PVDF & microcontrollers - (5)

[brian carroll]

it is already established my skills do not allow exploration of
these issues though i have some basic observations to share
about what exists based on web searches that may quicken
research for those interested who are new to PVDF sensors.

first observation is that a development kit exists for those who
have knowledge and interest and want to start experimenting,
[0] though it does not appear to include cantilever hole designs
of the sensor, that was mentioned in terms of tuning antennas.
still, it could be useful for exfiltrating data or capturing signals
sent via infra- or ultrasound, and also has a large film element
that has been used as a speaker in various online demos. for
instance, seemingly you could wire up a PVDF sensor along-
side computer chassis and monitor signals via its vibrations,
or powersupply, perhaps keyboard or keystrokes or whatnot.
likewise, power various tools via energy harvesting of these
same approaches else discover free-energy approach based
in shared resonance not coupled to another material beyond
the antenna itself if tuned to a primary and matched source.

it seems Arduino and other microcontroller platforms are for
those already saavy in programming and they and other such
programmable integrated circuit platforms represent a large
population of developers, professionals, experimenters, and
hobbyists, and other enthusiasts. this seems equivalent in
kind to the early era of electronics with crystal radio kits
occurring in an engineering centric culture that grew into
the early computer industry via ham radio experimenters,
and those who mail ordered and constructed electronic kits,
today involving the internet, online stores, discussion boards
in the realm of advanced computing, everyone having their
own programmable 'computer-based' development platform,
and a tremendous kit of parts to choose from, to further explore.
including ideas, goals, projects, hypotheses, prototypes, etc.

the reason for stating this is that a certain level of literacy may
exist for many who are computer literate in the advanced sense
of a cypherpunks context, knowing hardware and software and
ideas beyond this, into mathematics and linguistic concepts,
and so a high-fidelity understanding and awareness may exist
that enables greater ease of use within the ready-to-program
devices that have limited documentation, and can present a
large learning curve for those starting without such experience.

thus, straight-away to mention that Sparkfun [1] carries various
PVDF sensors, example, that can then be added into whatever
microcontroller may exist capable of interfacing with the sensor.

the thing is, in researching this, it appears there is potentially
limited data for people just starting out, for how to go about this,
whereas those already fluent may know how to put it all together.
apparently instructions can be lacking and this is mentioned with
respect to another approach for those like myself who need more
step-by-step instructions and learning tutorials to know what to
do and how to think about things, to build up awareness via
making circuits on the microcontroller versus using it for an
already determined objective. and there are general kits to do
this for Arduino, in particular a 37 module sensor kit [2], so it
is potentially an experimenter's paradise, if knowing how to get
everything functioning, having a plan and enough information.

i do not know enough about Arduino to know other competitors
in the same domain though it appears there are many others
(Beagleboard, etc) so that was used just as an example of
several different options that exist where these piezo sensors
can be integrated into the existing programmable platform,
to custom-build and craft circuits, as is already being done.

(note: if i am using 'platform' in the wrong way, my apologies,
it is the nearest word i know of to describe these tools)


so essentially it is a 'nothing new here' situation for those who
know all about this technology, though potentially to question
the potential for a piezo film sensor beyond existing boundaries
and perhaps for advanced unmentioned cryptologic applications.

the issue then is to question an electronic component, this
piezo film tab as vibrational cantilever, the piezo element that
exists beyond the circular disk and functions in other territory
and in other configurations, including also piezo coaxial cable
(and again, its potential use as an antenna of other dynamics)


and so, for instance, the datasheets are included on some of
the urls below, to provide more information if interested in
evaluating if the given parameters may allow experimentation
within the realms considered, say detecting signals patterns
via vibrational 'contact' versus acoustic microphone. [3]

so that is perhaps the majority approach for those already
up to speed, though everyone may not have the same approach
or others may want to learn about this, and thus a programmable
microcontroller platform I have successfully learned from before,
both about electronics and software programming of breadboard
circuits is the Parallax BASIC Stamp Activity Kit [4]. essentially
it is a platform for educating people about microcontrollers and
provides an indepth tutorial and various circuits as part of a kit,
and support forums for experimenters and developers, as with
Arduino, which may have its own 'learn electronics' kit, though
it seems Parallax has focused on this educational sector and
providing materials for schoolchildren, hobbyists, and up, to the
professional sector prototyping and development solutions, so
is perhaps unique in its tutorial or hands-on learning approach
versus what may require additional instruction else a different
more self-guided approach otherwise, with other pathways.

