Shortcut to today's assignment
Shortcut to today's lecture
Shortcut to student presentations
Shortcut to student Github repositories
- Scene Shop: 9am - 5pm
- Your ID card provides access to the IM lab 8am-9pm weekdays, and 9am-5pm on weekends.
- IM lab staffed hours (may change towards end of semester):
- 11am - 10pm Monday - Thursday
- 2:30 - 6pm on Fridays
- noon - 6pm on weekends
- Dustin's email: dustinfoster@nyu.edu
- Tony's email: anb6202@nyu.edu
- IM lab User guide for lab equipment and materials (in progress)
-
Course Information
- Course Code and Number: IM-UH 2113
- Course Title: Machine Lab
- Credit Hours: 4
- This is a 14 week course consisting of fourteen 75 minute meetings and fourteen 150 minute meetings
- Instructional time requirements are met by the scheduled meeting times
- Class location: C3-029 (IM Lab in the Art Center)
- Prerequisites: IM-UH 1010 or INTM-SHU 101 Interaction Lab or IMNY-UT 101 Creative Computing or DM-UY 1133 Creative Coding
-
This course counts toward the following NYUAD degree requirements:
- Majors > Interactive Media
- Majors > Interactive Media > Physical Computing
- Minors > Interactive Media
-
Faculty Details
- Professor: Michael Shiloh mshiloh@nyu.edu
- Office hours: Schedule an appointment here
- Office phone number: 02-628-5185
-
Session: Spring 2026
-
Meeting times:
- 8:30 - 11:10 Tuesday
- 9:55 - 11:10 Thursday
-
Instructional time requirements are met by the scheduled meeting times
Course website: https://github.com/michaelshiloh/MachineLab
- This is subject to change
If you missed the first class:
- Read the course syllabus
- Read today's lecture notes
Everyone: Read or review as necessary:
- Sparkfun breadboard tutorial
- Microcontrollers, the basics
- Digital Input & Output
- Analog output
- Analog Input
- Read or watch a tutorial of your own choosing on how to use a servo motor with Arduino
Everyone: Read:
- Read at least one of of the Blink Without Delay Resources
- Read the Adafruit Multitasking Tutorial
You will construct a simple crane structure, in which the horizontal arm can be rotated from side to side using a servo motor.
Since the IM lab is not staffed yet, you may not be able to access the lab, and thus this part of the homework is not mandatory. However I would like you to try to do it, if possible, so as to get some experience with how structures and motors behave.
To access the required tools and materials, some options include:
- If you are a capstone student, you should have access to the lab.
- If you are not a capstone student, coordinate with a capstone student (using Discord!) to work on this assignment at the same time.
- Use your own tools and materials, if you have them
- Coordinate with me (using Discord!) to get access to the lab or to use my tools and work near my office (C3-156)
Details:
- Using cardboard and hot glue, and whatever else you wish, construct a simple crane structure consisting of a vertical column and a horizontal arm. Do not attach the arm to the column yet.
- Attach a servo motor to the column so that it can rotate the arm
- Attach the arm to the servo motor so that the servo motor can rotate the arm
- Use the Arduino servo example sweep to sweep your crane's arm from side to side. You may need to modify the example e.g. to make it sweep slower, or to reduce the extent of the sweep, to avoid damaging your crane.
- If you don't already have one, create a Github account. Instructions are here. I encourage you to name your account with your name to make it easier for me to tell who belongs to each account.
- In your Github account, create a repository called "MachineLab"
- In your MachineLab repository, create a file called "journal"
- You should have received an invitation to join the IM Discord server. If you have not received it, or if it doesn't work, let me know immediately via email. Do not wait until Thursday. If you tell me on Thursday in class that you were not able to join Discord that will count as not having completed the assignment.
- In the class Discord channel, suggest at least one them for the class project
- If you have a modern laptop with only USB-C ports, you will need a USB-C to
USB-A adapter, something like this:
. Bring this to every class meeting.
- Send me email with a link to your MachineLab repository on Github and your Discord screen name
- Read and watch my Soldering Resources
- Practice soldering some wires and some header pins to a circuit board from the "practice" bin. Bring the board to class and show us your five best wires and five best pins.
- Read and watch my Debugging Resources
- Read and watch my Digital Multimeter (DMM) resources
- Build a circuit with one servo motor, one potentiometer, and one momentary switch (often called a pushbutton). Draw a schematic (hand drawn is fine) and upload a picture to your journal.
- Load the example from the Adafruit Multitasking
Tutorial
which uses the new class
Sweeperto cause the servo motor to sweep without using thedelay()function - Modify the code to read the switch, and make the servo motor stop sweeping
when the button is not pressed.
Commit this code to your Github repo when you first start working on it. Once you get this working, commit the working code. Include a link to this code in your journal. - Modify the code further to use the reading from the potentiometer to control the speed of the servo sweeps. Commit this code to your Github repo, and provide a link in your journal
- Describe in your journal any issues you had and how you approached the debugging. Describe the tools and method you used to help understand and solve any problems.
