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DIGITAL DESIGN + FABRICATION SM1, 2016 M3 JOURNAL

Tatyana Procak, Hadar S lonim and Shantel le Blain 695593, 699088 and 792639

James Park, Tutor ial 2

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INTRODUCTIONTHE DESIGN CONCEPT

The in it ial design explored the tangibi l i ty of personal space through the use of r ings. Explor ing the concept of personal space we ques-t ioned whether the environment was a factor in the development of boundaries. We found through our analys is that a person has fai r ly permanent boundaries and i t i s the environment they are in which then causes a dynamic effect on their personal space, changing the degree in which a person wants to interact with the environment.

THE DESIGN

The development of our design led to wooden r ings which part ial ly enclose the body. These r ings would form the barr ier between personal and social space, with perforat ions to adjust the level of interaction with the external environment.

MODULE 2 FEEDBACK

Reviewing the concept f rom Module 2 modif icat ions to the type of perforat ions needed to be conducted, as wel l as development of a constrain-ing element for the r ing system in order to keep the correct curvature.

MODULE 3 DEVELOPMENT

Upon these revis ions Module 3 focusses on the fabr icat ion of the concluded design to test mater ials and provide proof of concept.

FIGURE 1: Module 2 Design used for F inal Evaluat ion

FIGURE 2: Module 2 L ight Explorat ion of the L iv ing Hinge us ing paper

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DESIGN DEVELOPMENTAfter the Module 2 review, problems became apparent within the design through prototyping. In terms of the design, solut ions were needed in order to:- Constrain the r ings to create the intended curvature- Ref ine mechanism to hold r ings together- Develop the exper ient ial aspects of the ‘s leeping pod’ for the userDiscuss ions of the design and how it would be further developed led to the prominent theme of enclosure to be researched. A sense of protection and relaxat ion is felt when one s i ts under a tree where branches wrap over and around a person when they are under i t . Developing the design to be able to exper ience this through the s leeping pod meant reviewing the way one uses the device.

EXPERIENCEIn response to the body, the s leeping pod was designed to be used when leaning against a wal l or chair . Developing this idea we de-cided to remove the belt element aiding to the abi l i ty for a person to comfortably adjust the device to suit their needs when s i t t ing, leaning against a r igid surface. The belt was a problem in i tsel f due to the dif f iculty for i t to attach al l r ings together without hinder ing the extension around the body.

Uniform perforat ions in the r ings al lows the user to be aware of their surroundings whi le being protected from it through the fron-tal protection offered through the enclos ing r ings.

CONSTRAINTThe in it ial test ing of a proto-type with plywood for the l iv ing hinge proved that we would need to add a compress ion ele-ment into the design to hold the r ings in tension at the desi red curvature. The design therefore accommodated smal l holes within the mater ial to test the capabi l i t ies of st r ing holding the designed r ings in place.

MECHANISMWorrying about the functional i ty of the design led us to remove the dynamic aspect of ex-pandable r ings into a stat ic design, however through further test ing as wel l as the s l ight change in the use of the design, dynamic r ings are once again being incorporated. This change increases the amount of users which i t’s able to cater for as wel l as increasing the portabi l i ty of the design, as r ings wi l l be able to fold up.

FIGURE 3: Straight L iv ing Hinge Pattern selected for repeat perforat ions

FIGURE 4: Str ings (red) wi l l keep curvature FIGURE 5: P in joint has once again been selected to

hold r ings together at junct ion

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DESIGN DEVELOPMENT and FABRICATION OF PROTOTYPE

Above is a s ide elevation sketch of the panels and intertwining str ing. As seen, the str ing comes up from the bottom and out through the t ip, i t i s long enough to be within reach of the user.

To the left i s a sketch of the plywood panels used. The f ive panels are dif ferent widths to create more var iat ion in volume and l ight coverage. The bottom of the panels are left sol id so that i t i s sturdy enough to support the user’s back and also to hold the pin joint.

To the left i s a sketch of the str ing system. One end of the str ing is t ied to the base of the panel, the str ing then weaves through the l iv ing hinge and out the other end where i t dangles down. The user can then pul l the str ing down to force the pan-el into a bend of dif fer-ing degrees, when the user i s sat is f ied; they wi l l secure the str ing with a cl ip so the panel holds i ts shape.

