[Making Intelligence] Obstacle Seven // Transformer

 

Project Brief

"Design and 3D print a collapsible armature that can hold a phone upright in a horizontal, landscape position."

 
 

Tools and Materials Used

Dimension 768 ABS Plastic Printer
Rhinoceros

1) Process

For this project, I was focused on the practicalities of the phone stand, given the stand would have to be able to hold my personal cellular device and that I am the "client" of this product. Since the stand has to have moving parts, I wanted to take advantage of this and have the stand accommodate more than one angle, similarly to how some tablet covers have multiple angle settings.

The shape of the phone stand is rectilinear for practical reasons, and I first estimated comfortable angles for the phone to be resting at.

2) First Print

I had used the wrong tolerances for the first 3D file, so the hinges did not work out. Some cutting had to be done to separate the "legs" from the base.

3) Final Print

[Making Intelligence] Obstacle Six // Egg Roll

Project Brief

"Design and build a structure that moves an egg down a 42-inch change in elevation."

 

Tools and Materials Used

Chipboard
Acrylic
MDF
Screws
Hand drill
Hot glue

1) Process

I first tested the limits of the egg, and learned quickly that there was not much leniency to how far the egg could drop.

Egg remained intact at a 1/2" drop.

Egg remained intact at a 1/2" drop.

Egg easily cracked when dropped at a height of 2".

Egg easily cracked when dropped at a height of 2".

I sketched through a few quick ideas, but I limited myself to a compact and modular design to be most efficient in making and assembling the egg roll structure together. I created a detailed three-dimensional digital model of the design as a basis to fabricate the actual design.

A series of ladders with rungs were offset by approximately 1/2" for the egg to drop onto at every platform. When transitioning from the digital model to the making the actual model, I added half walls to the platforms to ensure the safety of the egg.

Although the idea of having the same shape of the platform repeated throughout the structure was appealing, the small differences and human error forced me to customize each platform. Each platform was measured and cut on the spot to accommodate the differences.

2) Assembly

3) Testing

The final product has about a 50% success rate, which is partially dependent on the speed and orientation of the egg's release, and partially luck-based.

[Making Intelligence] Obstacle Five // POPsegrity

 

Project Brief

"Develop a tensegrity structure, and hold up a can of soup 10 inches above a horizontal surface."

 
 

Tools and Materials Used

Popsicle sticks
Rubber bands
Strings
Wire

1) Structural Study

I approached this obstacle by studying the tensegrity structure in hopes of discovering opportunities to modify or add to the basic form to create an innovative method of aggregating tensegrity structures.

There were many failures in attempting to put together a basic tensegrity structure using rubber bands. Using different materials for the tension member did not make the task any easier either. After many hours of trying new approaches, I came to the conclusion that a pure tensegrity structure would be impossible to achieve given the resources, time constraints, and design requirements of suspending a can of soup 10 inches above a surface.

Instead of trying to aggregate tensegrity units in a way where it can support a can of soup, I built a scaled up version of one basic tensegrity structure.

 

2) Final Product