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Category 'degree'

04 December 2006

Degree presented

shapeshifting blog Degree presented

Another chapter in life is over. I just finished my degree in the Digital Media Class of Prof. Joachim Sauter after studying at Berlin University of the Arts for five years.

The picture shows the final prototype. An extensive project documentation will be produced during the next months. Stay tuned.



13 November 2006

Prototype 1 – first video


Finally, here comes the first video of my prototype. It shows the deformation capabilities in 2 directions. One servo motor is used for the extension of the ring, the other for the movement of the vertical rod. The controlling is done from Java with a Bluesmirf bluetooth module and a Pololu Micro Serial Servo Controller.
I found that the gears and wheels need to be mounted in a very exact way to create a smooth movement. Now I’m going to build the other rings to create the threedimensional shape.


11 November 2006

Fabric research

2006 11 11 fabrics1 375x281 Fabric researchI’m planning to cover the metal wire construction with a soft white fabric, that has good extension properties. I found three materials which are currently in the competition. From left to right, gaining in opacity: women’s stockings, a body suit and swimming fabric. Lets see which one is going to make it.



05 November 2006

Construction draft 2

2006 11 05 construction dra1 375x281 Construction draft 2After thinking about the first draft a bit longer, I realized that it needs another ring in order to create a nice threedimensional shape. So the top view is based on a hexagon now.
In this draft, the steel wires are unrolled to both sides. This should work better for the symmetric change.



31 October 2006

Construction draft 1

2006 11 06 construction dra 375x281 Construction draft 1After I stopped researching for small helicopters, I went back to my first idea of shapeshifting. Ball-like-shaped objects are supposed to be able to change their size in all three dimensions. I want to avoid the use of pneumatics, so i’m going about a mechanical construction.

The construction is a simple wireframe model of a ball, to be covered with a soft extensible cloth. This is the first attempt for the underlying mechanics.