Made by Enrique Hernandez and David Soto

Supplies

In the process of making this I used:

4 High Torque Servos
8 LEDs from a LED Strip
Copperboard

The data I used came from the Chicago Data Portal

API was Crime API

Step 1: Function

In building the project my partner and I decided to make the windows open and close. To get this effect I used one servo for each window, having them be opened at the beginning. So using the crime API from the City of Chicago database we use that to get the amount of crimes committed in a day at the beginning at 00:00:00 to the end of the day. Since the API updates information 8 days from the current date, I used the data from 9 days ago from the recent date to update my crime data too. With this I just gathered the number of crimes committed per day and from their created thresholds to affect the diorama.

Step 2: Servo Movement

After getting the data I now decided on the functions of the Servos. The intent with this project was to have the windows open up to symbolize a neighborhood free from violence, and if a windows closed to symbolize a barrier of disconnect from what is going outside. So to achieve this affect I decided to make one pair of windows close when it reached a threshold of 500 or more crimes, and if it reached a threshold of 650 or more crimes it would close the second pair of windows. The attachment of the Servos was used through arrays to better organize the code. So using this there would be 3 different outcomes, no windows closed, one pair of windows closed, or all windows closed.

Step 3: Final Setup

So to make the final diorama have more impact I decided to make to different patterns of lights to happen within a threshold of crime. Similar to the servos they would light up differently if at 500 crimes and 650 crimes. In this case I had to specifically make sure that when it was over 650 crimes in Chicago it did not light up the pattern for only 500 or above but for only that of 650 crimes or above. So the final setup would have it so that if between 500 to 650 crimes were committed, it would only close one pair of windows, and have the strip of LEDs only flash red throughout. If it was above 650 crimes it would close both window pairs and flash red, white, and blue lights inside the house. These videos outline what was stated above. So using the API I was able to showcase the poison caused by crime on a single household through this symbolic way people escape the environment around them.