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!