Sunday 9/26 (67 days left)

We met today to discuss the realization of our goals of Thursday, which were to have a completely autonomous folding hexagon that could respond to light and/or movement and/or moisture. here's the email I wrote to sum up the meeting:

Hey guys- great meeting today. I'm really excited about what we
accomplished. 

Here's a recap:
We have come up with context. I think the professors (most importantly
Shtein) really want there to be a problem we are solving , or some
narrative for how this works and what purpose it serves. Our "story" is
going to be based on the pavilion/shelter thing they recently installed at
C.C. Little- our surface will form the roof of this shelter and will react
to weather and lighting conditions to shelter or expose the temporary
inhabitants thereof. It will also sense the presence of people under it,
opening or closing depending on the situation it finds itself in. 

Here's a forecast:
For Thursday we want a fully autonomous hexagon (3 if we can, right?) that
takes in information from light, moisture, and movement sensors and reacts
accordingly. In order to accomplish that, we need to:
  - cut pieces from acrylic and assemble them
  - hack code for the moisture, movement, and light sensors and edit it for
our purposes
  - assemble it so that it all works. 

For construction:
A main facet of our discussion today was about how to mechanize the folding
and unfolding of each triangular panel. We think the best way to do this,
economy willing, is to find small spring-loaded hinges that will hold each
panel flat. We will run string (or fishing wire, which may be more
appropriate given that it's clear) through small holes in each panel and
anchor the string on one panel so that the three movable panels are pulled
towards each other. This requires one string for each panel, and possibly a
spool around which to wind all the strings. This simplifies our previous
string dilemma, and should hopefully make construction simpler. As far as
the laser cut file goes, we may need to modify it to allow for screws, and
in the event we need to save space we can cut individual pieces instead of
whole hexagon frames. 

Coding:
Chris, I hate to stick you with a lot of work, but it definitely seems that
you're the most competent at Arduino here. Diana and I, as your other
engineers, can help with anything (even if it means lending a second pair
of eyes to look at your code). Here's what we were thinking:
  Moisture: If the moisture level goes above some threshold indicative of
the normal humidity in regular air (not exactly sure what this would be-
shouldn't take much research) this should activate the servo(s) and make
the surface flat. This way, we can have a closed surface to protect "users"
from rain. 
  Light: We were thinking this one would work on a timer- based on weather
patterns at a given time on a given day in each year, these would be
closed, open, or somewhere in between. For now I think it would suffice to
have the pyramids open under light and close without it.
  Motion: I think all we need for Thursday is for it to close when the
motion sensor detects motion. This would be indicative of the surface
providing shade on a hot day around noon-ish. 

Assembly: 
This is kind of a play it by ear situation, as we have to find suitable
hinges and wait for the necessary alterations to the cut files. Pat- what
alterations are necessary for this to happen? As far as I can tell it's
just the holes for the string/wire. If it's more and you need more time let
us know. Hopefully we will be able to cut by tomorrow and assemble
Tuesday-Wednesday. 

So, to sum up, here's what we need from everyone:
Pat & Simon- get the cut files ready and do well on your reviews. 
Chris (and Diana and Dan if necessary)- Arduino!
Betsy- Lasercut ASAP
Dan- Flowchart for open/closed behavior based on weather. 

Cool? Cool. Sorry to be so verbose, but this morning was stimulating and we
have a lot to do this week. 

-Dan

  I thought it was comprehensive (and comprehensible) 

and made clear the goals and decisions the meeting produced, and I feel more than at any previous point 

in time during this course that we are heading in a really interesting direction. 

Wednesday-Thursday 9/22-3 (70-69 days left)

On Wednesday night the group was to meet and put together our mechanized chipboard-and-acrylic model. We were going to use strings tied to the 3 outer triangles of each panel and attach them to a central string, which would tighten and loosen according to the rotation of the servo. We did all that, but it didn't really work.

