AI Divergence Engine - Build Guide

Cut Up Methods, Oblique Strategies, and Creative Block.

The Divergence Engine is a physical manifestation of something creatives have known for years - that when you're feeling creative block, you need to 'unblock' your linear thinking patterns, and it can be as simple as taking a walk, but it can also be useful to 'be thrown a curveball' - something random to jolt you out of a narrow perspective, to a wider one. It helps to be playful when you can't see the wood for the trees.

The Divergence Engine works by delivering 'random' ideas, or should I say 'prompts' for creativity. It uses AI to scour the world for a wider range of amazing facts, ideas, inspiration, news, images, and more.

The Divergence Engine is built on various creative tricks/techniques, but has a modern twist, using AI and the Internet. You might be familiar with The Cut Up Method, as used by writer and visual artist, William Burroughs to write poetry, by cutting up sentences from newspapers, and then combining these fragments to inspire poems. David Bowie also used similar techniques when writing songs (Moonage Daydream and Blackout, shown). Indeed, Bowie also collaborated with Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt, who used 'Oblique Strategies' - cards with curious ideas and provocations written on them, like "Repetition is a form of change" and "Destroy: nothing // the most important thing".

In the Documentary ENO, Brian Eno and David Bowie even took a card each, before making a song together: David Bowie’s card said “Emphasize differences”, whilst Brian Eno’s card said “Try to make everything as similar as possible”. One can appreciate this made for some startling artistic and creative tensions. The result of this created "Sense of Doubt" for the 1977 album Heroes.

From 128 Cards to Trillions of Ideas, World-wide.

As much as I love my set of Oblique Strategy Cards, it's fair to say these 128 cards, for all their expansive possibilities, are limited to a small number. Furthermore, they are somewhat attuned to musical process, and of course originate from just two Europeans. As talented as they both are, one has to wonder what it'd be like to find more folks like them - from different cultures, backgrounds, ethnicities, genders, ages, etc. - past and present. This is where the case can be made for using AI to find such things at a global scale, to what feels like a near infinite variation.

Agency and Ethics, in an Age of Digital Monopoly and Bias.

The rise in AI in our lives has been meteoric, since ChatGPT's mainstream adoption in 2022. Yet, just as Google does not 'rank' your search results without bias, LLMs also are trained on a legacy of digital bias. If you consider some of the biggest news outlets, media corporations, tech giants in the world - these are based in a few powerful places, controlled by a powerful few, and largely outside of civic governance. Trying to change the procedures of tech companies worth trillions of dollars seems futile, so what is the alternative?

AI is certainly 'biassed', because its training data is. However, AI can also be asked, or 'prompted' to represent a less biassed world, but it requires us to 'inject' some corrective code. For example, if the Divergence Engine generates a topic around music, you can leave it as 'default' and you'd likely get something sung in English, and a US, UK or EU hit. It does not take much to say 'look beyond these countries' to get music from more diverse sources.

However, it's fair to say sometimes you may want a source from BBC, CNN, or the like, and that's fine, but awareness that 'other opinions' exist and can be just as valid, and perhaps more creatively interesting to look beyond your familiar comfort zone.

Playfully Tweaking The Internet.

The Divergence Engine has a variety of knobs and dials, and many people have already commented it looks like a Toy, with its bright and coloured dials, allowing you to create different experiences. To be sure they will be a puzzle - something enigmatic, confusing at first, unfamiliar by choice. This is what makes the experience a 'game' to embrace the randomness, as with Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt's Cards - you do not have to do exactly what they say, or even use the ideas/images presented, but even 'hating' a suggestion might make you figure out what you *should* do instead. Just as in the film, The Matrix, the Oracle actually tells Neo an un-truth (he realises later), yet at the time, Morpheus tells Neo, “She told you exactly what you needed to hear”. There are no 'wrong' answers - you do what you need to do with them.

Going Down The Rabbit Hole.

Just as with Alice in Wonderland, the phrase 'going down the rabbit-hole', as a metaphor for accepting a messy and unfamiliar journey, which in hindsight will be worth the trouble - is what the Divergence Engine is about. Although not a typical game of chess, or a puzzle like Sudoku, we hope you enjoy the opportunity to explore beyond your comfort zone, and discover new sources (Open Source) online about new ideas, people, opinions...

