Sensor Technology Submissions

The Individual Project

You are required to propose and implement a project using ideas and resources that you have developed during the course, if appropriate performing it live during a specially arranged event at the end of the semester.

Some Ideas

Throughout the course you'll be provided with basic ideas and templates that you can use to develop your own material. You'll be expected to propose ideas and projects to be considered for the Individual Project. If you prefer, tasks can be provided for you.

• Go through the examples and tutorials, and choose something that appeals and/or interests you. Use this as a template for developing your own project. You'll also be provided with a number of templates for you to use if you wish.
• Consider ways in which you control software and 'real' musical instruments and plan to replicate some of the features of these systems.
• Take an ideas that you've heard or seen elsewhere and try to replicate it or some part of it.
• Take a more complex idea and develop a scheme to show 'proof of concept'.
• Remember that you're unlikely to come up with something that's fully and flawlessly functional in every respect at this stage, although you'll get many extra marks if you do!
• If you really can't think of anything, then the default task is to create a controller for a musical function implemented in Max or SuperCollider. Your controller should utilise at least four sensors (for instance, infrareds, potentiometers, flex, pressure) of at least two different types.

The Performance/Demonstration

Bring a recorded version of your piece should there be an irredeemable technical failure on the day. Please ensure that you have tested your software sufficiently so that should problems arise you will be able to solve them quickly and efficiently.

The Documentation

All assessment items should be accompanied by brief but comprehensive documentation. This should include photographs and videos of each task, including screenshots of any code that you have used. Please ensure that any videos you include are compressed (e.g. mp4), rather than dv. We are not interested in super-high-quality video for assessment purposes. Your complete submission should not need to be greater in size than 300MB with reasonable compression.

• A recorded version of your composition, performance or demonstration;
• Written description of aims, intentions and outcomes;
• Critical evaluation of composition and patch;
• Guidelines on how to use the item (these should be checked with a colleague to ensure that they are properly usable). Please include photographs/videos of the item in operation, including any software or firmware developed.

Deductions

The 50% weighting for the Individual Project includes the following potential deductions:

• 10% for non-performance without good reason (so, should your submission receive 60% you will receive a mark of 50%.
• 10% for non-submission of a recorded version of your performance
• Failure to submit either of the above will result in failure of the module
• 10% for submission of poorly presented documentation.

Submission should be made physically on CD or DVD (Your submission shouldn't need to be greater than 300MB using suitable compression. Please don't stick any labels onto the discs.