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REVISED RHINO MODELTaking on the feedback from Module 2 and applying the dis-cussed design developments to the Rhino model has resulted in the fol lowing images.

By having a regular pattern for the perforat ions i t enhances the matur i ty of the design. The unifor-mity wi l l increase the posit ive user exper ience through the decrease in the dist ract ions associated with var ied perforat ions.

In order for the design to perform as expected, the mechanism which holds al l the r ings together needed to be analysed. Ut i l i s ing the Rhino model the over lapping nature of the r ings showed that there was a common point of ever lap which could hold a bolt which would al low the dynamic movement.

Front View

Perspective View Side View

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In Gehry’s case, digital technologies are used as a medium of t ranslat ion in a process that takes as i ts output the digital ly encoded control infor-mation, which is used to dr ive var ious fabr icat ion machines. Addit ional ly, there is a concept of ‘ reverse engineer ing’ - three-dimensional scanning techniques. Scanned points are used to generate prof i le BURPS curves and then generate NURBS surfaces. The point cloud is interpreted by convers ion software to produce an approximation of the model’s geometry.

The digital fabr icat ion process includes two dimensional (CNC and Laser cutter), subtract ive, addit ive and formative fabr icat ion processes. The CNC fabr icat ion processes involves two-axis motions of the sheet mater ial relat ive to the cutt ing head that are implemented as moving cutt ing head or combination of the two. The laser cutt ing process uses a high intensity focused beam of infrared l ight with highly pressur ized carbon dioxide to melt or burn mater ial that is being cut. Subtract ive fabr icat ion is the re-moval of specif ied volume of mater ial f rom sol id whereas addit ive fabr i -cat ion means the physical product is generated incremental ly by adding mater ial in layer-by- layer fashion. For restr ict ing forms, a formative fabr ica-t ion process appl ies heat or steam to the mater ial to set the mater ial into the desi red form.

For our design, we began the process of fabr icat ion by ‘kerf ing’ the ma-ter ial by hand. Our next step involves us ing the laser cutter to digital ly fabr icate the mater ial – cutt ing the ‘ l iv ing hinge’ pattern into the str ips of mater ials to bend plywood into our desi red form. In it ial ly we intended to fol low an addit ive fabr icat ion process however i t did not prove successful in terms of creating the desi red volume. Formative fabr icat ion was also a poss ible option, however we preferred to use a laser cutter as i t s impl i f ied the process and wi l l produce a more aesthet ical ly pleasing outcome.

Architecture in the Digital Age - Design + Manufactur ing/ Branko Kolarevic, Spon Press, London c2003

Br ief ly out l ine the var ious digital fabr icat ion processes. Explain how you use digital fabr icat ion in your design?

READING RESPONSE WK6

Above: Assembly and f in ished exter ior. Photo: T imo Wright

Right: Poss ible addative fabr icat ion

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READING APPLIED TO DESIGN

How does the fabr icat ion process and strategy effect your second sk in project?

The fabr icat ion process of laser cutt ing the l iv ing hinge pattern into the plywood effected our project posit ively. The process enabled us to have a desi red outcome of bent plywood.A negative effect however, as seen in our prototype, the width between the cut outs of the pattern was too narrow and caused one of the panels to snap.

In al l , after reworking the strategy and dimensions for the fabr icat ion process, the strategy proved successful .

Panel that snapped from being too del icate The kerf ing process

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Recently the process f rom design to fabr icat ion have become almost inter-twined with the fabr icat ion method ult imately forming the design aesthet-ic. The development too, between design, fabr icat ion, prototype and f inal design becomes “blurred”.

However, a posit ive aspect in the recent shi ft in the use of digital technol-ogy is that the technology creates an environment for architects to be in-volved in and take control of the bui lding process. For Michael Speaks this new shift i s “design intel l igence” as the making process becomes “ intel l i -gence creation”. The use of digital technology has aestet ic merit too. The great v isual impact of digital ly designed projects marks a further aspect in the recent shi ft of technology.

Digital Fabr icat ions: architectural + mater ial techniques/L isa Iwamoto. New York: Pr inceton Architectural Press c2009

Descr ibe one aspect of the recent shi ft in the use of digital technology from design to fabr icat ion?

