Prozess

- the balanced movement of four corners

- control the tilt angle and distance between the surface panel and the mechanism base

- regulate the length of the SMA and the angle that fit in between top surface and the base

- stabilise and place the SMA ( enhance the strength make it able to stand)

- try out a way to embed the SMA with the material

- find out the right material which could active by the SMA perfectly and provide a better performance

- calculate  the length of the SMA and the max. voltage and the right current

  Structure One

First I tried with this structure which is able to active the corner and create the bendy / folding motion.

Materials:

- SMA / I60mm *2 

- pvc tube / Ø2mm

- foam / 150 * 150 *3mm

- wooden base / as the above diagram

Method:

- use the pvc tubes to hold and fix the SMA

- test with two diagonal corners

Problems:

- the motion is limited in bendy corner ( not bad)

- without any external support the top surface panel is not balanced when moving

- the SMA need space to move / now fix with the plc tubes which is too easy melted by the heat of the SMA

- the foam is a bit too thick

Structure Two

After the Structure One, I tried to solve the problems before and build a new structure which include a central support. Also I narrowed down the size of the base that provide more space for the movement.

Materials:

- SMA / 220mm *2 

- pvc tube / Ø2mm

- foam / 150 * 150 *3mm

- wooden base / as the above diagram

- universal joint

- soft sides support

Method:

- Universal joint to balance the panel when moving

- longer distance between surface and the base

- build the supports for fixing the SMA / made out by foam

Improvement:

- the motion is more stable

- central support increase the strength of the whole structure

- increase the movement 

Problems:

- still need to find out a better way to fix and support the SMA

Problems:

- it's difficult to direct the light source only by changing the form

- single light resource and the position seems blur the concept of light leaking 

- the folding structure will make the SMA difficult to move (too tight)

- how the amount of the movement influences the brightness and the effect of visual performance for the presentation

Design principles for light control:

- external cover for light and inside mechanism

- soft light weight material and smoothy joint provide better condition to active the SMA

- control light leak by material : cut a gap on closed surface, translucent material at the side, four leds for each corner + one led at the central + controlled by program...

- build a black box for the presentation to show better lighting effect 

Polyhedron Form

After testing the lighting effect, I tried to think about different possibilities of the movable surfaces. I make some polyhedron cylinders with different proportion. By cutting out specific gaps on the certain surfaces that helps me to enhance the flexibility and create movable structure.

  Problems:

- the structure would be too complicated to active the SMA / motion of stretch and squeeze which definitely need to train the SMA which I don't think I have enough time to reach the perfect parameter I need

- the motion couldn't fit the function of regulating the light direction

- too functionally and visually complicated...

  Discovery:

The polygon texture on the surface create the fascinating visual effect, which  brings more perception of dynamic surface. Also the texture create the shadow so visually enhance the movement of the SMA itself.

Design Principles:

- keep the structure and motion as simple as possible that would be better for applying the SMA into the object

- use polygon 3d texture on the moving surface

  Recall the concept of “Kit of the no parts” that point out why all Consumer Electronics should be covered with a "shell". However, I call this “Shell” surface. The surface of a product that made out of any materials in reason and contains the semantic. The semantic instructs the users that how to use the product, also to protect and maintain the function of the inside mechanism and also prevent users hurt from electricity.

  Nowadays with new material technology, such as e-textile, smart material that are interactive and responsive which provide the users unexpected and changeable feedback. Furthermore we expect to integrate the interaction into our daily behaviour and immerse our motion into the object. But the exist application so far seems still restricted in the limited scale. Therefore I attempt to rethink the communication between the users and the objects, and the relationship between the materials, surfaces and the usabilities.

    Idea

  I attempt to embed the SMA into a soft membrane panel or tactile material and to create a behaviour with the motion of lifting something up and getting bright.

Simple square geometry with four bendable corners, the users can puzzle these panels into any shape which would also reach the users' needs.  So the user can decide the bright point to control the lighting direction for different situations.

This system is flexible and functional. Users can mix the functional panels and solid panels to create the patterns and breathing surface.

  I would also design an interface to operate. I am thinking to make a switch with spot pot or tactile button, the operator interface will design into relative shape with the lighting panel which is intuitive finger gesture match the panel's motion and moving direction. Or also could use the photocell to directly induce the approaching hands right at the expected bright point. But still have to test the circuit to control the SMA first and decide which way is better.  

This week we used the table loom to weave and try to embed lighting unit into the textile in a simple way.

I took a EL-wire and woven it with thread which produce an illumine fabric.

After producing my own material, I apply it into a lamp design. Because of the material which is light weight, soft, flexible so make this lamp durable and portable. 

The users could twist the fabric to create the shape of the lamp. Combine with the different shape of support and base of the lamp, the material would follow and fix the shape. Its a deformable contour of the objects.