(trying to be fair, not advertise, yet also provide information
about the offerings. also: if other PVDF vendors, they are few
or do not have information i could locate in repeated searches)

this is why I mention the Parallax kit that includes a fundamental
course in learning circuits via a programmable breadboard. this
same PVDF sensor [5] can be used with this platform, and it
also has additional data on the commands related to it as part
of a User Guide for that specific tutorial approach, [6] in that it
may provide more structure than other less structured approaches
though perhaps this is more related to the overall framework of
learning to use a microcontroller itself, where for some a more
all encompassing approach may be required prior to interfacing
with the PVDF in terms of programming functioning of a circuit.

and likewise, following this same general theme, the Sensors
Sampler Pack for the Parallax BASIC Stamp microcontroller
includes a PVDF element along with other sensor options. [7]
the reason for providing examples is to see what is out there
for those learning, in individual components and then within an
integrated approach, of which there are various routes to take.

for instance, consider the following project:

Phoenix Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitor Project
Sub-project: Piezo Film Pulse Sensor
http://www.phoenix.tc-ieee.org/004_Piezo_Film_Blood_Flow_Sensor/Phoenix_PiezoPulse.htm

if someone already knows what they are doing, competent in
the domains of hardware and microcontroller programming, it
would probably be fairly likely they could replicate or learn from
this demonstration of use for a PVDF sensor. yet further, someone
with an interest in cryptography or crytanalysis, could potentially
take this same information and apply the pulse reading to the
chassis of a computer to monitor vibrational activity or apply
this same information in some other way, in terms of security
analysis, exploits, defense, research, exploration, experiment.

though someone who does not have this knowledge then may
be stuck, unless a step-by-step approach exists, which is more
the Parallax approach, and perhaps in some ways Arduinio if
online tutorials exist in place of paper manuals, though these
extra layers of information may be required prior to achieving
such finished projects, and needs to be built-up as a skill first.


but not everything that is involved in this situation is about
technology of computer hardware and software, and the code
can go beyond computing, even 'electrons' potentially, in terms
of what the situation could be modeled as, via its parameters.

in that the PVDF as tunable antenna is not unlike a tuning fork
that is made to resonate by another paired vibration, and while
it may appear this is acoustic energy, air pressure, it could be
the resonance of the material itself that is set to vibrate due to
its physics, its particular construction and composition. that is,
as with Helen Hall and her study of music physics, that what
this involves relates to the issue of a vibrating string, and the
'energy' issues of vibration can be conceptualized likewise in
terms of music principles, such that the resonance as it now
is conceived of may not exist within computing in the way it
is known in music, for instance, yet it may have importance
in terms of harvesting energy via non-acoustic vibrations.

i do not myself understand what this involves enough to better
introduce to topic, though to hh it is 'the Art of Frequencies',
as this relates to music physics and music and energy. the
reason it is mentioned is that sympathetic vibrations occur
in a paired matching or alignment (1:1) and (A=A) in terms
of logic, within my own research, and in this way especially
in terms of 'consciousness', each person their own antenna,
and how they relate to others and in what ways. a common
example could be sexual dynamics and 'magnetic fields', in
that a certain pressure or boundary may be encountered via
anther that either attracts or repels or is perhaps neutral. in
this framework, there is something tied into the materiality
of encounter, the physical body and its relation to another,
other as self or unlike self, as this constitutes circuitry.

