Lego

Here is a quick model I constructed with LEGO just to show how the whole mechanism works. its big, bulky and constrained by the dimensions of lego and peices on hand, but you get the idea.



If that doesnt work, link HERE

I hope to use the lego worm gear, as it is pretty sturdy. All the other gears / arms will be done on the lasercutter [hopefully] and will be a much more compact / efficient unit. there will also be four, perhaps six arms - as many as I can fit onto the worm gear...

Things are looking up.

In keeping with the idea of the permeable surface transforming into the solid surface, and then applying my new thoughts on motors v. solenoids and those strange re-occuring birds, a strange idea developed.


By suspending the mechanisms - without a supporting framework, that sense of "shutters" is lost. The mechanisms dangle and drift about according to local air currents. When the mechanisms are activated, they begin to open and interact with eachother. Once they are fully open, the loose arangement dissapears and the mechainisms force themselves into a rigid matrix based on the geometry of the individual peices - very simmilar to a crystalization process.

What triggers the mechanisms is particulairly intresting...
As the interaction of the individual mechanisms when triggered is important, perhaps the relaxed state can also influence the actions of the installation. Following the idea of air currents, using strands [switches] within the suspended parts that jostle about and switch the mechanisms on and off - check out Gorretti's blog to see some of these strands at work with her lighting circuits. Once the mechanism is fully open however, connections or switches on the rigid mechanism would interact with the same switches on another rigid mechanism and engage a closing sequence.
The effect would be a surface that is constantly opening and closing [almost breathing] through a combination of air currents and interaction of parts.

I recognise this as an incredibly complex undertaking - most definitly something to be accomplished after christmas, but I feel it is important to project possiblilites. In the immediate future, I would like to create a few working mechanisms, with a much simpler sensor input for the time being. This involves finding motors / suitable worm gears, and then some intensive time on the laser cutter.

Avian Tendencies

After some consideration and deliberation, I've decided that the previous idea was not alltogether unlike a very comlicated set of shutters, and could use a bit more imagination and fun.


First off, solenoids are proving to be quite difficult. They are bulky, have a considerable power requirement, have only on / off states, and cannot stay in the on position for extended periods of time lest they overheat [some issues with my More Power! statement from earlier...] A much more elegant solution is one involving geared motors linked to the mechanism.


It avoids any sort of compound lever systems (+), allows the mechanism to operate at a number of positions as opposed to on / off (+), lighter - with a reduced power demand (+), doesn't make that cool "snick!" sound of solenoids ( - ). A compromise then.

When drawing this, the image of birds kept popping into my head. This linked with overcoming the shutters led to a whole new idea...

First Steps

After finding that "seed crystal" of an idea, I began to develop a body of work that would support it. This began with analog drafting, but I soon realized that there was far more tuning of the geometry of the mechanism required. To accomplish this I moved into the digital realm and started mucking about in AutoCAD, developing a relationship between radii and axis of rotations within the mechanism. This got increasingly complicated, and I eventually scaled back to a very simple itteration that I was determined to test.
To do this, I first developed a geometry suited for the open-box solenoid [pictured in the middle] and created a file for the laser-cutter [getting cut friday morning with any luck]. I then went and got a tube solenoid, with a greater throw - as the distance the solenoid traveled was a serious constraint in developing geometry. The tube solenoid required some serious modifications - the mounting frame was cut off and ground smooth, and the spring was shortened to reduce the amount of force required to active it. The open box solenoid works well off a 9V battery, however the tube still requires a full 12V with plenty of current - so there's some work ahead to make things operate effectively and efficiently. I also created a few [shoddy] renderings to help communicate my idea.

These renderings depict a few open mechanisms placed on a supporting grid, and some of the light blocking / diffusing possibilites. While working with the issue of shade and shadow - I created a comparator circuit using some of the 741 operational amplifiers and a photoresistor that would register the difference between light and dark and then trigger the solenoid - esssentially keying the mechanism to fire when in shadow eg. when someone walks in between it and a light source.



The circuit works...ish. It responds to light and dark - however, even using 18Vs, the circuitry consumes too much power and the solenoid response is sluggish and weak - presumably too weak to operate the mechanism. I am not entirely certain of this, as I will be building a test-run of the mechanism once I get the lasercutting done, but things aren't looking too good. I need more Power!

New Direction

Continuing with the idea of responsive building skins carried forward from Montreal and in light of the research of the past few weeks I've set off in a some semblance of a direction.