Project / One - O - One

Date / 28-30. 05. 2014

Site / Weissensee Kunsthochschule Berlin

Open a tilt switch, we can see there are to conductive balls inside a copper tube. There are two pins with this switch, one connected to the outer copper tube, and another one go into the tube and which would connect with the rolling ball in there.

The circuit closed when the balls are conducted with the copper tube and inner pin. Conversely the circuit open when turning the switch upside down that avoid the small ball to touch the pin.

But why there are two balls? One is bigger and another is smaller. I think the bigger ball actually has two function. First it helps to conduc with the copper tube; second, it is heavier that would provide the weight to help the smaller ball stably conduct with the pin.

    Project / One - O - One

Date / 19-21. 05. 2014

Site / Weissensee Kunsthochschule Berlin

The conductive wool itself turned into as a resistor which offer a changeable value to the arduino.

This is a demo that I triggered the sound with this custom sensor.

    Project / One - O - One

Date / 12-14. 05. 2014

Site / Weissensee Kunsthochschule Berlin

Trails 

1) SoftPot Round / Straight

2) Flex / Bend sensor

3) Application - mini speaker  

.....................................................................................................

SoftPot Round / Straight

The Softpot sensors actually work as the potentiometer. Instead of turning a knob, you can touch it.  The Softpot sensors change their resistance depending on where your finger is touching.

Plug in the middle pin to an analog in pin on the arduino, and the analogRead the value between 0 to 1023 depending where you touch it. For example, on the Softpot-straight, it will be read about 512 when touched in the middle.

Task /

Try to create a gradually brighter LED light that controlled by Softpot sensors.

    Flex / Bend sensor

Flex sensor, resistive sensor also works as the potentiometer. It is a flexible strip that changes its resistance when bent. The bigger curvature creates the bigger resistance.

How it works?

One side of the sensor is printed with a polymer ink that has conductive particles embedded in it. When the sensor is straight, the particles give the ink a resistance of about 30k Ohms. When the sensor is bent away from the ink, the conductive particles move further apart, increasing this resistance. When the sensor straightens out again, the resistance returns to the original value. By measuring the resistance, you can determine how much the sensor is being bent.

The circuit here include an extra resistor which makes a voltage divider to make the reading possible.

Task /

Create a gradually brighter LED light that controlled by Flex sensor

  Application - mini speaker

We can connect these resistive sensors with mini speaker and use Arduino tone library to play some music !

Task /

Control the pitch by potentiometer 

  Control the pitch by Flex sensor

    Project / One - O - One

Date / 05 05. 2014

Site / Weissensee Kunsthochschule Berlin

-Digital Read 

  Reads the value from a specified digital pin, either HIGH (1) or LOW (0).

  < more info >

    - Analog Read

  Reads the value from the specified analog pin. This means that it will map input voltages between 0 and 5 volts into integer values between 0 and 1023.

So the inputValue(voltages) will be mapped between 0 and 5 volts into integer values between 0 and 1023. 

  Syntax --  value = map(value, fromLow, fromHigh, toLow, toHigh);

  Example -- 

inputValue = map(inputValue, 0, 1023, 0, 255); 

/* Map an analog value to 8 bits (0 to 255) */

    < more info >

      Exercise 

1)  Basic circuit - Blink LED

2)  Digital Input - Push Button

3)  Analog Input - Potentiometer

4)  Analog input - Photocell

5)  Servo Motor 

  ..........................................................................................................

  TASK 1) - Basic circuit - Blink LED

  Create a circuit with two LEDs, and make the simple blinking lights.

          TASK 2)  - Digital Input - Push Button

  Light up the LEDs by using Push button ( digital input )

          TASK 3) Analog Input - Potentiomemter  

Here we use the Potentiometer to control the brightness of the LED.

Potentiometer  ( analog input )

  “A potentiometer, informally a pot, is a three-terminal resistor with a sliding contact that forms an adjustable voltage divider. If only two terminals are used, one end and the wiper, it acts as a variable resistor or rheostat.” -- from wikipedia

                                                                               /inside of the potentiometer

                                                /Measuring the resistance of the potentiometer

        TASK 4) Analog Input - Photocell

  Photocell  ( analog input )

  “A photoresistor or light-dependent resistor (LDR) or photocell is a light-controlled variable resistor. The resistance of a photoresistor decreases with increasing incident light intensity; in other words, it exhibits photoconductivity.” -- from wikipedia

    Trial A /

Connect one LEDs and create the fading effect by photocell. When user close to the photocell that leads the light getting radially brighter. 

When using a photocell, we need a resistor with a resistance equal to the resistance of the photocell in your normal ambient light conditions. So first you will need a multimeter to measure the resistance of the photocell. ( here I used 100K resistor)

Under this sequence, for creating a stable photocell input control, so first we have to open the serial monitor to look up the sensorValue in normal ambient, which ultimately I mapped as (sensorValue, 60, 250, 0, 255) and constrain the outputValue as (outputValue, 0, 255).

