PDF of Presentation

Links:

Japanese Soft Robotics Hand and Sushi

The voiceover and subtitles explains how this works, where a soft rubber pouch is actuated by pressured air. The simplified demonstration below shows this, a syringe of air changing the dimensions of the finger-pouch:

I decided to use a medical syringe as the air pump, examination gloves as the membrane, rubber bands to provide a seal, and soaked cotton balls as the jamming content. I used a bunch of lightweight dental sticks as pickup objects.

So after snipping off the fingers of the glove, I made this:

a surrealistic little finger.

I wanted to test it with unsoaked cotton ball first, as well as a combination of unsoaked cotton ball and ground black pepper.

Finger with Cotton and Pepper

The finger failed to pick up the stick when actuated with air.

I had much more success with water-soaked cotton.

Successful Pickup with Water Soaked Cotton

It also manages to pick two up, albeit a little badly.

Pickup of Two Sticks

I tried fluids with different viscosity, first honey, and then soy milk.

But viscosity changes the effectiveness dramatically, such that I seem to achieve a stronger suction effect, but without a corresponding increase in successful pickups.

Unsuccessful Pickup with Soy Milk

I wanted to experiment with the thermochromatic ink that Leah showed us last week.  Just a reminder: thermo  = heat and chroma = colour.  It is an ink that changes its behavior when the temperature rises over a certain base level.  For example:

I was also inspired by pictures of silhouettes, and so I decided to make a picture of something in silhouette with a very colorful background.  I wasted a bit of time trying to figure out what to do, and finally decided on making a silhouette of MIT.

Process

First, I started with this drawing on autocad:

Next, I cut out this stencil from a 12″ x 12″ sheet of paper with the laser cutter:

Then, I sprayed the base layer of black paint on a 12″ x 12″ piece of acrylic:

After that, I used the stencil to map out the layer of conductive ink, that would activate the thermochromatic ink:

Then, I sprayed on the second layer of black paint to mask the conductive ink.  Unfortunately, something went wrong and the paint got messed up.  I’m not sure what happened, but some suggestions are that because I used two different kinds of inks for the black layers, they reacted badly:

Lastly, I used the stencil again to paint on the thermochromatic ink, and voila!:

Lessons Learned

Unfortunately, it was not the layer of conductive ink that caused the wonderful colors to show.  It was a regular hair-dryer.  There are three possible reasons for why this did not work

1. the area I was trying to heat up was too big
2. the black paint successfully shielded the thermochromatic ink from the conductive ink
3. the voltage I was using was too low

Future Applications

I still want to use thermochromatic ink in my final project (and not require a hair dryer) so I’m going to experiment a little more.  But instead of using conductive ink, I want to try sinking a strand of steel thread in a trace on the acrylic and seeing if that works.

Presentation: Crouching Beaver Hidden Institute

What is Wall Sense?

Wall Sense is a project that I have been think about since Spring 2010.  I am seeking to make wallpaper / wall stickers / posters / anything that can be put up on a wall to be more interactive.  Using a system of sensors and actuators, I want these things to encourage participation from their users.

Why Wallpaper?

Wallpaper/posters/wall stickers are everywhere.  Therefore, they should be…

…Interactive

encourage an action from the user

perform some reaction engaging the human senses

…Entertaining

sound: play music

sight: shine light

scent: emit smells

touch: feel interesting

…Functional

burglar alarm

baby monitor

What already makes wallpaper exciting?

• Fathead Stickers: live-size to gigantic stickers for walls

www.fathead.com

• 3D Wallpaper: Swedish designers Hanna Nyman and Kicki Edgren Nyborg have created eye-popping wallpaper

off-the-wall-interactive-wallpaper-by-kicki-edgren-nyborg-101916

3d-wallpaper-for-that-extra-pop-to-your-room

• Living Wall: The High-Low Tech Group have created a living wall using conductive & magnetic paint and paper electronics

watch?v=r9j8DIHXSKA