I got there around 1 a.m., as I was scheduled to work 6-12 that night but was impeded by a group of 50 or so sorority rush candidates who all wanted frozen yogurt at once.

I immediately set to constructing the model, as Chris and Diana were focused on the Arduino side of things and Simon and Pat had to leave. We stuck around until about 4:30, at which point things looked pretty good. We had small rectangular pieces of acrylic connecting each outlying triangle to the central one to provide a counterforce that would allow the model to fold flat when we released the tension in the string, which would tighten to close the pyramid, and we had the servo in place and working correctly. Our problems arose from our inability to get the acrylic pieces to stay attached to the central triangle, as well as from our inability to keep the strings attached to the triangular panels. From a mechanical standpoint, it was a huge failure, and I was really angry.

We arrived in class and critted with the rest of class. This was the first critique I had participated in that focused on the intent rather than on the end product, which in this case was a relief. The class gave us a lot of good constructive criticism, and our failure that morning really motivated us to improve and refine our design and to organize more effectively. We spent the afternoon working with arduino, which was excellent, as it provided us with a concrete way to work on the project. In the half hour we spent working on it, Chris and I managed to activate the servo based on input from the motion sensor. Hard-wire logic! Ma-chine language!

We definitely have our work cut out for us in the coming week, and we look forward to improving on our performance of this week.

Sunday 9/19 (74 days left)

I was unable to meet with the group today, as I had to take some visiting friends to the airport, but the rest of the group met nonetheless, and made a few excellent breakthroughs. We decided that our design would be well used in a roof-like capacity that could orient and fold in accordance with weather conditions. We are still thinking about portability and multi-functionality, as well as a folding mechanism. Our plan is to meet this week and have a mechanized hexagon ready to demo on Thursday.

Thursday 9/16 (77 days left)

Class number two.

We presented our progress so far, and we decided that we needed to refine our designs. After our critique, we broke for lunch and met Eugene Shteyn as a class. He gave us an informal autobiography and explained to us what exactly he does as an inventor/engineer/brainstorming consultant, and then we broke into our groups for a few idea-building activities, most notably reverse brainstorming.
This consisted of thinking of problems that need solving, instead of the normal practice of thinking of ideas to solve problems, which may sometimes be arbitrary. We were reminded to put ourselves in the mindset of stating problems as opposed to asking questions- this makes each problem a concrete obstacle impeding our progress, as opposed to some formless unresolved concern. While this was a helpful exercise and it allowed us to see our designs in a new, more analytical light, it left us feeling somewhat doubtful about the validity of our ideas. We knew for sure that we had a lot of work to do.

Wednesday 9/15 (77 days left)

We met as much as we could today- each meeting was only a fraction of the entire group due to work schedules, club commitments, etc. We started by assembling the triangles into hexagons as well as into pentagonal solids by changing the edges that were adhered to those of adjacent triangles. The hexagons sparked the most discussion, and two different directions were suggested: a foldable surface for energy absorption and water collection, or a roof installation that accomplished the same thing.

The foldable surface (my concept) stresses the portability and flexibility that most surfaces lack. By making folding the major facet of this concept, it allows someone removed from the comforts of civilization to collect precious energy and water for survival. This could either be accomplished by orientation on an x-y axis whose origin lies at the center of the surface or by individual module orientation, which we weighed against one another.

Simon had the idea to make it into a roof installation, which would provide renewable energy for a home as well as provide it with drinking water, were the surface interfaced with a water collection and purification system. We struggled with determining how to eliminate the problem of shade (if the surface is continuous the only way to avoid shade is to orient it as a while, which we hoped to avoid), and ultimately decided that the best way to accomplish this would be to space the hexagons apart from each other.

We are meeting in the morning to finalize designs and organize a presentation as a whole group. Wish us luck!