Bare bones, here it is:

Using the skin of a building [I'm using the term building loosely here, its simply the most fitting analogy] to inform the building of its environment, and then having the building respond to the data to tune itself to that environment.

An awfully difficult difficult program when you get into it, because it means designing both a skin condition, and a structure that responds to / alters this skin condition.

To begin, I am starting small, and making a structure that changes its shape based on information gathered by the environment.

Here are some of the early ideas:



The elements can be positioned in any orientation; wall, roof, whatever. The solid surface can then react with different elements in an environment and have very different effects on the contained environment - sun, precipitation, wind, privacy, etc etc. The sensor input is equally open-ended as it is inherently linked.

Research Directions

Following Montreal, we each returned to our original research and began to investigate further. My intentions seemed to lead away from my original inventor Faraday. After some deliberation, I focused on Luigi Galvani. His research proved to be far more intruiging - as he wasn't entirely certain what he was dealing with and his experiments concerning bioelectricity and the relationship between physical movement and electric signals was much more alligned with my intrests.

In the course of my research of Galvani, two significant phenomenon emerged: chronobiology and biofeedback. Cronobiology is the study of the natural cycles within organisms - circadian rythms, menstrual cycles, migration patters, etc etc. This is particulairly intresting because it deals with an organisms responses to pressures / forces in thier immediate environment.

Biofeedback is the process in which an individual gains information about their biological functions - blood pressure, body temperature, muscle tension, etc etc - and then attempts to alter these processes using perscribed exercises, gauging the bodys response using the aformentioned sensors. Biofeedback has significant medicinal uses ranging from stress reduction to prosthetics [shown below]. It is of intrest to note that nearly all of these sensors deal directly with the surface of the skin, tapping into such things as temperature, conductance created by sweat, and electrical impulses generated by muscles moving underneath the skins surface.

The prosthetics are of particular intrests, as myoelectric control directly links electrical impulses with muscle movement - artificial movement generate from the body's contained electrical energies. When this relationship between electrical impulses and produced mechanical movementis applied to the musculo-skeletal structure of the human body, things become particulairly intresting...

Something to look at.

Some seriously incredible, haunting images. Well worth a look - Here Additionally Here

Air Pressure Switch Info

[originally posted on the pHnAeCuK blog @ www.pneuhack.blogspot.com]

Here's Just a little follow up info on those air-pressure switches:



They are two keyboard contacts placed together - the activation pressure can be tuned to suit its application, Kai and I experimented with both the seperator material (distance between) the contacts, and the size of the "nubbin" that concentrates the pressure on the contacts themselves. With no seperator, the nubbin can be smaller than a grain of sand - the activation pressure is incredibly small : simply blowing on the swicth would activate it, or the weight of a zip-lock bag would trigger it. If held stationary, the slightest pressure on the bag would again cause the switch to activate.

As it is, we could mount the switch between the inner and outer membranes, it is paper thin and adheres with tape. any pressure to the membrane (touch) or an increase in internal air pressure (bending of the tube) would activate it.

The other option is modifying the switch (a relatively thick seperator material and a larger nubbin) and placing it closer to the bottom of a tube - this will require some serious tuning to get it to respond to air pressure changes created by bending a tube, but is still possible.

Another good thing are the switches are very easy to make (takes some precision, but with enough people on it (2-3) we can have them built and installed for about 2 minutes a switch. AND they are ridiculously cheap - salvaged contacts, a little tape and some strips of wire - so no real cost.

Montreal Part Deux

See what I did there? tossed in a bit of french without even thinking about it.

Moving on...


Fitting the pneumatic tubes with electronics proved to be more difficult than anticipated. Our trial runs with taping the sensors to the tubes worked well, but was a little fragile, especially if people were rubbing up against them as they penetrated the structure. To solve this, we needed to cover the sensors in a manner that protected them while still allowing them to function effectively. After various trials, we taped the sensors to a collar constructed of the tubing that slid over the tubes.


This was effective initially, however, using a collar provided a constant air pressure that meant that when constricted, all sensors would fire at once, or one would close and negate any input from other sensors on the same tube. In addition to this, a variance in air pressures meant that each sensor needed to be calibrated...

The environmental sensors were actually contact sensors, made from the electrical contacts canibalized from old keyboards. The distance between the two contacts, and the area of pressure that acts on the sensor are the two major variables that allow you to tune the sensor. We needed a few of these buggers so we had a sensor building party! Jeff Palistch from RPI then spent a late night trying to configure the sensors and collars accompanied by some boreal, a local micro brew.