Divergence Engine: V1.0 to V2.0.

This is the first conceptual form of an idea Jude Pullen and Max Park have been working on. It's been made Open Source to encourage others to make it, and remix it. The intention is also to get feedback and ideas for what others would want, with a product which can invert, distort, reimagine the 'default' presentations of many LLMs and AI tools. Hope you enjoy the ride!

Example Outputs.

If you have printed the receipt, scanned the QR code, you would see examples like this (link).

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About the Authors.

Jude Pullen is a creative technologist, who has created other projects 'exploring the world' - quite literally, with RadioGlobe, which allows you to search a physical Globe, and then listen to any of 15,000+ web Radio stations instantly. He met Max at his degree show, and was impressed by this philosophical enquiry and love for making things. Jude had been wanting to build a 'creative unblocking machine' - being somewhat obsessed with Brian Eno's Oblique Strategy Cards (an analogue predecessor to this), and as a parent, also enjoyed Rory's Story Cubes (a similar approach to improv storytelling). Alongside this, and through his work with RS x NVIDIA, and also the AI & Ethics team for BEDA, he has long been wondering how to use AI in more creative, ethical and humanistic ways.

Max Park is a designer and researcher who recently graduated from Central Saint Martins. He has since worked on a Wellcome-funded design research project and teaches on the MA Industrial Design course. His final-year project, Prompting Nowhere, invited people to interact with an AI system based on William Morris’ News from Nowhere. Using a keyboard, visitors could query the system, but first had to power it themselves. A sewing machine treadle drove a DC generator, supplying electricity to the Raspberry Pi running the language model. The project explored questions that connect Morris’ writing to contemporary technology: how we make things, whose labour powers them, and how we might live and work more harmoniously and ethically.

Software Links:

Open Source software: (GitHub)

NVIDIA Jetson Jetpack Install: (Jetpack)

Electronic Parts List & Links.

Pulse Oximeter. MAX30102 (link)

Micro Switch. (link)

Linear Pots. (link)

Ceramic Cap 100nF (Arduino) (link)

DC Generator (link)

Rotary Pots. (link)

ADS1115 (Converter) (link)

OLED Screens (white) (link)

Hand-cranked generator (link)

Electrolytic Cap (link)

Multiplexer Board (link)

RGB LED Strips (PWM to 25% to keep <1Amp) (link)

Jetson Orin Nano (link)

Arduino Nano (link)

Demo and Power Boot-up Buttons (link)

USB Dongle for TTL Printer Driver (link)

Thermal Printer (B) & (W) (link) (link)

Reed Switches (x3) (link)

USB Cables (link) to connect USB Sticks (link)

Screws (link) and Brass Threaded Inserts (link)

PCB ProtoBoards (link)

Jumper cables (10, 20, 30cm mixed). (link)

USB to MicroSD Card Dongle (link)

6mm x 3mm thick Magnets (link)

Printed Parts:

3D Printing Filament - PLA (White, Red, and others as needed). (link)

Works on budget Ender3, as well as BambuLabs.

General Tools:

PH01 and PH02 Screwdrivers, Hex Key Set, Soldering Iron / Solder, Mini Blowtorch / Lighter, Heat-Shrink, Coarse Metal File, Mini Diamond Needle Files, Scalpel, Wire-Strippers, Drill / Bits, Glue Gun, Insulation Tape.

Top Tip: The electronic parts are going to take about 1-2 weeks to arrive, so unless you have a print bureau, then you'll likely want to place the order, and then get printing, sanding, filing, etc. in the interim period! Some parts take almost a day to print, so brace yourself for a busy week or printing.

I would suggest opening the General Assembly first to get an idea of how thing go together if you have Solid Works (they often have free trials and a free viewer). If not - I've shown a picture of the assembly and a cut-away.

The prints were done on an Ender 3, which requires some 'knack' in getting dialed in nicely, but it also represents that it's possible with a 'budget' printer, and need not be with a fancier brand/model.

Prints were at 0.32mm layer height, 0.6mm nozzle, and in 'draft' quality. PLA was from Eryone.

Files have been created in Solid Works. (Thanks for their kind and generous sponsorship over the years). If you need these specifically, please DM me. For general printing: Download the STL files. You should have 33 Files.

