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Ring that cowbell!
Inspiration
Over my four years in high school I was a programmer for my robotics team. In my final year, I was lead programmer for my team, and had to learn how to use Android Studio for our new FTC team. I briefly stumbled through a few lessons, but I really enjoyed programming our robot. I decided that today would be an awesome time to apply some of that knowledge to something outside of robotics. Using Android Studio and my limited knowledge of sensors, I decided to create a cowbell app. I can't wait to show this to my friends that are still in high school, so they can see that the talents they are learning have real world application.
What it does
You can either rapidly tap, or shake your android device to ring your digital cowbell!
How I built it
Using android studio, youtube, and lots of posts on Stack Overflow, I was able to put together my cowbell app.
Challenges I ran into
I was able to get the cowbell to play on touch very easily, but using the accelerometer proved to be extremely difficult. I knew that it wouldn't be a true cowbell experience without being able to shake it! Eventually, and with the support of some friends, I was able to get it to work to some degree. Still could use some work.
Accomplishments that I'm proud of
I'm very happy that I was able to apply some of my old skills to something new. I've never made an app before, and I hardly know any java, so I'm incredibly happy to have finished it. I was even able to publish it to the google play store. Hopefully it will be live before my demo.
What I learned
I learned a lot about java and debugging today. Most of my knowledge of programming has been in visual languages and recently some python. After working through the development process, I learned a lot about how java works and how its syntax is different from other languages I know. I also learned how to use phones' sensors to improve how the user can interact with my app. It's really awesome to see all that robotics finally have a real world application.
What's next for Clang-a-lang Cowbell
With Clang-a-lang Cowbell coming to the google play store, I hope to update it to be more responsive and have less bugs. It definitely has some problems when ringing, so that is my primary focus. After that, I hope to make it more aesthetically pleasing and maybe add some animations. Hopefully other Mississippi State students will love it!
