On the afternoon of January 8, 2019, the three-day Arduino Interactive Workshop led by Ziv Zeev Cohen at the Zhejiang University of Media and Communications’ School of Design officially commenced.

The all-English teaching style of Ziv posed a challenge for the students, especially with the technical terms that were hard to understand. However, through Ziv’s patient repetition and Wei Rong‘s careful translation, students gained a considerable understanding of the basic functions and uses of the Arduino board.

As the Arduino course progressed, students became proficient in operating the Arduino board and began to generate many innovative design ideas.

Above is a work by Ziv Ze’ev Cohen – “Machine 010 Long Memory”

As the course approached its conclusion, students formed groups to create original works using the Arduino board. Based on the varying progress of each group, Ziv provided suggestions and patiently helped students solve technical challenges.

Ziv highly praised the works of students from the 16th class, Geng Weiwei, and from the 17th class, Xie Ziqing and Tian Zhen.

While students were deeply engaged in their studies, Song Jia, the Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the School of Design, visited the Arduino workshop classroom, offering warm greetings and inquiring about the students’ learning progress. After conversing with Ziv Zeev Cohen, Wei Rong, and Gao Muxing, Secretary Song highly praised the learning outcomes.

The three-day course quickly came to an end. Ziv not only imparted knowledge but also emphasized the integrity and perseverance of being a designer. Surely, after this experience, students gained a deeper understanding of what true design is.

Students’ ideas were imaginative and diverse. However, having ideas was not enough; students transformed into skilled craftsmen and created their unique works. Now, let’s take a look at their creations.

Green mountains and clear waters, misty rain, embodying the unique Jiangnan atmosphere of China, inspired this small scene. The lights on the boat flicker, creating a mysterious feeling. The flags hanging inside the boat act like a compass, guiding the boat towards the distance.

This is a night light designed for children, with the concept of projecting the house, birds, and stars above onto the wall to create a simple children’s painting.

This story light consists of two parts: the cloud light above sets the atmosphere, while the projection light below projects six different elements that can be manually selected. Using the learned technology, the projection light can be manually rotated. The six different elements can be displayed in different orders, thus presenting different storylines.

The storyline is inspired by three scenes from Dante’s Divine Comedy: Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven. Purgatory was too cruel, so it was replaced with the human world. Three keywords were extracted: Hell – violence, Human world – desire, Heaven – love. Different storylines will reflect different keywords.

Everything about the story light can be chosen freely. Rotating the projection light allows for the selection of different elements, and the order of appearance can string together different storylines, leading to different insights. The cloud light in mid-air can also adjust its flashing frequency and brightness based on the tension of the story. Thus, it is a small light that allows us to choose and imagine our own stories.

Designed based on a Rubik’s Cube shape, this is an interactive money box that can engage with people through Arduino programming. When a coin is placed inside, it interrupts the connection between the photoresistor and the light, triggering a switch. The middle layer of the Rubik’s Cube rotates 180 degrees, and after the coin passes through, the middle layer automatically returns to its resting state, achieving the purpose of human-computer interaction.

Text and Images | 17th Product Design Class

Editor | Wang Siyao

Initial Review | Zhu Qiang

Responsible Review | Gao Muxing

Final Review | Song Jia

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