          Trail B /

Take two LEDs, and creating one fading light and the other one gradually brighter, but both of them are controlled by the photocell at the same time. 

          TASK 5) Server Motor  

Servo Motor

  “A servomotor is a rotary actuator that allows for precise control of angular position, velocity and acceleration. It consists of a suitable motor coupled to a sensor for position feedback. It also requires a relatively sophisticated controller, often a dedicated module designed specifically for use with servomotors.” --- from wikipedia

      Trial A /

Control the Servo Motor by potentiometer

        Trail B /

Control the Servo Motor by photocell

                Project / One - O - One

Date / 28-30. 04. 2014

Site / Weissensee Kunsthochschule Berlin

Learn how it works inside

After disassembling the bike light, I got couple units : batteries, a simple circuit board with a micro controller on, a push button and LEDs. I draw down the circuit diagram to figure out how the whole electronic system works. 

First I attempt to get rid of the original button, soldering and extending the circuit with wires.  Connect and disconnect the wires create the open and closed circuit which works as the push button operating the micro controller.

With the programmed micro controller and extended wires, it shows four different sequences of lighting :

light on, quick blink, slow blink, and light off.

  Re-design the Bike Light

I want to maintain the function of different lighting sequences which had been programmed in the micro controller and design a new switch.  So I tried to think about the possibility and usability of switching lights when riding a bike. 

This design combines the bike light with bicycle handlebar, which provides users the ability to switch the lights trough simple and intuitive hand gestures such as squeeze and slide. 

This design is constructed by two cylinders, one carries the main circuit including the LEDs, micro controller and batteries, the other one has the conductive unit which works as the switch. Whilst these prototypes are made out of corrugated paper that the curve on the surface provide the higher friction which helps the conductive surfaces clench together. 

I used the copper tape as the conductive units on both cylinders and stick the copper tapes into certain intervals. While moving along with the cylinders, the intervals between the copper tape cause the open-circuit and closed-circuit which switching the light sequences.

Paper Prototype

This design provide bicycle riders the ability to switch the bike light with squeezing and sliding. This unit could be combined with the handlebar and operated easily while riding.

- Squeezed Light 

  - Sliding Light

  Project / One - O - One

Date / 22-23. 04. 2014

Site / Weissensee Kunsthochschule Berlin

Concept

Cymatics is the process of visualizing sounds through different medias. For example, “Reconfiguration” use water and light to build a new system of sound visualization.

This design recomposing three simple elements in a cycle and exploring the mystery between water, sound and light. Changing their normality but maintaining their nature, creating variable water ripples, visible sounds and malleable light. 

Usually we listen to music, this time we play with it and use it to create mysterious and unpredictable results, which make us understand the nature and relationship of the elements and discover their variable parameters. 

  Exploration

Water is the most familiar and basic natural element, but it also can be mysterious and fascinating. The waves at the beach, the ripple on the pond, the bubble in the pot… they show so many different forms and movements and still belong to the most common and natural experiences.

All of these phenomena usually occur in a direct interaction with other natural elements. For instance, a drop on the leaf drips into the water and produces reflections, ripples and sounds. Water, air, gravity, light, and sound interact and form multidimensional processes. 

However, water also has a specific behaviour on its own, defined by its characteristics of movement and resonance. By using a closed container and sound these can be explored: endless variations of shapes and movement appear and demonstrate how water can have a natural and artificial behaviour at the same time.

Experiment

I try to reconstruct cycles of natural phenomena and create unpredictable results: with still water turning dynamic, sounds, which can be rather seen than heard, and light being distorted. These three elements are connected in one system, the waves of the sound excite the motion of the water while the light going through the dynamic water produces variable patterns. With different frequencies different geometries of waves appear, visible as projections on the surface of the cube.

Hardware and Programming

The work is composed with water, sound generator, transducer and a single LED. By controlling the tone of the deep bass in several specific frequencies, the water is brought into various patterns of motion.

Interface Design

The interaction between the work and the viewer focuses on the experience of controlling the light patterns. The interface is composed of three audio cables and audio jacks. Each cable transmits one kind of tone, which excites a specific lighting pattern. Imitating the behaviour of listening music by earphones, by plugging in several cables we enjoy mysterious patterns rather than listen to music.

prototype and user interaction

    Application

audio device + dynamic lighting + flexible eco lens

We can apply this system to a music player which contains the audio and visual output. In addition, it creates a new dynamic lighting concept. The flexible water lens which can concentrate the light to enhance the brightness by water, and produce a good lighting projection with various sounds patterns.   This design brings a new co-senses user experience and a new way of communication between sounds, lights and human being. 

/ " Reconfiguration " + Music performance /

Project / Shaping Light

Date / 10. 2012 - 04. 2013

Site / Weissensee Kunsthochschule Berlin 

Project leaders / Prof. Carola Zwick, Prof. Hulment Staubach, Mr. Sebastian Morgenstern