Monday 9/13 (80 days left)

We convened to discuss the different directions we had taken and new ideas that had occurred to us since Sunday. After a brief but productive brainstorm session, we decided to continue "thinking with our hands" in chipboard. Diana and Betsy both brought origami books and experience to the table (literally and figuratively), which presented an interesting new concept for us: pyramids, triangles, and hexagons. We went to work building a module out of six adjacent equilateral triangles (each of which were in turn composed of four equilateral triangles- see below, disregard the circle in the center), which would fold into six triangular pyramids.

The idea here was that the surface, while flat/unfolded, would use its triangular solar panels to collect energy from sunlight, and that each larger triangle would fold into its pyramidal form to protect the solar panels and to direct water into the negative space formed by the folding up of the panels, under which would be some collection apparatus.

Though we were forced to end our meeting before realizing this structure, this new direction was an exciting one, and we all felt good about having multiple working ideas.

Sunday 9/12 (81 days left)

We all met outside DL1 to flesh out our ideas from Thursday as well as to continue with those that we thought up since we met in class, but soon moved to the third floor architecture studio, where we had chipboard as well as cutting implements (we were as yet unable to access DL1 without an instructor).

Those of us that had sketched/planned/designed in the 3 days since our first class presented the ideas which we had developed. I had developed a concept for a flower-like water and sunlight collector/absorber to be placed in public spaces (sorry it's sideways): 

While this addressed both the idea of orienting towards light and moisture sources, the smart surfaces themselves were unconnected- the concept as a whole was more a robot that "grew" from what looked like a seed than a unified surface.

Patrick presented his idea for an apparatus that took advantage of folding in a similar manner as it had unfurling "petals" with solar panels that also served to direct water to a central conduit. Its ability to orient in several directions to a light or rain source addressed the orientation constraint of our design prompt. We workshopped this concept so as to address the manner in which the unfurling panels would orient and how best to collect the water that the panels would direct. This proved to be our most promising direction, but we decided that we would follow other concepts (mostly involving other geometries than the rectangles that Patrick's idea used) to as high a level of completion as we could in the time before we were next to meet.

Patrick's idea for unfolding flaps. 

Unfolding flaps, supports from legs.

Schema, possible new geometries.

Thursday 9/9 (84 days left)

After stimulating (and slightly intimidating) introductions from all three professors, lunch, and a tour of the AAB facilities, we were assigned our first project: a surface that "orients", and whose "folds allow for [efficient] module deployment". We acquainted ourselves with each other, and immediately began formalizing these constraints, starting with brainstorming things to which the surface could orient. Our focus settled mainly on heat/light (solar energy) and moisture (water collection), but we soon hit a standstill, at which point the professors reminded us a) that thinking with our hands would likely be a good way to continue, and b) that the final incarnation of the project would likely be an amalgamation of the members' ideas.

That's our group in the foreground.

We left the meeting at the end of class with a few ideas but plenty of inspiration, and plans to arrange a meeting as well as a CTools site and shared Google calendar so as to coordinate schedules.

Bio

Here's the Bio that's going to be on the Smart Surfaces site.

Dan Connors is a junior. He's enrolled in SmartSurfaces as an Art & Design student. He's majoring in Chemical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering and minoring in A&D. He loves math and science but needed to address his creative side, and would major in Art & Design were it not for how much he would miss math and science were he to stop taking classes therein. He saw a flyer for this class in the Art & Architecture Building and immediately decided he needed to take it, because it seemed an excellent juxtaposition of his interests in engineering and art as well as a fascinating experiment in teamwork and mixing learning styles. He finds it exciting and coincidental that this year's theme is biomimicry, as it was the focus of his research and projects in his CFC class last semester. He's really excited to think with his hands and learn how to make cool things (although he isn't entirely sure just what).

Blog!

Welcome, internet, to my SmartSurfaces blog- I'll be documenting my progress with the course and with our project here for "all" to see. Most of it will be writing, but I will attempt to take/scan as many pictures as I can.