Encoded texture: Interpretation of punch card_punch crad reader

“You are aware that the system of cards which Jacard invented are the means by which we can communicate to a very ordinary loom orders to weave any pattern that may be desired.
Availing myself of the same beautiful invention I have by similar means communicated to my Calculating Engine orders to calculate an)' formula however complicated.
But I have also advanced one stage further and without making all the cards, I have communicated through the same means orders to follow certain laws in the use of those cards and thus the Calculating Engine can solve any equations, eliminate between any number of variables and perform the highest operations of analysis.”
-Charles Babbage

The workshop was the first step in helping us understand machines. 
We choose to make a simple punch card reader. The idea was to create music from a punch card and also record live music into the cards. While it was technically possible, we had very little time. So we made a simple reader that could read one alphabet at a time.

This was the first time I worked on an Arduino, so it meant some extra work.

Things I discovered:
> Setting up Arduino in windows is better done manually.
> It's better to work with solid materials and fix them well before starting work. (We first used small boxes and wrapped them with Aluminum foil. So the circuit was loose.)
> The final reader still doesn't read the data strip. So the work is still unfinished.

First trial: Checking the code for errors

 The final model was made with wood and a metal plate to complete the circuit. And it worked...almost! The overall experience was fun.

Me and shrankla worked on the coding. Rectifying the code was bit difficult. As it turned out, the code that we used was old and the Arduino IDE would not recognize it.

The final model

Close-up shot: Circuit complete

 I will add one last line. Red Burns, who was the ITP director, laid out two points in working with technology: 1) “consider the technology as a tool which, in itself, could do nothing,” and 2) “treat the technology as something that everyone on the team could learn, understand, and explore freely.”

The circuit diagram was sourced from: http://arduining.com/2012/06/10/arduino-punched-card-reader/#respond
and the updated code can be found at: https://gist.github.com/HashNuke/1b2497e5cf8f82f816e6 
Red Burns quote from: http://rhizome.org/editorial/2011/dec/15/technology-not-enough-story-nyus-interactive-telec/