This week, I was able to properly demonstrate the Arduino and plate working in unison with the game in action for the Interim Demo. Before the demo, we made sure the plate replacing the button from last week worked properly. The following picture is taken from a video in action.
Rest of the work mentioned below has mostly been in conjunction with Caio. Upon moving on to the next step of soldering, we found that the Z shape FSR was unresponsive for the sections after the fold. This also resulted in many foot orientations not working. We decided to thoroughly test other possible options for the FSRs. Ultimately, we came to the choice of using the FSRs in parallel (both in arrangement and the circuit). In terms of response, this worked the best. The FSRs can also be cut from the 2ft length and still work properly. For the best results, the plates will be placed such that the FSRs are perpendicular to the the up arrows.
After this issue was dealt with, we soldered some of the FSRs to properly measured length of stranded wires. We also used heat shrinks to prevent the two open ends of soldered wires to touch each other and short circuit. After doing so, we tested the FSRs again to make sure that the heat from the soldering iron did not damage it.
For the next week, I aim to finish soldering rest of the FSRs. I will also try to secure a perfboard from IDeATe. If unable to do so, we will order some. I will design the layout for the perfboard connections and solder the circuit accordingly. With this, the circuit layer of the mat should be mostly complete.