Valli and vibrotactile buttons

Valli explores vibrotactile button

Finished knitting another elephant button in Carmarthen last night.

Details at: http://toys4elephants.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/vibrotactile-controls.html

Skomer comes to London

Skomer

Skomer (named after puffin island off the coast of Pembrokeshire) arrived today.  Her mum's a Jack Russell and her dad's a Yorkshire terrier so we assume she'll keep the ubiquitous rats on their toes.

Probably a good squirrel chaser too...

Foot pedal button

We visited Skanda Vale again on Saturday to catch up with Valli.  Brother Stefan has been making her a hosepipe football - she's been having some fun with it, but only plays when there is someone else joining in.  She looks like a gigantic puppy.  http://www.skandavale.org/elephant-plays-football/

Foot pedal button

This time, we were testing a giant button made from an old sewing machine foot pedal. 

This would normally provide a variable output, but I simplified it to ON/OFF and we created a wooden housing that surrounded the case so that Valli wouldn't be able to grasp the button with her trunk, only push it.

The button was bolted to the fence across the balcony. 

Valli explores the button casing

Wire out the back (on the non-elephant side) connected Arduino to my laptop and activated  a Processing sketch that played a 1 second audio sample.

We tested a low rumble, didgeridoo, tuba, double-bass and contra-bassoon.

Valli seemed interested in exploring the shape and contours of the new button, but was reluctant to push it.  Brother Stefan thinks that an alternative embedded sensor that just requires touch will be more successful with acoustic stimulation.

CHI-Play 2015

Work in Progress presentation at CHI-Play 2015 - The ACM SIGCHI Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play.

"Designing Interactive toys for Elephants"
http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=2810327&CFID=551862082&CFTOKEN=78821018

African elephants

Bachelors at Erindi

Halali Moringa waterhole

In Namibia, self-drive and camping.

As we attempt to leave Erindi Game Reserve on 15th August, a pair of males are taking apart a tree they pushed over at the side of the road.  Vehicles stop and wait for them to move before driving slowly past.





Later in the week, we arrive at Halali Camp in Etosha National Park, just in time to watch Moringa waterhole as dusk falls.

A single male is drinking, but two rhinos approach and wait for him to move.  When he moves away, they take their turn at the waterhole.

Playing at Rietfontein

On 19th August, we see the herd playing at Rietfontein waterhole, all the calves splashing in the water.

They stay here for some time, enjoying themselves, climbing on top of one another and squirting water, rolling around.  Some of the cows join in but they are not all so playful.

Squirts and splashes

Go away

On 20th August, we visit our last waterhole at Okuakuejo where some strange social dynamics are taking place.  The herd have their backs to a single male and are trying to push him away from the group.

He's really persistent and eventually, one of the cows charges and wrestles with him, but he still comes back for more.  Only when the matriarch comes over and nudges him away does he finally leave.

I've told you once already - push off

Not sure if he's a youngster who wants to stay with the hard, but is now too old and needs to fend for himself with the other bachelors, or if he's been attracted by some pheromones and the ladies are protecting their sister from his advances.

Tracking desert elephants

Desert elephants heading into wetlands, Damara region

Volunteering project with EHRA (Elephant Human Relations Aid) in Namibia - we started by painting a dormitory and roads signs for a Damara boarding school, meeting teachers and local children.

Then we went trekking after desert elephants and camping in the bush for a few days.

Road sign - English version

EHRA work with the local Damara community, educating people about the benefits of providing rights of access across the land for herds of elephants (who respect no man-made boundaries).  Volunteering projects offer something back to the villages and farms where elephants have broken fences and knocked down wells.

Cow and calf, Damara region

Digital Toybox 2015

This year's Faculty of Life Sciences and Computing annual summer show, Digital Toybox 2015, took place on 11/12th June.

Information and photos can be seen here:
http://www.thinkmakeplay.co.uk/?page_id=10
https://www.flickr.com/photos/thinkmakeplay/sets/72157653057800024

Valli and the pink button

Valli meets the boys

Half-term trip to Skanda Vale to meet Valli and test out the water valve system.

I constructed a simple plastic button from layers of tinfoil with foam sandwiched in the middle - similar to a dancemat - requiring a gentle press to make the circuit.  We fixed it to the ceiling next to Valli's enclosure so she could reach it with her trunk. 

Pressing the pink button

On the floor above, the button was connected to an Arduino input pin.  The output activated a water valve via a relay switch, sending a strong spray of cool water along a hosepipe and down onto the rubber mat where Valli usually has a wash.

The water was on for a 30 second burst, then had to be re-activated.  She was persuaded to use the button a few times, but moved sharply away from the water spray - obviously not a strong motivation!

Brother Stefan will plumb in the pipework properly so we can test different interfaces that she might (or might not) like to use.

Valli plays with buttons

Making elephant buttons

Back to Skanda Vale this week to visit Valli and Brothers Stefan and Peter.  This time I took my homemade button hacks with me - made from pieces of drainpipe mounted on some wood.

The idea is that Valli will investigate the pipes and in doing so, approach capacitance sensors mounted at the base - these are made from tinfoil and plywood sandwiches and can be calibrated to act as inputs before they are actually touched.

As she approaches each button with her trunk tip, a different tone is produced.  Using a tiny piezo buzzer, it is not possible to generate the low and interesting sounds (didgeridoo) that we tested on our last visit.

Fritzing layout of device with Arduino microcontroller

First attempt - too small

The Skanda Vale elephant barn has some useful browsing holes, so we closed one and dismantled the original frame, then fixed the button system in place.  It was soon obvious that the 20cm pipe I had used was too small for Valli's trunk, so Brother Peter and I resolved to build a bigger version the following day.

We found some more wood and larger dimension pipe and made a simpler 2 button version for Valli to try.

Valli's trunk exploring the buttons

Brother Stefan coaxed Valli to probe the hole using a piece of banana at the end of the button, which meant that she obviously continued to search the buttons for more food treats.  This meant we couldn't show that she was interested in the sound being produced, but it gave us a good idea of the practicalities of future button production.

Valli takes a break from button pressing

Plans to try and make a shower control for Valli, so she can activate the shower by herself from inside her barn.

I'm hoping to make a family trip back to the Ashram at Easter to install shower controls.  The interesting part for me will be if we can offer her a range of different kinaesthetic experiences with the water and allow her to choose - squirt, spray, drip etc.  This will mean she will have to be able to differentiate between the buttons.

Blair Drummond Safari Park

Mondula heads outside

I went up to Stirling during half term week to meet Chris Hales, Head of Large Mammals, and Alistair Gillies, Chief Research Officer at Blair Drummond Safari Park.

Blair Drummond keep two African elephants, Mondula and Toto.  
We chatted about concepts for providing elephants with alternative enrichment, using technology to enable various systems.  I'm still keen to pursue acoustic stimulation, while Ally and Chris would like to offer control over different features in the environment, such as heat lamps and showers.

The inner walls of the barn have ready-made holes, designed for browsing.  This means that a system could potentially be mounted on the other side, so the elephants would need to reach through with their trunks to use controls.  This would be a good idea, as it would prevent them from using their full strength on the device.

Mondula at the fence

Chris showed me dents in a stainless steel bar 3m above the ground, caused by Mondula tusking.  He suggested that anything mounted inside the walls would have to be encased in a steel box to be elephant-proof!

Plans to follow up this visit with some concept sketches and suggestions for future research.