (See this post where this process started). When designing the site, I tried to keep the overall vision for the project at the forefront, then leading smoothly to the resources we created that teachers would need to implement this project in schools.
The more I worked on the project, the more I could see the benefits of the pedagogies we had studied, particularly the maker movement and PBL. By the end of the project, I believe in the potential of MYOD and hope that some day (in some form) it will be implemented in schools.
For now, time to get ready to present this to the world at the PoL!