Note some parts need multiples - see Filename [x2].STL --> means 'print 2x', etc.

Print Orientation: Virtually all parts print in a 'flat' orientation. However, the 'Finger Cover' is the only exception. It is structurally better if you print it 45 degrees - this can be done by rotation, or 'snapping on face' as shown above, which has a 45 degree chamfer on the back. This means the 'legs' don't easily snap off, which they might if printed in perpendicular angles to the build plate.

I recommend Build Support, when printing, but do also check which direction has better print time (uses less material), as this can vary on the tapered shapes like Grinder Cone, and Screen Chamber.

'Baker's Dozen' - I've given the 'exact' print numbers, but I'd also suggest with small fragile parts or ones easy to lose, perhaps print an extra, like the 'Slider Pads' for example.

The 'Main Body' is also best printed with the small 'cut boss' (see image above) to the base plate. I personally had some very slight 'lift' by 1-2 mm on the edge on an Ender 3, so this is the least critical face, where as the opposite face (where the Screen Chamber connects to via the Wedge Plate) needs the most accuracy (ie is most flat) and this is generally the last layers printed. However, on a Bambu (Max had) there was no such issue. Tech improves it seems!

Colours: It depends entirely on your style, but I've basically used Red as an accent on the features, and some key functional parts. The Knobs are variable. The PCB holder I later changed to Yellow. The choice is yours!

Whilst your parts are being delivered, and your 3D prints are printing, I suggest installing the files on the Jetson Orin Nano, as this takes a few hours to do all the Jetpack install, and such.

https://github.com/Max-Park-Design/The-Divergence-Engine

When you have all the prints done, and removed the support material (wear goggles!), then I would suggest 'finishing off' the parts to a finish you're happy with:

1. I personally use a coarse file as shown to flatten any faces.
2. I use a diamond / mini file to smooth off any faces.
3. I drill any holes to the required size (e.g. you'll find the rotary encoders have a 7mm shaft, so drilling out to 8mm is sensible).
4. Most of the holes are M2, so I suggest 'cleaning out' the holes to 2mm size, for best fit.
5. A quick clean with a round file is also good.
6. Flat files can be used to sharpen-up straight edges, as shown.
7. Any swarf from the above can be removed finally with a scalpel, in a combination of gentle cutting and scraping parallel to the surface.
8. I use a blow-torch to remove any 'wisps' of plastic (move very quickly so as not to burn/melt).

This can mean if your printer is good, these steps are not necessary, but it's still useful to know them for general modelling confidence, and when making minor alterations to work (it could be you can't source an exact components and need to make small adjustments like this).

Tip: I had some messy 'stepping' on the arch of the Grinder Cone piece, so I used a piece of 3D printed plastic with the same profile to sand-down the arch, so it was flush, but this is being a little fussy! However, Max's fancy Bambu was good enough that this was not needed.

Most of the model uses M2 Brass Inserts, so go ahead and add them as shown...

I recommend making a 'tool' like this, which is just a M2x20mm bolt, which has been glued into a wooden dowel for a handle. This gives you more accuracy (easier to see when not perpendicular to the surface), but also it stops the bolt getting too hot and burning your fingers. You can use a soldering iron also (see Youtube), but I find this method gives more accurate results for me.

The blowtorch is very hot, and you want to heat the Insert for perhaps 2-3 seconds max. If it is discolouring, chances are it's far too hot! Rotate as you heat also.

Press in gently. If your holes are too tight (perhaps printing errors) then pre-drill with a 3.3mm or 3.5mm drill.

Note: One exception is the Grinder Cone // Main Body connection - which has 4x M3 Inserts and M3 bolts. As does the Wedge which covers the cables later on. The Main Body base also has some M3 Inserts, but these are optional if you wish to screw it to a table/display case.

Note: The M3 Brass Inserts in the base of the Main Body part may need slightly filing back with a needle file, so as to make way for the Jetson Nano. It's only about 0.5mm, but makes for a nicer fit. Take care to blow out any metal filings (risky around electronics!).