READING RESPONSE WK7

Template for laser cutt ing metal panels and the laser cutt ing process

Examples of laser cut plywood; how the fabr icat ion process forms the design aesthet ic.

Laser Cutter

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READING APPLIED TO DESIGN

Referencing from the lectures and readings, what is the impl icat ion of digital fabr icat ion on your design ?

The dif ference between our hand cut panel and digital ly cut panel i s a wor ld apart aesthet ical ly. A

dditonal ly, L isa Iwamoto notes that the decis ion regarding which digit ial machine to use for the fabr icat ion process must “marry design intent with machine capabi l i ty”. For our project we chose to use the laser cutt ing machine as i t marr ied our design intent. However, to our disadvantage, the machine’s maximum sheet s ize capabi l i ty meant that we would have to adapt the length and design of our panels to f i t the laser cutter’s capabi l i ty. We did this by layer ing 3 panels on top of eachother in order to create one longer panel to cover the upper length of the body and over the head.

Different s ize laser cut panels

Hand cut plywood v.s. laser cut plywood Layered Panels

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PROTOTYPE DEVELOPMENT

Uti l i s ing the faci l i t ies at the Univers i ty of Melbourne, the

laser cutter was purposed to precisely cut through the

sol id, plywood mater ial . The technology was needed for

accuracy as cutt ing by hand, which was done dur ing

Module 2, became extremely inaccurate.

Once laser cutt ing was completed and the pieces prepared the in it ial effect of the uniform

l iv ing hinge was conf i rmed. Laying the pieces into extended panels i s the base of the design,

beginning the proof of concept process.

When holding an individual piece by the sturdy end,

the abi l i ty of the l iv ing hinge to curve the wood

worked far better than expected. The f lexibi l i ty of the

mater ial became a problem as i t was in need of a

constraining factor to st rengthen weak points.

Var ious st r ing was tested for the constraining factor.

Whi le the twine used in the fol lowing photos suited the

aesthet ic, the smooth coating of the f ishing l ine was

needed to al low the panels to be pul led into shape.

Cutt ing holes within the panels al lowed for the str ing to f low seam-

less ly with the panels, however i f the str ing was to be used the

placement of holes would need to be further analysed. This con-

t inual procedure shown did not affect the curvature as hoped.

Looping str ing with larger gaps between the connec-

t ion points aided the curved form however due to the

f lexibi l i ty of the mater ial the str ing did not constrain

correct ly when acting under gravity.

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The problems associated with the f lexible

form of the plywood became apparent when

attempting to photograph the degree of

curvature of a panel in i ts natural state. Whi le

photographing, the panel spl i t at the weak

point of maximum curvature.

This weak point i s an essent ial considerat ion as

the l iv ing hinge cut-out caused the problem. In

order for this to work adjustments to the l iv ing

hinge pattern is needed.

Throught research and test ing i t i s discovered

the the amount of mater ial in between the cut-

outs i s indirect ly proport ional to the degree of

curvature.

Connecting al l the panels to form the enclos ing r ings

formed the intended barr ier to communicate personal

space. As previously analysed the f lexibi l i ty of the

mater ial was problematic, however whi le construct-

ing the prototype we discovered that i f the panel was

constrained in the opposite direct ion the intended

effect could be created.

By us ing scrap mater ial we formed a temporary spine

which al lowed for the test ing this di f ferent form of

constraint. Looping str ing f rom each r ing up to the

spine al lowed for each r ing to be held in the intended

protective form.

The portabi l i ty of the design was an

ongoing discuss ion however when

prototyping with the use of a spine,

the idea of creating a form of a

carry case, s imi lar to the motion of

a br iefcase, was formed.

When establ ishing the f i le for the laser cutter i t was

found that the s izes of the mater ials avai lable did not

suit the large scale form needed.

In order to account for this , methods for the extension

of the mater ial and dif ferent forms of the connections

were brainstormed.

Pictured above is one method of layer ing the mater ial

in sect ions to st rengthen and extend the panels. This

method al lows for curvature to occur where needed

as wel l as increasing the strength of the overal l panel

through i ts base.

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PROTOTYPE OPTIMISATIONOriginal test ing for the design occurred in paper and cardboard before moving on to plywood.