further, though, beyond or outside a realm of push & pull
of both magnetic and electromagnetic polarity, it also can
potentially include something 'outside' this EM boundary,
in that a non-electromagnetic energy of vibration could
also exist -- as if in the realm of information itself -- that
maps onto these same connections as 'shared tuning'
(all mention of tuning has origin with HH, in my work).

so what this is to suggest is that this inductive sensing
of humans, this mapping of awareness of self and others,
could be occurring as information in this vibrational way,
if connecting 'dots' across various views and approaches,
and thus how people are tuned or out of tune may relate
to what signals they pick up or what movements they are
part of, as grounded within certain dimensions, dynamics,
self as circuit, then relation with others into groups, etc.

and this is also the PVDF antenna model, seemingly.
potentially. the only substitution i would suggest is that
that 'global electrical current' that could set everything into
a shared time and framework of connected circuitry, would
be in some sense an analogy of empirical truth that flows
into the shared macrocircuit and people are aligned by it.

thus, induction beyond electromagnetism, though also
as a pressure, perhaps, the pneumatic aspect, and the
larger cosmological question of 'strings' that may be of
an informational category, in terms of cosmic vibration
that is defined by resonance of each and every object,
if not mistaken in relaying others knowledge involved.

<insert hilarious cat string-theory cartoon here>

in other words, consciousness could be modeled by
this circuit in terms of information transfer as it also
could have an energetic component yet this approach
could exist outside or beyond the current conception
of the body in both nonexistent electromagnetic terms
and also, non-existence non-electromagnetic terms
functioning outside this electromagnetic framework,
in the sense that aetheric order could exist beneath
the existing dimensional space, this described as a
vortex model of the atom, as it relates to zero. [8]

so the potential, should a vibration on an antenna
transform into harnessing free energy - via resonance
and this new PVDF film sensor technology - then its
significance is also conceptual, beyond perhaps the
issues of creating a vibrating cantilever or pendulum
in a watch that removes the need for a battery or for
winding, due to being tuned to frequency of the earth
that becomes part of its circuit, its power source, via
this connectivity based upon natural order, its circuit
as ecosystem and habitat, context for technology.
and how this moves into modeling of self as a being,
an entity, modeling of information in relation to energy
and matter, in terms of music and physics principles,
and how it recontextualizes questions and parameters
were it to be unlocked as a common framework within
which people relate or decide to disallow its existence

i only saw the first two parts of Atlas Shrugged, a recent
television movie version, never having read the longer book
by Ayn Rand, though it seems to be based upon this same
premise, where another world exists outside the ordinary
realm, having cracked open the threshold allowing access
to other dimensionality. the third part of the film is to be
released in the next summer, apparently. in any case,
interesting times ahead if this is indeed possible...


[0] MSI sensors - 1004308 Piezo Film Sensors Basic Design Kit
http://www.digikey.com/catalog/en/partgroup/piezo-film-sensors-basic-design-kit/22080

[1] Sparkfun -- Piezo Vibration Sensor - Large
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9196

Piezo Vibration Sensor - Large with Mass
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9197
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9198
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9199

[2] SunFounder - 37 Modules Sensor Kit
http://www.amazon.com/SunFounder-modules-Arduino-Mega2560-Mega328/dp/B00CBDUD60/

[3] example datasheet
http://dlnmh9ip6v2uc.cloudfront.net/datasheets/Sensors/ForceFlex/LDT_Series.pdf

[4]  BASIC Stamp Activity Kit - USB (Text v3.0)
http://www.parallax.com/product/90005

[5] ex. info: Piezo Film Vibration Sensor Tab
http://microcontrollershop.com/product_info.php?products_id=4989

[6] Piezo Film Vibra Tab User Manual
http://pub.ucpros.com/download/605-00004-PiezoFilm_V1.1.pdf?osCsid=ecd6b5ifdp3gn6j61tbarraqb3

[7] Sensor Sampler Pack
http://www.parallax.com/product/28028

[8] Art of Frequencies - Helen Hall
http://artoffrequencies.wordpress.com/


intercalate, communication gap, pulse-jet