Detuning the sensors to the point where they were no longer triggered by changes in air pressure not only solved the "input overlap" but cut the time requirements considerably. the sensors would only respond to people brushing against them when they penetrated the ring, or a very strong increase in air pressure - like when someone hugged a tube.

These sensors were then wired to act as a switch for some hacked LED toys from the local dollar store. These toys resembled Lightsabres, and would change the pattern of the contined flashing leds each time the switch was closed. This was not quite the delay circuits we were originally intending, however they were far less expensive, pre-constructed, and stil retained the ability to provide some sort of recognition of passage / interaction with the structure. We also ran into a wire shortage, meaning that these lightsabres would need to be wired with close proximity to the sensors in a parallel circuit, so into the collar they went.

At this point Drew and Rachel came in with some very cool hacked personal security alarms which were then wired to a photo resistor taped to the LEDs, and the output was sent to a mixer / amp which produced some intresting / odd / awesome sounds. When multiple signals from these alarms interacted on their way to the mixer, the interference produced even odder sound, all based on the pattern of the flashing LED. Kai's car was also functioning, however, detuning of the sensors meant that the feedback loop was realized.


All in all, I think we accomplished a pretty intresting peice of work. The collaberation with members of RPI was fantastic and the location couldn't have been better. Thanks to all our team members, Concordia university, Patrick and Ted.

Montreal / Hexagram

You would think that after an epic marathon 2500 kilometer drive across the Canadian shield [in a Hyundai no less], a whirlwind tour of Ottawa, a new baby [and accompanying adventures... congrats to Darcy and Tanya and baby Petter] and exploring Montreal, that one could call it a successful trip and be done with it. This was only the adventure leading up to our hexagram adventures.

Our team: Kai Chang, Rachel Tennenhouse, Andrew Workman and myself, came to hexagram with a minimal understanding of what our collaborators from RPI had created in terms of a pneumatic structure in which we were supposed to embed / integrate our electronic devices. Up to that point, the only communication we had was a few teleconference calls fraught with technical difficulties and PDFs. Kai and I had worked late the nights before our driving to devise an environmental sensor that would work with inputs from human and pneumatic interaction. I'll import the posts from the pHnAeCuK blog for some illumination on these. Beyond that, we had only raw materials and some possible ideas with which to work with.

After much discussion and brainstorming, we decided to attempt to create a feedback loop that consisted of optical, acoustic, and physical triggers and responses. The loop / system was to be initiated by the environmental sensors that would respond to contact and changes in air pressure of the upright tubes. These would in turn send signals to the acoustic circuit - which would interpret / modify / emit the signal which would then in turn be sent to a acoustically triggered car. After being triggered by the sound, the car would move about on a tether attached to the structure. This movement of the structure would in turn cause the structure to deform and cause the tubes to jostle eachother, again triggering the environmental sensors and perpetuating the cycle.

Before we could set about any of these tasks, we first had to refine the pneumatic structure. Our major concern was air loss, as an array of leak points in the system meant we required a much greater air [ and louder - acoustic interference ] air supply. This also effected inflation times and structural rigidity. The main points of loss were the end seams of the tubes and where the tube attached to the PVC framework that served as its air supply. Each tube was constructed out of a solid cylinder / tube of 3mil polyethylene plastic bagging - sort of like the roll of bagging found for supermarket produce bags, but bigger and stronger. These were then welded with a single simple seam a la heat gun and pressure, and attached to the PVC frame /air supply with elastic bands.

My solution to these issues was twofold: For the welded seams at the top, there was a serious weakness in the actual sealing system. By folding the material over successive series of welds produced both a better seal, and meant that the force created by the air pressure was applied to the material itself, instead of applying tensional stress to the welded seam.


To solve the air leakage at the frame, Kai and I needed to make a trip to the local Canadian tire [about 10 blocks away, and POURING rain each time we had to go]. The seal was constructed out of automotive heater hose, ATV UltraBlack gasket maker / sealant, and some gear / screw clamps. The heater hose's purpose was to both increase the circumference [surface area] that the tube would contact with - meaning the tube could sit flatter with a minimal series of folds that air could escape through, and to provide a softer material for the clamp to sink into and improve the seal. The ATV went in between the heater hose and the PVC, sealing the connection and affixing the assembly to the frame. ATV should have been applied between the tubes and the heater hose, however we were constantly taking the tubes on and off, so this would have gotten rather messy.

