24 Arduinos in one project

This is a picture of my second Arduino project. It was done as part of a University of Michigan initiative to explore arts-driven inquiry. Arts on Earth sponsored multidisciplinary faculty teams to develop work that explores environmental issues. Our team was Karl Daubmann (Associate Professor of Architecture), Werner Dahm (Laboratory for Turbulence & Combustion, Department of Aerospace Engineering and currently the Chief Scientist for the US Airforce at the Pentagon) and myself John Marshall (Assistant Professor in the School of Art & Design). We were given the element of fire to work with.

We began by asking how to design fire, rethinking or repositioning its characteristics and attempting to use its broad range without ever having to strike a match. The resulting installation tries to use the characteristics of fire to extend the way we might consider technology and experience. 'Fire', a cluster of 22 digitally-fabricated, augmented objects that together form a complex system capable of responding to people, digital information, and the physical environment in which they are situated. The piece consists of 22 laser cut aluminum 'cones', 24 Arduinos, 660 super bright LEDs, 17 passive infrared sensors and a whole load of wiring held together by a CNC routed frame. The structure is located in the approach to the University of Michigan's Duderstadt Center.

See here: http://www.behance.net/Gallery/Fire/145571

We have been asked to keep it on site until February and there is talk of making it permanent. We have no idea what the impact of the Michigan weather will be on it. It was never intended to be there that long. So far it has survived the rain and snow. Does anyone have any experience of using Arduinos in freezing conditions? Other than being under the canopy of the building the boards are uncovered.

Cheers,
John.

That's cool, youtube video?

re:cold, the datasheets for all the parts on all the boards have temp ranges, but there is usually a margin of safety even in those, and with so many boards theres a good chance that they all won't get knocked out, at least all at once. Looks like they might trap any electrical heat too.

dcb:

Thanks. I'm actually surprised its all still working. Video:

Wow! a fellow experimentor here in Michigan! I need to swing by there and check this out in person. Im on eastside of Detroit

What makes the fire sound effects I can hear in the video? Are they coming from an Arduino or something else?

The audio is a mix of recordings of fire by Detroit DJ Alvin "Munk" Hill. There are 2 Arduinos, each with PIR sensors (from Parallax) and Wave Shields (from Adafruit Industries). On one end there are 3 minute-long tracks and on the other are 6 twenty second tracks. These are selected randomly when someone walks below. When someone walks through the space it triggers 2 tracks to play. In this way the sound should vary each time someone passes through.

Cheers,
John.