Paper was too weak due to i ts inabi l i ty to hold the intended form. Although this mater ial was ut i l i sed extensively in order to test the effects of the l iv ing hinge. Al lowing us to determine the type of pat-tern which most suited the design and the desi red outcome.

Cardboard, whi le through kerf ing, had the abi l -i ty to created the intended outcome, i t lacked good aesthet ic propert ies and didn’t give a strong sense of protection due to i ts st rength. Ut i l i s ing cardboard excel led the design however due to i ts effect iveness for test ing mechanisms and general effects in accordance with personal space.

Final ly, after test ing was completed with the previ-ous two mater ials plywood was analysed. Mater ial propert ies for plywood suited the needs of the de-s ign, i ts st rength was desi rable for a sense of pro-tect ion and barr ier , and as i t was is a soft wood, i t has the abi l i ty to bend and curve when us ing a l iv ing hinge pattern. Prototyping with plywood ac-tual ised these propert ies and produced elements suited for the design.

The design excel led through the use of plywood, gaining the strength needed for a sense of protec-t ion around the body as wel l as al lowing connec-t ion with the environment through the perforat ions produced by the l iv ing hinge.

PAPER TESTING

CARDBOARD TESTING

PLYWOOD TESTING

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PROTOTYPE OPTIMISATION

To optimise the process of fabr icat ion, mater ials and digital models were co-lour coded to ensure the correct piec-es went together. Due to the nature of the design, no tabs were needed dur ing this process however care was taken to keep al l mater ials sorted.To optimise mater ial usage we aimed to use as much of each sheet of ply-wood as poss ible, aiming to keep wastage to a minimum however waste that was produced found other uses.

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PROTOTYPE OPTIMISATIONDeveloping the design in order for i t to be portable meant optimis ing the design in some way for i t to be: - Easy to carry - Comfortable to carry - Easi ly foldable

To sat isfy this cr i ter ia we cut a hole in the centre of the bottom panel where the r ings over lap. This hole al lows a bolt to be screwed through al l panels, holding them together whi le also al lowing a fanning movement.After consider ing the foldabi l i ty we then looked at the portabi l i ty, how we can make i t comfortable and s imple. To do this we cut out a semi-ci rcle hole just below the rotat ion point. The r ings, once folded together neatly, form a comfort-able hand-hold in i ts s ize and depth when al l of the mater ials are stacked to-gether.The design is easi ly carr ied over the shoulder whi le going about dai ly business.

Crudely hand cut

f i rst prototype

us ing plywood

test ing mater ial-

i ty and the l iv ing

hinge pattern.

F i rst prototype of

the curved r ing us-

ing the laser cutter.

the pattern was a

repeating pattern

with regular dis-

tances.

F inal product

ut i l i sed the laser

cutter but the l iv-

ing hinge was op-

t imised to include

varying distances.

LIVING HINGE: The ‘ l iv ing hinge’ pattern is the foundation for our design. I t i s the ‘ l iv ing hinge’ that al lowed the plywood to bend and it was therefore integral for us to ensure the pattern was worked to a highest standard and abi l i ty. We used the laser cutter to produce the pat-tern. After producing our prototype we real ised that our or iginal l iv ing hinge pattern would have to be reworked as our prototype was too f lexible. Whi lst at f i rst we had to push gravity, we now found ourselves having to reverse grav-i ty to create less bend in the plywood. In order to do this we measured the exist ing prototype against our model to work out exactly where bends in the plywood are necessary. After re-working our f inal design, we then used the laser cutter to to produce our f inal st ructure with the new dimensions.

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PROTOTYPE OPTIMISATIONSPINE: The in it ial design concept was to have a spine in order to support the back and to hold the weight of the adjacent panels. Further, we hoped the spine would work as a backbone for the panels to over lap l ike the panels of a fan. When we tested the prototype and saw that the plywood bent too much we attempted to use the offcuts f rom the laser cutt ing as the a spine. Rather than being the narrow and support ing spine that we had hoped for, this new ‘spine’ was more l ike a f rame that enabled us to create a pul l sys-tem with st r ing to create adaptable panels. However, the frame proved aesthet ical ly displeasing and too overbearing for our desi red s leeping pod design of being functional, volumetr ic and and s impl ist ic.