You may notice that if you use the standard Philips Screws for these two parts, these can be done but are at a tricky angle, so one could use Hex Head M2 bolts instead, but the choice is yours. These things are always a bit of a trade off of pros/cons, but if you can tolerate the extra purchase of some M2 Hex Bolts, this is simply easier. The same applies to the

The generator listed is fairly easy to disassemble, and even comes with a nice PCB, which has the capacitors covered, but still take care, as they are quite large, and can discharge potentially a jolt of electricity. Keep the PCB to one side - for the next part.

Tip: You may notice in later steps I've added Heat Shrink to the wires of the Generator. I did this to avoid the cables breaking through fatigue of repeated prototyping, but you can likely leave it, although some might say it's just 'good practice'. Your call.

Note: Keep ALL the screws and bolts, etc.

UPDATE: You may notice a 3D printed part on the back of the motor in future steps... it turns out this was a bad idea to use a magnetic rotary encoder (obvious in hindsight being near a motor!!) so we instead used the 'signal' from the generator to trigger the operation of the LLM's code. In short, ignore it.

With your 'Front Plate' all cleaned up and with Inserts inserted, you can now also add the PCB as shown. If you are particularly worried about the switch getting knocked to a higher voltage, you can add this little 3D printed 'blocker' as shown. The M2 Screw (and Insert) holds it in place.

Use M2x6mm Screws to affix the Plate to the Body.

Add the round Chamfered Disk to the back of the Plate, which simply gives an aesthetic covering-up of the black plastic of the Generator, gives a nice transition to the Crank. Use the bolts that came with the Generator to screw into place as show, with the Nyloc Nuts in place. Use M2x6mm Screws to affix the Plate to the Body.

Thread the wires as show, and plug into the PCB.

Connect 2 wires from the 'Output' pins from the Generator, to the PCB.

Add M3 Inserts to the larger holes. Add M2 Inserts to the smaller holes - as shown.

Wire up the 5.5x2.5mm Cables (Male and Female) as shown.

Solder on two wires to a Momentary Switch, as shown, and screw in place with fixing plate. (Tip: Check circuit with a multimeter beforehand to check you have the polarity of the switch right).

Use a cable tie if you need to to keep both secure. You will wire up later, but here's a picture to show how it will be screwed together for future reference.

I found it easier to attach the 5 Linear Potentiometers (LPs) to a tongue depressor with BluTack and cut wires to that spacing - knowing that it'll transfer to the 3D printed parts with ease (rather than soldering in situ).

I used Heat Shrink where possible, and added Hot Melt Glue for securing the wires.

Screw in the M2x4mm Screws as shown in first image. Do not use longer screws than M2x5mm as these can impede the wipers.

UPDATE: As it happens, Max and I had some funny potentiometer readings. In short, we ended up making all the wires the same length. In theory the circuit of the first build should be same as the second, but to eliminate the only thing we could think of (wires being different length), we changed it - and it worked! If anyone knows why the first one was a bit 'glitchy' do tell us, but from the benefit of hindsight (or coincidence) start with the last version!

With your Pulse Oximeter 'Cover' cleaned up, and sanded nicely to slide smoothly into the Top Plate, screw in the M2x5mm screw to keep it in place.

With the Pulse Oximeter in place (you may need to file down any slightly tight edges, etc. to fit in the 3D print), use the Camping bar to keep in position. Do not over-tighten the screws.

Install the Micro-Roller-Switch (solder wires on pins as shown), and you can fix in place with M2x6mm Screws, by reaching through the USB holder as shown.

Tip: Use some insulation tape to bind the Female Jumper Cable Housings together as shown - for extra stability and so one does not work loose / get mixed up in future.

Lastly, add the USB cables as shown. Take care to orient them so they all 'face' the same way, for easier USB stick insertion. Check they are flush, then tighten up the 2x M2x5mm screws holding each one in place.

If you'll pardon the 'back-and-forth' here, it makes sense to know what is coming next with the wiring, so as to do this stage with some foresight...

Assemble the pieces as shown, and I recommend only adding one PCB holder at a time, so as it can be 'fed through' the interior of the Main Body with the Generator in it.

From above, screw the 4x M2x6mm screws in to secure / clamp in place. I suggest do this lightly at first, and the 'straighten up' and tighten up later.

Attach the second PCB plate as shown with M2x5mm Screws.

Thread the wires to the correct side (Linear Potentiometers are at the back).

