The 'Thing' and my new RAM!

Hi,

So suddenly after seeing two videos I had some inspiration to create something with the pile of electronics that I had lying around.
I still had a breadboard full with awesome components lying around with which I would experiment to see how it would affect the behaviour of the solar engine. But nothing came of it, because some other things we always more important or interesting to do. So it wasn't really making any progress.
But then I saw this video:



In which someone creates really cool objects. And you see one of his prototypes which he makes with small wooden beams. And that was something I liked.
I also saw this film:

Zimoun «Sculpting Sound» : The Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, USA from ZIMOUN on Vimeo.

Again of Zimoun of which I really like the simplicity.

After seeing these two videos I decided to make something myself. This weekend I finally had some time to do it, So I went to the DIY shop and bought myself some small wooden beams, some wooden rods and a little saw :).

This is what came out (it is already really dark so it the pictures aren't that good.)





In the last one you can see a wheel which is driven by the DC motor. The wheel has a rod on it, which isn't centered, and it pushes a beam up. When it goes up it will hit an other wooden beam that will hit the bell, creating a nice soft 'Ting'.

Up until now it has only been misty but it already works a little bit. The wheel moves, pushing the beam up. But not with enough speed to make a ting. So now I need to wait until the sun will shine to hear it.

Aesthetically I'm not really pleased with it. The electronics were just an after thought and you can really see it. The wooden components look good, though not really straight, and work well. So next time I will need to take more time to get the electronics to be a part of the whole.


I also got my new RAM last week and I put it in my laptop today, so I haven't really tried it out yet, but until now it is still going smooth.


Also, on Thursday I will kick off my Graduation Project. It is a research project in which I will research how to implement metaphors in products in a successful way. This means that some products use a metaphor, some are quite successful and other aren't. This can have a couple of reasons. I will research which reasons it has and also how to do it better, or at least in a good way. So I will provide guidelines which should be able to tell you how to make great product with metaphors.
I will come back on this I guess. :)

untill soon!
frank

TEDxDelft, Wallet and a new watch

Okay,


I went to TEDxDelft yesterday and it was awesome! :) The first three blocks were a bit boring with some good talks in them but the last and fourth block of presentations was amazing! :). Most of the talks were really good and I really like this part. But I won't go into detail, because that is a bit boring.. :) it won't do the talks any justice. :)

I also finished the wallet! Last week I went to a shop to buy leather, of which I maybe bought about half a square meter! And the day after I started to sew. This is what happened:

This is the wallet when it is closed, the texture of the leather is really good and cool :).

If you flip it you can see that the press buttons and elastic form some sort of face :).

And this is the inside! One part is the cards side (Digital area) and on the other side is the real money part (analog area ;) ). The coins are kind of kept in the pocket by two push buttons, which are now obscured by the 10 Euro :).
I fairly happy with this wallet. Maybe, when I have time, I will buy a nicer looking felt and try to create a better design in terms of formgiving. I like how the wallet works, but some details can look nicer and better. So maybe some day I will do that :), but for now i'm happy.

And to jump to another project right away, I had an idea together with a friend of mine to create a watch that has a laser cut body. I would be made out of wood vineer that is cut by a laser printer. And we would just put a standard watch part in it.
I first wanted to prototype it. And I found an old watch I still had from an old company:

I learned from the neighbor of Aurora how to open it, so I tried that:

It worked! and I was really happy :) But then I wanted to get the time setter loose so I could take it out. So with two pliers I tried to unscrew it, which failed miserably, destroying the connection:

But hey I wanted to continue, so with my stupid head I wanted to get the fingers or arms loose so I would be able to remove the plate. But of course, it isn't really made for that. So I also destroyed this:

But anyway, I think I will still make the first prototype to see how it will look. So next I will cut some vineer in the right shape.

So come back next week! :)

cheers!
frank