Project 1: Digital Surrealism

Project Statement

I was talking about this project with my instructor and what surrealism meant. As defined in the project requirements, "the original meaning of the found object must be transformed through the process of augmentation." I pointed to my water bottle and showed my instructor how I could turn the water bottle into a pen with the bottle part holding the ink, by screwing onto the bottle a 3D printed "pen nib." Here is my initial sketch.

(Initial sketch)
Process

Then I went out and found a water bottle that looks most like a pen. Using the water bottle dimension, I defined the dimensions of the pen nib. 
(Defining the dimension of the 3D printed part)

I tried printing several parts with different threads to find the right thread that can be screwed onto the bottle. I adjusted the diameter, pitch of the threads, etc.




(3D models of bottle caps with different threads)

(None of the threads fit the bottle correctly)

But none would fit the bottle correctly. I ended up abandoning trying to make the thread and instead decided to just use the cap that came with the bottle.

I 3D printed the pen nib, almost like that on a marker. But then it felt odd sitting so much wider than the rest of the bottle. It didn't look like a pen.




(First iteration of the pen nib)

Final Product
(Much better looking this time)
(Hotgluing the bottle cap)
(Putting a piece of paper towel so ink doesn't all come out at once)


Final Thought

What went well was that I got pretty on the pretty much all the dimensions right on the first iteration of 3D print. What went OK was that even though I wasn't able to get the pen nip to sit flush with the bottle, I was able to get that right on the 2nd try. When didn't went well was that I couldn't get the thread to work. If I had more time, I would have dug deeper into how to make the thread correctly so anyone can take the stl file and print out the model and use it right away without having to resort to hot gluing.






Location: Ann Arbor, MI, USA

Popular posts from this blog

Project 2: Smiley Face

Image
Project Description: For this project, we are to make an object that can do something, show some "emotion" so to speak, in response to our action. Here is what the official requirements are: At least one sensor At least one motor/servo At a minimum of 1 behavior Minimum size: 150 X 150 X 150 mm It must sense and move autonomously Brainstorming: At my disposal are the ultrasonic sensor and the servo motor provided to us in class. The shape of the ultrasonic sensor reminded me of nostrils. So I decided to make a face out of cardboard and poke two holes on it for the ultrasonic sensors. The idea is when I put a thumb-up in front of the face, it will turn from a sad face to a happy one. Making Process:  My first step is to make the mechanism for the mouth. I took inspiration from mechanism #93 from the 507 mechanism movements website.  The idea is to translate the motor's rotational motion into a linear motion.  The mouth consists of 3 pieces of cardboard joined together by t
Read more

Final Project: The Once-Lit Lamp

 Project description: Inspired by Dr. Suess’s story  The Lorax ,  The Once-Lit Lamp  is an interactive art piece allowing the viewer to step into the world of the iconic character, the Onceler, in the form of a lamp with a touch of magic. As the viewer approaches  The Once-Lit Lamp , one can engage in an act of environmental stewardship: upon touch, the lamp awakens and comes to life, eventually setting into motion a delicate mechanism of the growth of a vibrant flower. Symbolic of Mother Nature’s resilience, the flower blooms and sways amongst the scene of truffula trees, mirroring the positive impact of human’s responsible actions on the environment. In doing so,  The Once-Lit Lamp  invites viewers to reflect on human actions that affect the health of our natural world through the lens of Dr. Suess’s  The Lorax . By simply touching and interacting with the lamp, the viewer becomes an advocate of the environment and its beauty.  Video:
Read more