This is easier said than done, but the goal is to get the jumper wires roughly aligned:

Linear Potentiometer wires at the 'back', along with the Micro Roller Switch wires --> Arduino.

Pulse Oximeter wires to the 'front', which will have the TCA and ADC boards.

You will note one of the 6 USB (female) ports is not used... this will be for the Micro SD card reader, and needs to be threaded through as shown past the Generator terminals. Pull this through when fully in place.

I suggest wiring one USB port to the front and one to the back, and threading through the plate as shown, before connecting to the Jetson Nano Orin's USB ports.

Finally, using M2x5mm screws, screw the top plate down in place, and check the Pulse Oximeter opening is facing forward.

I have used a 'generic' card reader, but the good news is that they are all roughly the same internally, so if push comes to shove, you can 'hack open' and possibly reprint a mini enclosure for your USB to Micro SD Card reader, but assuming you can get one like this, take a look, prying it open gently, to see the reader position.

Using a razor saw if you have one, or hacksaw if not - carefully cut just ahead of the reader internals. File back to be flush. Use a Scalpel to carefully cut away any burrs/swarf of bit of plastic, and blow out any debris - especially in the reader port itself.

You can now see how it just makes the distance to the Printer Plate as shown, this was in all honestly a bit of luck, as it removed the need for a 'extension cable' - which do exist if you prefer or have a different USB splitter.

This is an optional step, but I feel it's easier to have an 'intermediary' PCB to manage the 'shared' 5v and GND lines. But you can of course just solder wires together and achieve the same end result.

However, what is not optional is to bend the pins to be angled 'down' as shown - for the Screen closest to the printer, the other two can be left 'as is', or with the one closest to the Generator bent down also.

First remove the (yellow or black) plastic stop-out strip as shown. Then carefully bend the Header Pins with pliers. This makes more sense when you load them in, than in writing, you'll appreciate which need a little tweak to allow other things to fit!

UPDATE: I added a slightly clearer image at the end, after building the second Div Eng machine.

My connection wires were about 65mm in length, but I'd advise being 70 or 75mm as it was a little tight in hindsight. These are made from unused jumper wires (likely the ones you don't need with say Male-Male pins).

Cut 3 of these, and add a 'full length' 20cm cable with female headers at the 'start' - and this will connect to the Arduino Pins.

I suggest cutting the LED strip with a scalpel in the position shown - ie just after a LED. This means that you'll have 'wasted' 3 LEDs, but this is so you have a full area of copper solder pad to solder to, so I suggest doing this, and not cutting equidistant as the graphics imply.

There should be 15 LEDs per strip.

Add Heat Shrink as needed, taking care not to burn the LED backing.

Treading is hard to describe, but you don't want to tread the whole thing as if it were tapestry. You only need to thread the section of LEDs into the 3D printed 'guide' one at a time. Allow those LEDs 'in front' to simply hang loose until it's their turn.

It does not matter too much, but I recommend the layout I've shown here (ie start with the LED 'starting strip' between the Rotary Potentiometers and the Screens).

The same principle applies here as with the Linear Potentiometers, and the Screens - if you like you can simply bundle the wires together and solder and heat shrink so they share 5v and GND. But instead, I've created another 'intermediary' PCB, and you're welcome to do so similarly as shown. It's not essential, but just is easier when in the prototyping stages to have 'options' to switch stuff out, and of course less wires going to the microprocessor.

Screw in place, including washers.

Not that inside there are 'locking details' or 'indents' to stop the Potentiometers from slipping when turned. Ensure you pick them in the orientation shown.

Lastly add the knobs as shown. Other colours / shapes are of course applicable to suit your taste.

UPDATE: Similar to the Linear Potentiometers, we had some odd readings, so made the wires all the same length, as with the Rotary Potentiometers. Feel free to do the same!

First up insert the Brass Inserts as shown. Then Add the Thermal printer as shown, fixing with M2x5mm Screws.

Next, just a quick check to fit the Micro SD Card Reader, such that it's snug. If needed, use side-screws to lock in place, but likely not needed, as the force of the pushing in of the Micro SD card is minimal, and a bit fo electrical tape will likely do the trick.

