Restorative Environment Theory

Link to article explaining restorative environment theory.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/2923614/EPc06.pdf

DIY Robotics in the home - Steven Danilowicz

The DIY Robotics community has taken advantage of several low cost opportunities to showcase their inventiveness.  The community uses devices such as Arduino, Rasbperry Pi, Phidgets, and .NET Gadgeteer to run various types of motors, servos, and sensors in a way that enables them to create any range of projects.  These projects may range from a network controlled car to a hack of an existing home system.  Regardless of the project, the flexibility of the platform as well as the openness of the hobbyist and making community are what make this a very strong and vibrant area of interest. 

This world is divided into two different focuses: Machine focused and Computer focused projects.  To help explain the difference between these two, we can examine the difference of the capabilities of a microcontroller (Arduino) versus a microprocessor (Raspberry Pi).

So, a microprocessor such as a Raspberry Pi lends itself to more computer driven and "brainier" processes.  Meanwhile, microcontrollers such as the Arduino, are not as good in the processing heavy portions, but are excellent at driving a variety of different sensors and motors.  In the end, it all depends on which project you are looking to accomplish.

Here's an example of the computing power of 40 Raspberry Pis put to use in a scanner:

Very computation heavy, but this doesn't necessarily mean that Raspberry Pi must be used in such a manner.  You can use it in something as simple as a quadcopter:

More Raspberry Pi examples HERE

In terms of the Arduino, home hacks are more common, as are simpler, more mechanical machines rather than computer type machines.  In relation to the home environment, several people have hacked the HomeEasy application.  HomeEasy is a set of hardware that one can tie into his or her home in order to control outlets, lights, and temperature of the house.  

How to hack it.

Arduino Instructables Page. Arduino Playground.

Raspberry Pi and Arduino are the simpler boards that can connect with basic parts you may find online or at RadioShack.  Phidgets are another example that uses plug-and-play technology with sensors and plugins that are already wired up and ready for use in your project.

Syllabus- Problem Statement

Domestic lifestyles have become increasingly automatized since the industrial revolution, however domestic space has yet to fully embrace the seemingly inevitable engagement with interactive technology.  It remains an applied layer of interfaces mostly tied to internet capable devices, televisions, laptops and phones. These devices however increase our propensity to not leave our work at the office, and to increase our anxiety and stress.  See Matt Killingsworth’s Ted Talk (http://www.npr.org/2014/02/14/267188672/are-we-happier-when-we-stay-in-the-moment). The author’s propose to use the theory of restorative environment as a base for how we can rethink our environment’s using the idea that restorative environments can “improve concentration, impulse control, delay gratification, as well as medical benefits such as improved recovery rates form surgery”. The characteristics of these environments are in many ways polemically different from the kinds of domestic spaces we tend to live in. This semester we will explore methods for using ubiquitous computing and robotics to reconsider the domestic situation.

The ubiquity and inevitable inclusion of robotics in the home allows us to further consider large and small scale physical interactions between a home interface and the physical environment.  We propose to assume that robotics will become far cheaper and more prolific, with increased precision and autonomy and ask you to consider how both stationary, ground (Roomba) and flight(Quad-copters, drones) based robotics could also be used to enhance the domestic experience.

We will use the paper “The Heterogeneous Home” by research at Intel in Berkeley and the Univ. Of California (Aipperspach, Hooker and Woodruff) as a starting point to consider how domestic lifestyles might be changed (for the better) by the inclusion of disparate points of technological interfaces which are increasingly autonomous, and which create “restorative environments”