Marcel Bartumeu Ramentol
CONTENTS

THE INDEX · SIMULATING A COUNTRY

The table and the panel

  • BUILT
  • HARDWARE V1.4 · APR 2026
Marcel, in a dark blazer and round black glasses, holds the hand-built control panel in one hand and reaches toward the projection-lit relief model of Andorra while three members of the Andorran delegation look on.
DEMO TO THE ANDORRAN DELEGATION · MIT MEDIA LAB · 1 MAY 2026
Photo: gbila

PROBLEM

A minister doesn’t care about your RMSE.

Marcel Bartumeu Ramentol · internship reflection

QUESTION

Can a national model be operated by hand, in a room, by the people who decide?

SYSTEM

A terrain model of Andorra (about 1.2 m square) with the dashboard projected onto it, calibrated to four corner coordinates and masked outside them; a second screen for indicators, synced over a BroadcastChannel; and an Arduino Mega 2560 panel with two rotary encoders, two slide faders (year 2010–2049; zoom from street to country), six buttons and five toggles, sending JSON over Web Serial at 115,200 baud. It grew from a four-button, one-potentiometer Arduino in November 2025.

  • 2× EC11 ROTARY ENCODER WITH PUSH
  • 2× 10K SLIDE POT · YEAR 2010–2049 · ZOOM STREET → COUNTRY
  • 6× PUSH BUTTON · TABS
  • 5× TOGGLE · SCENARIO OVERLAYS
  • ATMEGA2560 CONTROLLER · 16 MHZ
  • JSON · 115,200 BAUD

EVIDENCE

This site speaks the panel’s own protocol: plug a real panel into a laptop and it drives the whole page.

I demonstrated the model live to an Andorran government delegation at the Media Lab in May 2026.

Marcel talks with his hands beside the terrain model while two men in dark suits listen; on the table the road and trail network of Andorra glows in orange, yellow and green.
EXPLAINING THE ROAD NETWORK · MIT MEDIA LAB · 1 MAY 2026
Photo: gbila
A visitor holds up a phone to film the projection-lit terrain model; the road network glows pink, orange and yellow on the table beside the phone screen.
A VISITOR FILMS THE TABLE · 1 MAY 2026
Photo: gbila

The panel cost $109.18 in parts and was built for the delegation visit.

A physical relief model of Andorra's mountains lit by a projector in a dark room: white peaks, brown slopes and green valley floors, seen at an angle from one corner of the table.
PROJECTION-MAPPED TERRAIN MODEL OF ANDORRA · 22 APR 2026

STATUS AND LIMITS

Built and shown to a delegation in May 2026. The table size is approximate, and the panel is a prototype at hardware version 1.4, not a product.

MY ROLE

I designed, wired and programmed the panel, and built the projector view and the dual-screen sync.

CREDITS

The tangible-table tradition is City Science’s (CityScope); the 2017 CityScope Andorra table was the group’s.

SEE IT RUN →

SOURCES AND STATUS FOR THIS PAGE · 21 CLAIMS
ClaimStatusSourceChecked
A minister doesn't care about your RMSE.OWN RECORDMy internship reflection (own document)2026-10-10
Can a national model be operated by hand, in a room, by the people who decide?OWN WORDINGMy statement that demos are arguments2026-10-10
A terrain model of Andorra (about 1.2 m square) with the dashboard projected onto it, calibrated to four corner coordinates and masked outside them…OWN WORDINGOwn project notes; firmware ScenarioSlider.ino v1.42026-10-10
2× EC11 ROTARY ENCODER WITH PUSHDERIVED FROM DATAFirmware ScenarioSlider.ino v1.4 header2026-10-10
2× 10K SLIDE POT · YEAR 2010–2049 · ZOOM STREET → COUNTRYDERIVED FROM DATAFirmware ScenarioSlider.ino v1.4 header2026-10-10
6× PUSH BUTTON · TABSDERIVED FROM DATAFirmware ScenarioSlider.ino v1.4 header2026-10-10
5× TOGGLE · SCENARIO OVERLAYSDERIVED FROM DATAFirmware ScenarioSlider.ino v1.4 header2026-10-10
ATMEGA2560 CONTROLLER · 16 MHZDERIVED FROM DATAFirmware ScenarioSlider.ino v1.4 header2026-10-10
JSON · 115,200 BAUDDERIVED FROM DATAFirmware ScenarioSlider.ino v1.4 header2026-10-10
This site speaks the panel's own protocol: plug a real panel into a laptop and it drives the whole page.OWN WORDINGFirmware ScenarioSlider.ino v1.4; this site's bus2026-10-10
I demonstrated the model live to an Andorran government delegation at the Media Lab in May 2026.OWN WORDINGOwn record; delegation visit, May 20262026-10-10
EXPLAINING THE ROAD NETWORK · MIT MEDIA LAB · 1 MAY 2026OWN RECORDPhotograph supplied by me, cleared 12 October 2026 (photo: gbila)2026-10-10
A VISITOR FILMS THE TABLE · 1 MAY 2026OWN RECORDPhotograph supplied by me, cleared 12 October 2026 (photo: gbila)2026-10-10
The panel cost $109.18 in parts and was built for the delegation visit.OWN WORDINGMy parts receipts for the panel2026-10-10
PROJECTION-MAPPED TERRAIN MODEL OF ANDORRA · 22 APR 2026OWN RECORDMy photograph of the lit terrain table, 22 April 20262026-10-10
Built and shown to a delegation in May 2026. The table size is approximate, and the panel is a prototype at hardware version 1.4, not a product.OWN WORDINGOwn project notes2026-10-10
I designed, wired and programmed the panel, and built the projector view and the dual-screen sync.OWN WORDINGOwn repository and firmware2026-10-10
The tangible-table tradition is City Science's (CityScope); the 2017 CityScope Andorra table was the group's.VERIFIEDMIT Media Lab article, October 20172026-10-10
BUILTOWN RECORDOwn project notes and photograph of 22 April 20262026-10-10
HARDWARE V1.4 · APR 2026DERIVED FROM DATAFirmware ScenarioSlider.ino v1.42026-10-10
DEMO TO THE ANDORRAN DELEGATION · MIT MEDIA LAB · 1 MAY 2026OWN RECORDPhotograph supplied by me, cleared 12 October 2026 (photo: gbila)2026-10-10