Hello,

I am artist inventor Sam Underwood.

Some of you may know of my midi-octopus, most of you probably won't. It's a sort of midi controllable solenoid octopus, that allows me to sequence objects in the surrounding environment, with a view to making interesting music. It's currently at the beta stage in its development.

You can see a demo of it in action on Vimeo. Or please visit the official midi-octopus website if you really want to find out more.

Thus far I have invested a lot of time and money in the development of my midi-octopus. One of the biggest costs is the solenoids that attach to the ends of her tentacles. So, I thought I'd try a bit of crowdsourcing. I need your solenoids, to give my midi-octopus feet! Solenoids are found in lots of things but, as indicated in the less that subliminal background image, one common place they are found is in old doorbells. You know, *ding*dong* ones.

If you are interested, here is a nice picture (phwoar!) showing lots of solenoids and this is what Wikipedia says about them.

Alongside solenoids, I am also looking to source a working car battery, other 12v motors, buzzers and lights, any expertise in this area anyone has to offer, and any funding that might exist for this sort of thing.

Update:

A donation bin will appear by the hardware hacking space at the Maker Faire in Newcastle, in March. Hope to see you, and your doorbells, there.
If you can help, please pop me an email to octopusfeet@samski.net and we can make some arrangements. I am currently in discussions with groups and venues across Worcester, Birmingham, and London, with a view to getting some donation bins set up. Once these are in place I will add their location to this page...but in the meantime, please get in touch and we can discuss delivery or pickup.

Many thanks for your support!*

Sam.