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| What is Electromagnetic Education? |
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| – deconstructing interesting artifacts – |
| IN the process of taking electronic things apart, many wonderful designs are encountered beneath plastic 'blackbox' facades. Some of the following finds are an example of what can be found, or located online as artifacts at surplus shops, that can bring another dimension to understanding the importance of electronics by way of the artistic design involved in scientific and technological objects. This view of the internal or hidden aspects of electronics is a counterpoint to other means of presenting 'finished' electromagnetic ideas as demonstrated in the Electromagnetic Assemblage online exhibit of art and artifacts. |
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THE MEMs assembly is the 'state of the art' today (2004) and a brief description of why it may be of interest to study such a discarded artifact hopefully makes itself very clear. As stated by the surplus website, The 'micro' electro-mechanical device pictured above is for a video projector in which a mirror (left side) less than 1 inch square, contains over 1 million microscopic mirrors. "Each mirror represents one pixel. When a mirror receives a signal it moves slightly, directing the light striking it to hit a lens. A typical projector uses 3 of these units (RGB)." (Electronics Goldmine) |
 Micro-electromechanical (MEMs) assembly from Electronics Goldmine. ©-free, photography by electronetwork.org, 2004. |
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WHEN examined with a computer microscope at 200x magnification there is still no visible trace or evidence of the million or so separate mirrors, as either they are too small or a mirrored surface is difficult to view with such a technique.
It is interesting to note the scale and orders of magnitude in manufacturing such a 'micro' electronic and mechanical device. And, that it is completely computer controlled by a way of a flexible strip with 100 wires that lead from the MEMs mirror to a 100 pin electrical connector at its opposite end. If hooked up to its special integrated circuit it would likely be able to send signals though 'one hundred' electrical wires, to control over 'one million' mirrors, or pixels, at the speed of video (e.g. 24/30+ frames second, at high resolution). Though the artifact is just one of the red, green, or blue MEMs needed for color projection of light, it is still amazing to consider what magic this device makes possible in such a simple, even elegant looking electromagnetic artifact.
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MICE are fascinating to take apart to learn how they work. And a ball mouse may have a sculptural surprise inside which is something to behold and keep around as a piece of found-art sculpture. It is unknown if various ball mice have the same exact mechanism and its unique aesthetic appeal, and if optical mice remain interesting as a kinetic artifact.
"1968: Douglas Engelbart [b Portland OR, Jan 30 1925] demonstrates during an autumn conference on computers in San Francisco the computer mouse... [It] is later adopted by Apple for the Lisa and Macintosh computers and then spreads throughout the industry." (p.402, The Timetables of Technology ISBN 0-671-76918-9) ALONG with a microcontroller and a switch, the ball mouse assembly interacts with the computer screen cursor by tracking the movement of a rubber ball in a plastic assembly. When the ball inside the 'mousecage' moves, so do the two perpendicular wheels which enable two dimensional (horizontal and vertical) screen control by tracking movements of the three dimensional ball, in time. Each of these encoder wheels has a series of small holes along their periphery which measure distance and speed by detecting the passage of (LED) light through holes in the encoder wheels by light-sensitive photodiodes. (The encoder wheels would seem related to a tachometer). |
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ALL movement data is fed into the pins of an integrated circuit (IC) chip inside of the mouse casing which is interprets the subsequent electrical signals and interruptions of light detected from the encoder wheels, which in turn direct the movements of a cursor representation. IF one ever comes across a used computer mouse in a box, pick it up and take it apart, it is a great introduction and a relatively simple way to see inside of electronic devices to better understand how they function. Using a 'how things work' reference book or online resource helps demystify most questions that would be encountered. And if an old mouse is not available oftentimes surplus stores will sell such artifacts at a very low price, which is a great investment in hands-on learning, and a good way of developing a sense of things electronic, as there are some ingenious plastic mechanisms involved in today's devices. (bc 9.11.2004) |
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