- Visit and inspect the project from two years ago. In your journal, document:
- For each module, try to identify what's working and what isn't
- Describe how you might start debugging each non-working issue
- What is making it harder to debug? What would make it easier?
- For some features, it might be hard to know whether it's malfunctioning or perhaps working as intended, but is not a good design. Document any of these which you identify.
- Make an entry in your journal about your project. This is a very early,
very rough draft, and is not a commitment to any of these. It is an
opportunity to explore and be creative.
- What game (or games) would you choose?
- Create a mood board for your project, perhaps using images from the game, or other images
- Sketch out some ideas for your project. What features might your project have?
- Do the best of your ability, sketch out details of how you might activate your project mechanically
- Read Circuit 5A: Motor
Basics of the SparkFun Inventor's Kit Experiment Guide.
- When you get to the section called "Integrated Circuits (ICs) and Breakout Boards", pause and read the Wikipedia article on the H-bridge, up to but not including the section titled "Primary coil driver of switching power converter"
- Go back and finish the rest of Circuit 5A: Motor Basics
- Try to understand the logic of the H-bridge and how the code controls it
- From now on we might be working in the Scene Shop or the IM lab fabrication
area, and both of these spaces require suitable clothes for safety:
- Closed toed shoes
- No loose clothing (smocks can be provided)
- No necklaces or bracelets or other dangling jewelry
- Expect to get dusty (sawdust, metal shavings)
Now that you've seen some mechanisms, think about how you would animate one of the features of your project. Sketch it out as best you can, and add it to your journal. Can be hand-drawn or computer drawn or copied from somewhere or even AI generated. Think about how you will make it, because that's what we will start doing on Thursday.
- Finish the motor exercise we started in class. Document your success in your journal. If you had any issues, explain them and how you overcame them. Include a schematic and your code. Use markdown to format your code properly. You can look in the lecture notes to see an example.
- In your last homework assignment (the one due Thursday 5 February 2026 above) you designed your first mechanism. Your assignment now is to prototype that mechanism using your motor. This is a very rough prototype which you will use only to validate that your design can animate the feature of your project as you had envisioned. Use cardboard and hot glue, and other materials as needed. At some point you will need a hub to attach to your motor to connect it to your mechanism. I will provide these on Saturday. As always, document your work in your journal.
- Many of you did not complete the homework that was due today (Tuesday). I want you to do it before Thursday so that we can discuss in class. If you find that the mechanism you chose is too difficult, you may choose a different mechanism.
- If you did the homework already, think about refining it or prototyping another mechanism. If your motor is already attached to the first you can do the second one without a motor. Or if you are feeling ambitious I am happy to give you another motor - write to me on the class channel and I will get one to you.
Working in your groups:
- Brainstorm together and come up with the mechanised features that will be central to your project. Choose at least two, but you may have more ideas as backup plans or as additional features. Expect these to change as you learn more about mechanisms.
- If you have more than two, identify the two features that are most critical, that without them your project fails.
- Of these two mechanisms, choose one to prototype.
- Prototype this one mechanism functionally. You may use any of the techniques we have learned about, or any others available to you. Be very cautious of depending on 3D printing or laser cutting because you have limited access to them. Homework delayed because of limited access to these resources is not an acceptable excuse.
- I will be on campus on both Saturday and Sunday from 3:30-6pm. I expect I'll be either in the IM lab, or the scene shop, or my office.
- I will not be available on Monday. Homework delayed because you didn't ask me for help is not an acceptable excuse.
- Since there are only four modules, you have a bit more space. I'll add the dimensions to this file tomorrow after measuring.
- I have a range of different hubs for attaching things to motors that are much stronger than the plastic ones in the consumables bin.
- I have stepper motors of different sizes and
strengths, DC gear
motors of different sizes and strengths, and servo motors of different sizes and strength.
If you are unfamiliar with a particular type, I will show you how to use it.
Build one of the main mechanisms for your project.
- It must be functional and be built to last one year of intermittent use.
- Decorations, painting, and other aesthetic elements are not required and are discouraged so that the focus is on functionality and reliability.
- It should be built on a stable base ready to be installed on your group's modular platform.
- Circuitry can use the solderless breadboard
- Wires to any motors or sensors must be long enough to allow flexible placement on your group's modular platform.
- You have access to tools in the IM lab only while the lab is staffed
- Scene shop hours are reduced during Ramadan
- I will be available at various times by request, and for the next two weekends between 3:30-6pm on both Saturdays and Sundays.
In your journal, document your progress
- Start each entry with the date
- Add the date to the first entry you made when we switched to individual projects
- Create an entry for our first meeting. Date it, and describe briefly what we talked about and what your next steps would be
- Add an entry (or multiple entries) when you work on these next steps, and describe your progress
- In all your entries you are welcome to add photographs, hand drawn pictures, links, references, etc.