The Reed Switches are somewhat more fiddly. Essentially you want to pay close attention to the tiny circles on the sides, as these need to be all in the same direction (upwards). Place them inside the 3D printed piece, to check roughly how they will align. I found that I needed to add a little extra wire between the two horizontal Reed Switches (I just used a spare trimmed Resistor 'leg'). Solder them together in a 'T' shape as shown. Next clamp them in place with the 'D' clips, screwing in place with M2x5mm screws.

You do not need to use an 'intermediary' PCB, but it can help to orientate the wires, and to reduce the risk of a snagging pulling any wires loose, etc. I drilled two 2mm holes in the prototboard which align with the screw bosses also. I used right angled header pins to connect to the jumper wires. Again a little Insulation Tape seemed wise to keep everything in place.

You can wire the printer to the USB Dongle with Male-Male Jumper Cables, but this is rather unwieldy as the printer cable already has a good length of cable.... so I decided to use that instead - but it requires the wires to be 're-ordered' as shown so 5v-5v, GND-GND, TX-RX, RX-TX, and with the yellow one (3.3v) not needed, so left void.

The only other little 'modification' needed is to make the pins point upwards so this all fits in the Cable Wedge cover later. This can be easily done with pliers, but I suggest also removing the little plastic offset also, as with the OLED Screens also.

Connect to crimp terminals, as shown. (I removed the plastic covers from jumper wires, and these have a nice profile which 'snags' in the mechanism, making it hard to just fall out!).

Then connect to the Arduino PCB as per wiring diagram.

These plates are identical, and can have decals added to them to indicate which is which, or printed in variations if you have a 2-nozzle printer. However, the basic version is as follows:

Attach the handle as shown, with M2x5mm Screws.

Depending on your printer, check that the Micro SD Card slot is the right size. Use a scalpel to enlarge sightly if needs be.

Press in the 6mm wide by 3mm thick magnets. Noting that each will correspond to a different Reed Switch and hence 'filter' characteristic. When looking from the back, this will be the leftmost is 'Medium', the middle is 'Coarse', the rightmost is 'Fine'. (The reason for this is should you mix up Med and Fine - it's not great, but not likely going to cause outrage or tears, but Coarse needs to be sure it's never confused, hence being at the bottom!).

Safe to say, this is also not the Enigma Machine, and any bunch of Teenagers will likely figure this out, and could tweak the magnets around to generate some 18 Cert material, so again, use your judgement and supervision when working with young people. This is a Tech-Art project, not MI6!

The plates should now screw in - like a old fashioned Meat Grinder, as shown, with 3 interchangeable plates.

Notes on Ratings / Grinder Plates:

These plates are intended to operate like BBFC Rating for Films (e.g. U, PG, 12, 15, 18)... We created 3, which it should be noted, like films, mean that an 18 year old can watch a U, it is not only adult content, but like an 18 - some things are presented which might be controversial, or require an adult worldview to be comfortable with.

We have tried to operate the LLM with a 'good taste' and 'for our betterment', but we cannot anticipate personal preferences of humour, taste, cultural mores, etc. So if you are in doubt, perhaps don't operate with the 'Coarse' Plate on - the close is on - the clue is in the name: Content my be coarse!

It should be said that although the 'Medium' (perhaps equivalent to say '12A Cert') is prompted to be not explicit or adult, like a 12A - meaning Adults should be present, we don't feel this is suitable for children to interact with. Nor are we saying we've applied such rigorous standards at BBFC, so please assume a healthy degree of scepticism, and perhaps don't demo this in front of kids! Lastly, the 'Fine' plate (equivalent to 'U Cert.') is prompted to be 'Family Friendly', but regrettably, as we do not own Mistral, we cannot guarantee that it will not make mistakes as possibly surface something which you may deem inappropriate. We can accept no responsibility on this, as we do not control the Mistral AI/LLM system, thanks for understanding our best efforts are sincere, but are limited to what we can influence.

This is why modern electronics have PCBs and JST clips. But as this is such a niche project, it didn't quite warrant that level of higher-end PCB fabrication, so I'm working with the basics of Jumper Cables and Header Pins here, bear with me, and this tricky part.

First try to organise your wires in such a way that they are roughly in position of where they end up going (ie Arduino side or the other). Thread wires as you push the two assemblies together. With M2x6mm Screws (10x) reach in with a long Phillips screwdriver (PH1) to screw together these two parts. You may find it handy to temporarily unclip the OLED Screen PCB board, if you made one, to gain access, then clip back on once done.

