As a Criminology student I have a passion for both the written law as well as the technical aspects of the job; however, my talents lie more towards Security Risk Analysis in the technical department so I decided I wanted to learn something new and then I found the perfect project to combine my two passions!
I decided that my first submission to HackPSU would be a Polygraph Tester (lie detector) consisting of a Pro Micro Arduino. I came in with no knowledge and started from scratch. I have never worked with Arduino and I physically had to construct my lie detector-stripping wires, learning to code in 24 hours, redoing my model three times to improved the recording quality for my graphing results.
I think by far the hardest part for me was the coding and setting up the Arduino on my operating system. I managed to buy an Arduino that did not come directly from the manufacturer and I spent several hours trying to figure out why I couldn't get my computer to register it with the correct ports and I ran into several errors while coding, since I do not know how to code.
I'm so proud of myself for trying something new a challenging. While the build seemed very simple when thinking about putting it together, it was much more difficult than I anticipated with little to no experience. I stuck with it though and after several hours of trial and errors I finally got my first reading! I learned how to built a sensor that records live through the Arduino and stores data on my computer. I had to learn how to attach resistors, prepare wires and be patient with myself when I made so many mistakes because I had no idea what I was doing. I learned how to do everything in this project it was a completely new experience.
I'd like to expand my polygraph test project once I grow my experience some more. I'd love to set up a different type of sensor for readings, make models for adults and children, compare different builds to see which works best and further down the road I'd like to incorporate this project in my Criminology thesis I am doing to use new ways of gathering data.
While I know I have so much more to learn and I cannot wait to improve my project from where I started, I am very excited and proud that I was able to have this opportunity to really go outside my comfort zone and try something new. It was a very challenging but rewarding experience!
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