Scratch

Locomule · 2010-07-15 11:26:09

get it here

Project Notes:
What is it? I dunno exactly. I was just messing around with ways to make sprites move in a circle. Then I noticed that really fast moving sprites were making patterns that looked like more than one sprite.

It reminded me of being young, I had a Frisbee we got at Disneyworld that had 2 red and green lights at opposite ends. When you threw it, it made cool, changing patterns of lights while spinning. I took a house fan apart (do not do this btw), balanced the Frisbee on it, and experimented by lightly touching the edge of the rotating Frisbee. Different speeds produced different patterns.

Later on I saw the same effect on the side of a spinning record player. It had 3 sets of different sized checkerboard that you could "read' while it spun for a visual cue of what speed the player was set on. Potentially silly but it looked cool.

Anyway, as I learned music and computers, I came to recognize the back-and-forth repetitions of these patterns as oscillations. Oscillators are used everywhere, quite a bit around here smile

As I was messing around with this project, I got the sprite going fast enough to start making patterns. Each pattern consists of a definite number of perceived dots. Then I noticed that the pattern repeated! With pen and paper I recorded as much of the number sequence as I could see. Five dots became a "5", three dots a "3" etc.

Wondering if Neo might be trying to contact me through some Scratch, I Googled the number sequence. To my surprise, the sequence turned out to be significant. It is known as the Farey Fractions or the Fibonacci Sequence. This pattern is used for everything from making fractals to describing how organisms grow from DNA. Freaky stuff man!!!

Sunrise-Moon · 2010-07-15 12:14:37

You might want to change the name if you want more views. 'Farey Number Microscope' might sound like a boring science thing to some kids tongue

coolstuff · 2010-07-15 12:15:53

That's a great project - it's really neat to see how speeding stuff up can change how many of that object there appears to be.

Locomule · 2010-07-15 14:04:14

Sunrise-Moon.. my projects regularly get few viewers but so do most. I'm sure after I'm gone, all my posts and projects will be archived, lol, j/k! tongue

Thanks coolstuff, and that is what I was tripping on when I went, "Wait a minute, what if I count the dots every time the pattern changes direction (or stalls it's rotation) and write them down." After some tweaking, I got the "zoom" level good enough that I could see that there was a pattern and that it repeated "both ways."
Once I Googled it I realized what it was. It means that I have been on the verge of re-discovering the Fibonacci principal since I was a kid without realizing it! Rotating Frisbees, spinning objects under a strobe light, other spinning objects (spoked wheels, that record player) etc I just never developed a system to name and record the pattern sequences. Instead of going "What is that pattern" I just kept thinking "Oh there are those weird patterns again, man, they are everywhere." Although in hindsight I am kind of disappointed that it took me almost till I was 40!! big_smile

Locomule · 2010-07-15 14:31:30

Hey Sunrise-Moon.. my last posted project named "Skull Toss" has gotten 0 responses. Lol, if that doesn't work.. I dunno...? But It did give me a couple of funny project idea s. Bothe invlove bunnies, who'd a thunk it??

1) Make a project called something lie "Zombified Mutant Flesh Eating Bunnies with lasers" But then instead make the project just this cute, dainty little woodland scene with an animated bunny posing cutely in the middle while happy music plays and the camera swings slowly around.

2) "Bunny Love Fight" have a Mortal Kombat / Street Fighter type game except instead of two battling warriors, you get two adorable little bunnies squaring off. Then, instead of punching and kicking they do things like hug, blow kisses, etc. No more draining your opponents Health with blows, you would instead build their Character through your landed acts of kindness. Yeah, it is a joke. Apparently on the whole "violence in video games" debate I am perceived as being on the dark side. But until you see the light and join the rebels, do you really know which side is which?? But I digress.

Sunrise-Moon · 2010-07-15 14:34:08

You need to advertise tongue

Locomule · 2010-07-16 01:15:37

Added a "zoom" feature using right and left keys

for example, hold down the up key to cycle through patterns and when the patter starts to get so big that it is going to hit the border, press the left arrow key to knock it back down to size.

I went back and did more color cycling and stamping just for fun, you can do some wild spirals and curves by tweaking this thing.

Scratch

archived forums

#1 2010-07-15 11:26:09

Farey Number Microscope

#2 2010-07-15 12:14:37

Re: Farey Number Microscope

#3 2010-07-15 12:15:53

Re: Farey Number Microscope

#4 2010-07-15 14:04:14

Re: Farey Number Microscope

#5 2010-07-15 14:31:30

Re: Farey Number Microscope

#6 2010-07-15 14:34:08

Re: Farey Number Microscope

#7 2010-07-16 01:15:37

Re: Farey Number Microscope

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