Midterm Presentation Slideshow

Here is a video format of my Midterm Presentation from Friday.

Morph Studies

Site

On Monday, we went down to New Orleans to take a look at the site for Project 2. The site is the New Orleans Port terminal near the RiveWalk, where the cruise ships dock. The more specific site I chose is a set of stairs with a fountain running down the middle. I believe that this would be a good place for the unit as I want to incorporate movement and motion into my unit somehow. My idea is to have the unit situated over the fountain, as to use the running water underneath to generate energy. Through later development, I am working on making the unit expand over parts of the existing 2 stairways and to create another pathway along the middle of the unit to provide a 'scenic route.' Below are some photos of the site and a Rhino model I have created of the stairs and fountain.

Research and Analysis Posters

Isolation Spaces Research

We begin our next project, a quarantine unit, by researching and analyzing a house and a lazar house. The house I have chosen is the Float House by Morphosis. The quarantine facility I am researching is Peel Island, located in Moreton Bay near Brisbane, Australia. Here are some links to some major research sources I have found.

Float House:

General overview and background

Construction sequence

Morphosis Float House official website

Peel Island:

A list of a majority of the ships quarantined to the island

A site plan of the Lazaret facilities

More information on selected ships

A Brief History of Peel Island

Presentation

I was able to find blue pigment to color the device. I mixed it with the liquid latex and applied several coats over the entire thing. Here are some quick snapshots of the finished product along with advertisement poster.

Data Collection

For the second part to the project, we had to collect data about survival routines from our daily lives. I chose to document my water usage, and distant communication with others. Since there are many different ways to communicate, I chose to keep a log of my text messaging habits for the month of February. Here are some graphs of the collected data.

Final Model

Here is an update on the model so far. I made another latex form last night that included the web between the thumb and index finger. However when I removed it from my hand, the latex stretched slightly. However, the glove was able to fit nicely on the original site model, the laser cut contour model. So that saves me a good amount of time from having to recast yet another hand.

Below are some photos of the device, still needs a bit more work and tweaking:

Results from Resin

In my previous post, I mentioned that I had made another plaster mold of my hand since the first has some issues with the finger tips. Well I am sad to say that the second mold did not make it. There was some problem with the plaster curing in which it set in pieces rather than a whole. Yesterday, I tried a new material for the site model: resin. It cures extremely fast, and took well to the shape of the finger. The only drawback is that it creates pockets where bubbles were located. I still have resin leftover and may try for another cast. Here are some pictures of the new resin model. RIP Plaster model #2

Weekend Update: Playing with Plaster

I began casting plaster molds of my hand, to use as another site model. This will allow me to use the latex forms I created earlier on a site identical in scale to my hand. The first one came out alright. The tips of the fingers are a bit messed up, but I believe I can patch up the problem areas. However, I wasn't fully satisfied with the finger placement, so I cast another one, which is still in the process of curing at the moment. Here are some pictures of the first plaster mold:

After smoothing and patching, I may experiment with covering the plaster model in latex to give it a better texture. Below is a more developed concept photo of the device. I wanted to organize the technology somehow, and found that the wristband would serve as a great place to run the components. The electronic parts run from the detector at the bottom of the palm, around the wrist, and up the back of the hand (where the kinetic battery will be located) and continues to the webbing between the index finger and thumb where the vent for the radiation is located.

I am still working on the face of the radiation device. That will be added to the webbing. I am also working out some specifics of the reverse side of the hand and will be posting that soon.

Minor Update: 'Glove' Form

I was able to get the liquid latex to form correctly, and successfully created the base of the device prototype after 6hrs. of molding the latex. Here are some pictures of the result, before i have trimmed extra material to the correct shape.

Learning from Latex

Yesterday I became constructing a prototype process model using liquid latex rubber to create a snug-fitting 'glove' as the base of the model. This material is commonly used to construct a mold of a model to be used for casting a resin or similar end product. It is durable, flexible, and easy to work with. I started by applying a thin layer over the area and allowing that to dry. I then repeated the layers until the form seemed thick enough. It seemed to be working as intended, however I ran into some complications when trying to remove the latex from my hand. Pulling it off seemed to stretch out the form, and it began sticking to itself on the inside. I have researched the solutions to the problems and plan on giving it another go later today. In the meantime, I am constructing a 3D model in Rhino of my device, so that if need be, I can 3D print it later this weekend or by Monday's class. Here are some photos of the latex after it has dried (though I later found out, a few more hours of drying would have been beneficial) while it was still on my hand.

As you can see, it conforms nicely to the shape of the hand, and after several layers, the outside has a nice, smooth even surface. I noticed that the tips of my fingers were not being coated as thoroughly as the rest of my hand. I have found some ways to prevent this. I think the result of my next attempt will turn out nicely.

Preliminary Design Work

My concept for the device is a reinvention of a glove design that will protect the hand and fingers from cuts, shield any existing cuts from getting infected with anthrax spores, as well as be able to support the technology to detect and irradiate any traces of anthrax. I plan on using technology similar to kinetic watches, that power the components using the movement of the hand and wrist.

A few days ago I began sketching out the overall form for the device. It will cover mainly the thumb, middle and index fingers, and part of the palm. I plan on using a latex or silicone rubber to add additional grip to the fingers for ease when managing papers. Here is the initial concept:

I also began to look at the movement of the hand and how certain areas work together and react to common movements associated with handling papers. Here are the first two studies. This research will aid me in determining where material from the device can be removed and how the structure the device.

'Site' Model Completed

Completed assembly on the full scale hand site model.

Pictures available below.

Model Making

I've been working over the past few days on constructing my contour site model using the laser cutter and Rhino. My first attempt went smoothly, although my model got resized to half scale. It will be able to serve as a process model easily. I am almost done completing the new, correctly scaled, hand which should be finished by tomorrow. Its taking a while and progress seems slow (most likely because there are over 400 pieces to it). I've been sketching some concept design for my device, which I plan on using parts of a rubber or latex glove as a base to add and subtract from. This material will serve as grips on the fingers that works with my narrative. I'll post the drawings soon, as well as my narrative and feedback after tomorrow's interim review.

Here is a photo showing my two site models. The larger is nearing completion.

-Shawn

Site Modeling

I began modeling my site, a hand over the weekend using Zbrush and Rhino. Continuing to work on it, I reworked some of the modeling by reposing the fingers to give it a more natural look. I am currently organizing and ordering the contours created in Rhino to cut and build the model. It should be completed by Wednesday.

Here are screenshots of the hand in Rhino before and after the updates:

Project 1: Disaster Agent Research

Human Scale:

The objective of Project 1 is to create a device to protect the body against infection from a chosen disaster agent, in my case, Anthrax. I began the project by researching the agent to understand how it is transmitted in order to better choose a site on the body for the device.

I chose to focus my attention on the cutaneous transmission of Anthrax since it is the most common. Mainly affecting open sores or cuts on the hands and arms, I have begun modeling this as my site. I also beginning to work on the narrative behind the "outbreak." More to come soon.