Difference between revisions of "Joel Rull"

Revision as of 13:16, 3 February 2010

Joel Rull

VisArts: Media: Computing major. Has been drawing since childhood, and recently got into photography and abstract design, and broadening his horizons of what falls into the category of "art." Originally wanted to get into graphic design professionally, and made a huge mistake by going to UCSD instead of some other college that has a more practical design program. Took Vis147A because it was a requirement, and was pleasantly surprised to find that there are genuinely interesting and possibly even practical classes available in the VisArts department. Future plans involve being in a creative director-type position for a small media production company. Hates traditional corporate culture and plans to avoid wearing neckties or uncomfortable dress shoes for his whole life.

Failing that, hopefully the experience earned from this class will enable the construction of an army of killer robots.

Prior experience with electronics: Some automotive wiring, mostly bypassing malfunctioning parts of his decrepit old Honda's electrical systems.

Things I'd like to tweak:

The gauges in my car. A lot of newer cars are set up so that all the gauges do a full sweep when the car starts. It's kind of pointless, but I think it looks cool. It can't be that hard to do, right?

The autofocus on this lens is slow and noisy. Could a more powerful AF motor be installed?

These are fun to play with ^_^ There's tons of off-the-shelf components for improving performance, but it might be cheaper to do a home-brew project. And maybe a reflex system that automatically jerks the steering the right way when it's about to tip over.

Casio G-Shocks come in a wide variety of models, with different features and styles, but collectors always wish they could have all of their favorite features in their favorite package. Could new features be added to an existing module and still be accessible through the 4-button interface?

It's a total pain in the ass to reset the perpetual calendar mechanism on this watch when the battery dies. It involves opening the case and using a pin to short several contacts to the body and getting feedback from the gestures the second hand makes. Can a device be built to interface directly with the "calendar chip" or whatever is in there so I can just input the date with a computer?

Mid-Term

I have rigged a laser pointer to fire while the camera is autofocusing. There is not enough voltage coming out of the camera's remote shutter release cable to trip the relay, so I had to add a 3V power supply (some button-cell batteries). The relay runs in parallel to whatever circuit is inside the camera.