The USB-to-MicroSD Card Reader connection is assisted by using pliers to 'offer up' the cable and connect gently. Check USB orientation first! Also connect the printer cable if not done so already.

Bundle-up the Wires to the Jetson Nano Orin as shown, and connect the cable that will go to the Arduino now and thread through into place.

You can now screw the Wedged Wire Cover in place using the two Hex head M3x6mm Screws. You can also add the M3x6mm screw in the Screen Cone as shown if you want to make things extra secure, but perhaps hold off until you have it all working.

The M3 Brass Insert can be added as shown, by passing it through 'hot' into the other side, with a long (25mm) M3 bolt, or some threaded bar. Use a 8mm Drillbit to ensure the main Generator shaft fits snugly over the Crank Handle. Assemble, and tighten up the bolt. I suggest a M3x16mm will do nicely, assuming you ordered a multipack.

I forgot to show the 'trimming' of the Linear Potentiometer handles, which are too long, but are cut with simple 'side shears' that you use for solder-work. In terms of the length, I recommend using the Slider itself as a easy thickness/length guide, and cut flush to it. You can always take a little off if you prefer it closer.

Having already added a Brass Insert, and then a M2x5mm screw, load the slider, and tighten up the screw so it is help snugly. One could use hot melt glue for ease, but this is a bit more risky as you may need to disassemble it later for some reason. So I'd advise screws.

This requires some patience to wire up, and I recommend laying down the resistors and other physical components first, before adding the hook-up wires. I try to create 'tracks' for GND and Power, since these are commonly needed for all peripherals, and then connect logic/signal/TX/RX/etc. in 'clusters' so they are easier to wire up. As you can see I've used right-angle header pins (and bent the straight ones later on the Arduino PCB) as this works well with the assembly.

I also check ALL pins agains ALL OTHER pins with a multimeter (continuity tester / beeper), to check for a. the right connections to the right places, and b. to check nothing is short-circuited. I highly recommend doing this even if quite experienced.

This is the wiring diagram for the components. We hope that you can navigate it and hand-solder it.

We may try and make Gerber Files later, for PCBs you can order, but for now, it's hand-soldering!

This is the 'bridge' between the Jetson Nano Orin and all the peripherals in this project. We took some time to check as much as possible, such as the peak load (current) of all components, to ensure it was not overloading things, but the Arduino also serves as something which will fail before blowing up the comparatively much more expensive Jetson!

The DIP Switch was also to allow you to add 'special features' with ease, and some GPIOs are still free for other switches you might want to add. However, the DIP Switches we used here are to toggle on/off the outputs on the receipt: Text, Image, Music, Video - in 1,2,3 and 4 respectively.

This exists because the Arduino does not have enough GPIOs to do all the things we need. Secondly, the Jetson Nano does not have an Analogue-to-Digital-Converter (ADC), and to we use this to also interface with potentiometers and such.

As with the previous example, the wiring is done methodically, and all connections checked thoroughly.

The two PCB modules can be connected with right angle pins, as originally done, or they can be connected with pins on the 'back' of the boards, with holes for this created to make for easy connection with 10cm Female-to-Female jumper cables.

All being well, you should have it printing like this. Any troubleshooting, drop us a message, or DM.

Why did we make it?

Much has been written about 'how to prompt an AI', but what if AI were used to 'prompt humans to be more creative'? To expand their knowledge, to dive into new rabbit holes of culture, differing beliefs, and previously unknown (to them) global wisdom. Artificial Intelligence is a powerful mimic of our emotions, some might say a mirror to our actions (not words), but presently is not able to think abstractly - to 'connect the dots' as we say.

This project assumes that we should let humans do what they do best - 'connect the dots'. Conversely, we should let AI do what it does best - which is to scour billions of online images and schematics, poetry and prose, scientific treaties and religious doctrines, the outrageous and the acceptable, and lay it before us to let us 'make sense and meaning' of it.