I hope to get some drawings finished that will hopefully provide some clarity to all this. Ill put them up when I can. Anyways, the system was incredibly successful - the overall system still lost a little air through the vacuum and pinpoint holes, but our test bags held air at incredible pressures for sustained periods. In addition to max pressures from the compressors [about 100 psi], it even survived getting ridden rodeo style by Kai. I wish I had pictures of this, but honestly I was laughing too hard.

With the pneumatic system effectively functional, we shifted to electronics.
This is getting a little long here, so I'll continue this in the next entry.

PDFs for viewing

Apparently the uploading likes Macs and despises everything PC.
A few days late, but here they are:

Page 1
Page 2
Page 3

Visualizations

Posting issue - simmilar to what we encountered before. Please be patient, boards will folllow.
Cheers

Connections

This post is hopefully a starting point for some conversations about our studio interaction with RPI. Its is intended as a response to our tele-conference, and with any luck gives some indication as to where my interests are.


I'll start things off with a bit clearer indication of the ideas I had going into the conference:


Basically, the ideas hinge around non-intrusive sensors - something that registers an effect without interrupting motion in any way. I think this is an interesting topic, particularly when looking at the pneumatic structure itself, as non physical measurement doesn't have any physical effects such as embedding, welding, or puncturing of the envelope in any way. At least, it doesn't require it. At a more human scale, it serves as a passive system, something that can be sensed without bumping into or pressing anything - it allows you to record [and respond!] to an occupant without actually interfering with or relying on physical contact.

The example I presented was the vivisected Infrared Laser device, which uses infrared LED and a sensor to send and receive a signal. The importance of this device is not so much the IR component, but rather the send/receive ability. I think it is the communication that is critical.

The basic manifestations of this communication in architecture appears to be rather simple and in line with basic electronics: there is either communication, or there isn't [on/off]. This is creates really basic systems, like the lights going on when someone passes a certain point for example. When you begin to group these systems, you get a much more active and interesting response since it is no longer just a single on/off state, but rather a series of them. The effect lies within the interference.

Let me explain. With a single sensor, you have one variable. With multiple sensors, not only do you have multiple on/off states, but the sequence or pattern in which they are triggered begins to tell you something. It could describe someone moving through a space [in 3D], or how an envelope is responding to different rates of inflation. Essentially, a sensor array allows you to capture motion and then respond to it.
An example I described was one derived from the RPI video of Jeff going through the tunnel: if Jeff was to first pass by a sensor array that recorded his height, how fast he was moving, etc. The sensors would then tell the structure if it needed to be inflated/deflated the structure to suit his needs. This is a very basic example, but it has some interesting ramifications - just off the top of my head here, but perhaps a more efficient pneumatic environment, one that inflated spaces that are in use and allows air pressure to be used where its needed, lessening the demand on the pumps/compressors. It could capture the events going on within the space - say, a group of people sitting down and reading independently and adjust the room dimensions to suit. The sensors can allow a space to be described by gestures of the occupants - whether conscious or not - and can inform a constantly evolving environment.

The variability of the pneumatic structure makes it a perfect candidate for such dynamic systems and I am very excited to see what opportunities arise.


Of personal interest are natural triggers - wind direction, solar, temp, sunlight/shadow, precipitation, etc etc. and then seeing how these can interact with some of the human induced triggers I mentioned earlier - developing a relationship with the interior and exterior of the building. I've done a few projects in the past that touch on this subject, but nothing with pneumatics.

I would be more than happy to show you more of my work / explain myself, and I look forward to any insight or inspiration you may have. I can be reached outside of blogger at
wrenchead01@hotmail.com

Cheers.

Here is the PDFs of my Laser-Tag deconstruction. Hopefully they offer you a little insight as to how it goes together. If you have any questions, please email me.

For the record, my first attempts at soldering are about at gracefull as a chimpanzee on ice skates.

Laser_Viv.pdf

Vivisections

As the second part of our hacked studio begins to get into gear, we have begun to search for objects and dismantle them to find out how they work . My four items are as follows; a broken CD player, a broken printer, a very old portable tranistor radio, and a childrens "laser challenge" gun and vest combo. In terms of intrest v. complexity, the laser tag kit seems like the best choice and as such I have begun the vivisection of the vest.

A simple looking circuit, it consists of a battery pack, on/off switch, alarm speakers/lights, a circuit board, some sort of jack, and a sensor. The sensor suggests that it isnt an actual laser system [which would make sense as this is a kids toy and little boys with eye-tissue-damaging lasers generally isnt a good thing] but is in fact a Infrared set-up. I read up on IR, and did some tests to confirm this:
Basically, with older digital cameras, instead of filtering out the IR, it becomes scrambled by the antiquated digital system and gets picked up as white light. Photo taken with an early model canon powershot. Apparently this works with remotes as well.

