1) The software program PD was successfully installed on a Raspberry Pi, and the audio playback seems to work. The major glitch I’m experiencing is a nasty distortion that occurs whenever the mouse or keyboard is used. Fortunately, this might not affect the project, as we won’t be using either of those input devices when the installation is up and running. From what I’ve read, there seems to be a correlation between use of the USB ports and the on-board audio chip. I notice, too, that when running PD, the total CPU consumption on the RPi is significantly higher than on my MacBook Pro—65% vs. 15%. I need to do more research on that (hopefully, with the aid of Steve Smith!).

2) Kelly Ludeking and I met twice this week and we’re close to finalizing the design for the structures that will house the audio units. They will be either 3- or 4-legged structures that connect with a single plate, about 10 feet high, with articulations in the legs to mimic tree branches. The preference will be to use 4 legs, but the budget will help determine that. Kelly’s schedule is such that he hopes to build one of these structures in the next week or so, and assuming that it looks good and works well, he’ll build three more.

3) Met with Jim Edrington, the facilities manager at Seed Savers, and tentatively located four sites on the Valley trail for the installation. Still not sure if we should clump the four units together, so that they interact, or space them along the trail, so that they are like little way stations. Given that one goal is to get people on the trails, spacing them out might make more sense. We also had concerns about placing the strucures directly on the trail, as this creates problems for vehicles that need to pass through (especially the tractor that is used to maintain the trail). We decided to place the structures just off the trail, which is a good compromise, I think. Given that we need to find locations that are free of shade for the solar panels, we are looking for open spaces along the trail anyway. Below are four potential locations, marked on the map (along the green Valley Trail):

Trailmap