midweek maintenance
[juicing up jellyfish]
updates from last time
so, since my project has a bunch of different parts, here's the breakdown of components in order of priority: pulsating body with fans (works oh-so-beautifully), twitching tentacles (working on getting the timing of the motors down now), illuminating additions (just need to insulate the EL wire effectively, but the glow is perfect), a smattering of LEDs (the 12V ones are superbright!) poking about in random locations within the body, and lastly incorporating the IR sensor for interactivity.
body
so the fans are much more powerful now that i have the 12V 1amp wall wort plugged in. they're so fast that they blow themselves over! too cool... a collective 288 cpm :) the overlaying of shimmery fabrics is wonderfully fluid, and the inflation appears nice and organic. the fans create a little noise, but the ebb + flow of the winds enable a breathy sensation. flow...
tentacles
the circuit and everything works, but the motors are getting really hot and twitchy. tonight's theme: coordinate the timing correctly so the stepper moves smoothly. later theme: getting better press-fit parts. when heated up, the acrylic loses its tightness around the 0.055 shaft (so tiny!). i may use couplings, and press-fit over them, or do a different style of fit where the hole is quite small with two slits to allow for selective expansion + compression.
EL wire
note to self: do not short out the wire through the inverter. 120 volts can cause a shock! :) but the phosphorous makes a wondrous glow. not sure whether to use as tentacles (they're not that flexible) or to just augment the mess underneath with EL. pulsating glow. maybe a random flicker.
as far as presentation goes, will suspend from the overhang in the media lab atrium with fishing wire. lovely.
[breadboarding now, but goal is to get circuit milled/etched/stuffed by the end of friday.]
gotta love those alligator clips. solder is for wimps.
updates from last time
so, since my project has a bunch of different parts, here's the breakdown of components in order of priority: pulsating body with fans (works oh-so-beautifully), twitching tentacles (working on getting the timing of the motors down now), illuminating additions (just need to insulate the EL wire effectively, but the glow is perfect), a smattering of LEDs (the 12V ones are superbright!) poking about in random locations within the body, and lastly incorporating the IR sensor for interactivity.
body
so the fans are much more powerful now that i have the 12V 1amp wall wort plugged in. they're so fast that they blow themselves over! too cool... a collective 288 cpm :) the overlaying of shimmery fabrics is wonderfully fluid, and the inflation appears nice and organic. the fans create a little noise, but the ebb + flow of the winds enable a breathy sensation. flow...
tentacles
the circuit and everything works, but the motors are getting really hot and twitchy. tonight's theme: coordinate the timing correctly so the stepper moves smoothly. later theme: getting better press-fit parts. when heated up, the acrylic loses its tightness around the 0.055 shaft (so tiny!). i may use couplings, and press-fit over them, or do a different style of fit where the hole is quite small with two slits to allow for selective expansion + compression.
EL wire
note to self: do not short out the wire through the inverter. 120 volts can cause a shock! :) but the phosphorous makes a wondrous glow. not sure whether to use as tentacles (they're not that flexible) or to just augment the mess underneath with EL. pulsating glow. maybe a random flicker.
as far as presentation goes, will suspend from the overhang in the media lab atrium with fishing wire. lovely.
[breadboarding now, but goal is to get circuit milled/etched/stuffed by the end of friday.]
gotta love those alligator clips. solder is for wimps.
posted by christine @ 11:33 PM
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