Armature Updates

Here are some images of the revised gear mechanism with its new gear and exciter ring. The laminated cardstock assembly is much stronger, and adaptations to the rings allows the unit to function at any angle, as opposed to a flat plane. You can also see the beginnings of a frame developing, which will hopefully attach to some sort of cable climbing mechanism, allowing the device to trace its design while simultaneously climbing a wall. Cut-outs lighten the assembly considerably.

Armature Aggravation

I've moved onto that part of the mechanism that I have been trying not to look at - hoping it would somehow resolve itself and let me go on my merry way. The main concern is part of the image in the diagram - a hinge point and linkage that is rather vague and has left me scratching my head. Rather than larking about trying to build a series of model armatures that may or may not work and really amount to devouring precious time, I went about mapping out some of the possible itterations.

To do this, I drew out orbits full scale and the location of a certain point during its rotation based upon gear ratios. I then applied different linkage scenarios and completed the drawing according to artoblevski's schematics. Displaying each armature during different positions and rotations demonstrated that none of my current itterations will produce the desired egg shape - they all produce objects that move on three vectors - generating oddly triangular spirograph shapes. This suggest that the linkage serves to reduce the three vectors down to two and producing the egg shape.

Either way, I found the mapping exercises extrememly helpfull, even if they proved fruitless. The end results are quite attractive and intresting to read.

Model Developments

With the intention of creating a more rugged and usefull mechanism, I went about drafting one up out of card-stock. The goal was to create a gear housing that contained the major orbital mechanisms to one plate that could then provide a clean, interference free surface on which to mount the armatures, all while transmiting any rotation to the neccesary peices. Also, as there are a few other mechanisms developed in the studio that require an exciter ring, I sought to make the mechanism modular so people could swap thier parts onto it [maybe I can rent it out, offset the cost of all this coffee....].

Keeping the weight down and the surfaces clean was a particular goal, so there is countersinking of axles, and significant material removed, while still keeping enough material to be durable. I also opened a small "window" into the gears - they're kind of neat and worth showing I believe. It gives an indication of the mechanism that concealed to keep the interference down.

Here are some pictures of the gear housing - its a good foundation on which to experiment with the next step - the armatures...

Artoblevski II

I immediately looked to solve the issue with the orbits, as the other two issues would resolve themselves as the design becomes more refined. To do this, I looked to a spirograph, a precedent that has very obvious links to artoblevski's work. We have been joking / comment on this from the start of the project, so it really wasn't a dramatic leap. The triangular series of arcs contained within the larger orbit suggests that it is transcribed from a point on the smaller circle as it rotates inside the larger one - again, something any seasoned spirograph vetran would spot.

To construct the gears accurately, I utilized the spur gear formulas discovered by carl [see his del.ici.ous site for the links] however, this proved to be ineffective as the gearing it produced wasnt quite right. At the same time, I tried to explore the notion of folding that Patrick has stressed throughout this project - essentially getting the 2D a little more active within the third dimension. Aesthetically, I think it has quite a nice effect, but functionally it compunds some of the issues associated with the gears. I have stepped away from the folding interactions for the time being, with the intentions of resolving a working mechanism before I advance into that stage - however, I havent forgotten about the intent here - I am mindful of the current means of construction and how it can eventually mesh with a more advanced prototype.

Artoblevski's Revenge

Use Dedale link on right-hand side to see project descriptions.
Refer to Fig. 334 of Generation of Curves, Algerbraic and Transcendental.

How to Draw an Egg, the hard way.

The transformation from schematic to a operating mechanism is proving far more difficult than originally anticipated. The simple act of exploding the digram into its component parts introduces a whole new series of variables and issues. The most significant of these is the interference between the different parts - what "planes" each object is functioning on and how each peice may block or react to eachother. Closely tied to this is the issue of joinery, particulairy the dynamic joints such as sliders and points of rotation. My initial attempt was to simply build it as closely following the schematic as possible - almost a literal interpretation. This allowed me to investigate interference zones, and experiment with preliminary joint connections. It failed to work, and subsequent attempts and "tweaking" led to some creative applications of various four letter words. In addition to puncture wounds sustained from thumbtacks, three main issues emerged from this first iteration:
1. Interference points [obviously]
2. The critical nature of the 90 degree slider joint
3. Actuating both orbits at the same time was difficult and required another approach.