What was the central goal?
Concept & Design
1. Bennett linkages that are used in deployable structures for natural disaster relief
2. Working with a planar hinge system in connection with a 3D system
3. Lastly, integrating that planar hinge system with fabric to honor our collaboration with the Eastman Machine Company
Structure
• 4 bar linkage (open and close, 180 degrees)
• 4 bar linkages connected (16 degrees of freedom) – by moving one, it has an effect on the others (earthquakes)
• 4 bar linkage (open and close in 360 degrees)
• 8 bar linkage (decreasing degrees of freedom so that one module controls the entire structure)
• Rapid expansion and contraction
Hinge
• Joints
• Rotation (Mathematics)
• Acrylic and nylon (‘invisible’ and lightweight)
• There are 8 bars, and there are 4 joint configurations.
• Collection of bars – all configurations and pins
Fabric
• Stretch mesh – as structure expands and contracts different degrees of ‘translucency’
• When the structure is collapsed, the mesh is nearly opaque. But the hinges can be seen once it expands to full size.
• The initial concept envisioned human intervention, but this was later changed to use data from earthquakes instead to strengthen the connection between the hinge system and disasters.
Seismicity & Stepper Motor Actuation
First rotation (90) to Second rotation (180)
Earthquakes with magnitudes M1 up to M3.9
Second rotation (180) to Third rotation (270)
Earthquakes with magnitudes M4 up to M6.9
First rotation (90) to Third rotation (270)
Earthquakes with magnitudes M7 – M10
Live data will only activate the first one
Data scaled from 2011 (with Japan’s earthquake of M = 9.0) activates the entire expansion
M1 – M3.9 data is from local, all other from international sources
And the tl;dr
This project was a success in many ways, but fell apart towards the end.
- Even though each individual part worked, the installation went sour at the last minute. The ceiling of the space was extremely high, necessitating a scissor ladder to access it. This was granted the day before the final presentation, which didn't leave enough time to test.
- The acrylic was not rigid enough and deflected heavily under gravity. If I were to attempt the project again, I might use rigid posterboard or aluminum. The acrylic made for a striking visual, though.
- Even with the installation challenges, I learned an incredible amount from this work. I was able to turn disparate research papers on various linkage system into a working prototype in Grasshopper then in material in just a few weeks.