Perhaps we have been using AI all wrong, or perhaps wrong-headedly - as we ask it philosophical, political or even comical and poetic questions, which it invariably struggles to generate a humanistic response (or just parrots something another human said). Indeed, we are at a juncture where students can 'create' an essay, design/rendering, from a prompt in seconds - so what does Education actually stand for if an AI can produce work which is (to be blunt) better than the average human. And yet, within this statistical world - 'average' - we see the issue: AIs are most often optimised to give the expected and familiar, not to surprise. We’re trying to keep some of this creative friction or ‘frisson’ in the process.

When we use AI to 'save us time' to do arithmetic, or spellcheck, perhaps few people lament these largely rote tasks, yet at the other end of the spectrum, would you ask it to give a Speech at a Wedding, Funeral or other such deeply personal expression? To be sure, you may use it to structure your poorly-written anecdotes, and tidy up your bad grammar, perhaps even it can advise on how to refine the punchline of a joke, but it does not KNOW what 'good' looks like - only you do...

Those who 'sign-off' on the first draft, are doomed to have friends, colleagues, family, squint and wonder 'is this AI' because it feels like something is off. Conversely, those who revise, tweak, re-write and even re-prompt again and again, are exercising judgement (even in absence of skill) and this is perhaps what is more critical. A poem with spelling mistakes is amateurish, but a poem without soul is un-human. It's perhaps why we still love a child's story, painting, or suchlike - not despite its imperfections, but because of them. It's only as adults we seem to obsess over the minutiae, and miss whether something has 'spark' or 'grace' or 'speaks to us'.

In this blistering and dazzling pace of AI experimentation and integration into our lives, this project seeks to remind us what we do best - the machine will generate images, maxims, videos, music - each of which have differing degrees of provocativeness, social un/acceptance, and con/divergence, from each other. The machine does not attempt to create a story or find meaning for you, only you can do that. What the machine promises and reliably does, is surface things you had little or no knowledge about.

If you're thinking this all sounds a bit like a 'mind-expanding drug' of the 1960s, perhaps in some ways it is. But like many creatives of that infamous time, one shouldn't be fooled into thinking one 'dose' makes you John Lennon, and able to write Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. You may take the 'trip' with psychoactive chemicals, as a short cut, but oddly enough, like AI, the real genius is in knowing how to 'synthesise' not the drugs (or AI algorithms) but the ideas. The real work begins by doing the hard work, as one can see from even a few revisions of John Lennon's lyric revisions on Beatle's Bible (images above).

Although it's been considered progress for GenAi to remove the '6 fingers' on people, and other defects, perhaps as creative beings, we should also recognise that some of the 'weirdness' in AI Hallucinations is perhaps useful, if one considered Magritte or Dali provocative figures in art, or Luis Buñuel or Terry Gilliam for surreal filmmaking, or Sun Ra or Björk making music which challenges us, and to circle-back to William S. Burroughs, to savour writers who pushed our expectations of what literature can be.

So we hope you enjoy a more expansive version of Oblique Strategies, with a global level of breadth and depth.

Please let us know how you get on making this, or remixing it.

https://www.judepullen.com/

https://maxpark.design/

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Footnote: How Jude & Max met...

Jude happens to live in Walthamstow, about 2 minutes walk from William Morris' past home, and now public Gallery with many exhibitions exploring Art, Craft, and Social Reforms. It was therefore befitting that Jude and Max spent time discussing the ethics of this computational creation often whilst walking the inspiring grounds of Morris gardens. When not working in the same room, they used digital tools to design and discuss ideas, solve problems, and research with other thinkers in the subject, to refine and shape the idea. Both enjoy the task of thinking creatively, or 'outside the box' as some say - and indeed, to ponder what this AI Genie in the Bottle/Box is capable of prompting them to do differently in their work. As the project neared completion, in technical terms, its own 'outputs' were instrumental in helping them to sharpen the idea, as it was discussed with friends, family, and industry connections to 'test the mettle' of the idea. Being both advocates of Open Source, the project is presented here for others to enjoy and ideally revise and improve upon.

If you're a design student, or enthusiast, you might enjoy diving into the development process of this. Max and I created a second Instructable (link) for this reason, and hope you enjoy that also.

Thanks for taking time to engage with this, and we very much hope you enjoy exploring and building it.

Do keep in touch via:

https://www.judepullen.com/ or https://www.linkedin.com/in/judepullen/

https://maxpark.design/ or https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxapark/