My Midterm proposal is a pendulum switch. The switch is a wooden frame, with a wire hanging down the middle that swings a metal soda can. The soda can is manually swung, and if it reaches a certain height in either direction it touches the aluminum foil contact pads. If the circuit is completed on the left side, a lightbulb will illuminate a YES sign. If the circuit is completed on the right side, a NO sign will illuminate.
The system My original idea was for a pendulum apparatus that represents a coin that is often flipped to make decisions. The result of a coin flip can be rigged by the human if he or she is skilled, which is the artistic statement of my work.For the coin to be flipped, I needed a single switch relay to memorize the state as the pendulum swung each time, but was only able to figure out the double switch relay as diagrammed in our lab. Since I wasn't able to use the relay, I switched my idea to a "Life is Good" meter. This was still a pendulum apparatus, but every time the pendulum swung all the way down, it metal foil would connect the contacts and a 5v light bulb would light up at the top. It would illuminate a hand painted sign that said "Life is Good". Electrical Details: I used the 12v wall plug to power the device, and connected it to the breadboard. On the breadboard, the 12v's was converted to 5v's using the 7805 transistor, and a lengthy wire (about 1.5 feet),