STRING: When test ing the frame and pul l system idea we used a rough str ing which matched the colour and mater ial i ty of the plywood panels. The roughness of the str ing did not al low the pul l system to work to i ts fu l l potent ial as i t did not run smoothly against the plywood. F ishing wire was another option we explored however i t was too tough. As we decided not to use the frame, we assumed that we would no longer need str ing incorporated into our design. Yet, when our f inal panels were produced and it was evident that they were too inf lexible, we were forced to rework the use of st r ing into our design. The str ing and the de-s i re to have the correct amount of bend in the plywood are points in our design that we acknowledge needed the most improve-ment. For the f inal design we have decided to use minimal st r ing just for the lowest panel of either s ide. This would create tension and thus a ‘forced’ bend of the plywood so that the panels are closer to the body and protect personal space.

PANEL SIZES: At f i rst our design was to have f ive panels that were al l of equal s ize. When producing the prototype we tested the poss ibi l i ty of having a range of s izes with the panels in order of width to create an added sense of volume. However, together with l iv ing hinge pattern the s leeping pod struc-ture had too many dif ferent elements and needed s impl i fy ing. Hence our de-cis ion to go back to having same s ized panels but wider than the or iginal ly designed narrower panels. The wider panels create extra volume and cover-age for the body in terms of protecting the individual’s personal space.

Due to the fact that the laser cutter could not cut panels the required length, we also produced sol id rectangular panels in order to lengthen the panels overal l .

Spine ut i l i sed to carry r ings

together.

Spine is used to attach str ing to create

var iable extension.

F inal panel template where al l panels are 250mm wide.

Init ial panel template with widths ranging from 180mm - 300mm.

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DESIGN DEVELOPMENT SKETCHES

Above is a f ront elevation sketches of the panels folded and then unfolded. When folded up straight, the bottom cut-outs of each panel al ign to form a handle – al lowing for easy transportat ion. When unfolded and fanned out, the panel’s l iv ing hinge pattern causes a bend in the plywood as a result of gravity.

Below is a sketch of the pin joint and handle detai l . Al l panels are cut with a hole for the pin joint – a nut and bolt . The nature of this jo int al lows the user to manoeuvre the panel angles to suit their personal space. The nut and bolt fastens al l the panels together, creating enough fr ict ion so the panels hold their place without col-lapsing, yet are able to move when the user appl ies force.

To the left i s a s ide elevation sketches of the panels unfolded and folded. From the s ide perspective, i t i s evident (based on the prototype) that the degree of bend in the plywood correlates to the thickness of the l iv ing hinge pattern. A thicker pattern at the base al lows the panel to hold i ts form whi lst st i l l bending at the top to create personal space.

Below is a sketch of the panel compo-nents. Due to s ize restr ict ions, the ply-wood panels had to be divided into three sect ions – the l iv ing hinge panel, middle panel, and handle/joint panel.

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2ND SKIN FINAL DESIGN

Front View

Plan View

Side View

Isometr ic View

The Rhino model al lowed for the vi-sual isat ion of the design focussed around the upper body. Working on the model also model led how the ex-tension of length through connected str ight panels would look. As seen on the s ide view, the panels are able to st i l l f i t n icely together, staying aesthet-ical ly pleasing and functional by not being too bulky.

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FABRICATION SEQUENCE

1. Sort out al l sheets of mater ial ready for fabr ica-t ion process.

2. Careful ly extract the cut mater ial . At some points extre care and fur-ther hand cutt ing is need-ed where the laser hasn’t completed the process.

3. Sort al l e lements within the design to al-low for easy fabr icat ion.

4. Uti l i se a hot glue gun to securely attach al l pieces of the r ings together.

5. Secure al l layers together, making sure they are straight and at the cor-rect lengths.

6. Connect al l r ings together us ing a bolt at the crossover.

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ASSEMBLY DRAWING

Panel types depicted in green, purple and blue

are connected together to create separate r ings.

Blue sect ions are then connected together us ing

a nut and bolt through the hole indicated on

each panel.

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2ND SKIN

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Our f inal model def ines ones personal space. Giving the user a sense of secur i ty through the barr ier , they are able to feel safe when s leeping. The ergo-nomic design is t ransformative, adjustable to the users needs for preotection whi le also being portable.