Tower-USB progress

I had already shown that I made my Tower-USB real. I had already printed and painted three towers and gotten the USB-sticks to make them. But so far I've only shown one, but my chair and mentor both also had one which weren't finished. So, a couple of weeks ago I picked them up, I made them and now I returned them. Here is a picture of all of them together:

When I was picking them up we had a meeting (with the chair and mentor) and we talked about selling these towers. I’m not really sure if it would pay of, but it is an interesting thought though. So I made some adjustments to the 3D Model and turned it into a printable file, which on my old laptop is a bit of a chore right now. But I managed and uploaded it to Shapeways!

This all went well (after about 5 tries) and it was time to see how it looked when it is printed in SLS (Selective Laser Sintering) in Nylon and Nylon with 20% Aluminium (Alumide). I ordered them and two weeks later I got them!

And together with the first one:

The all Nylon one is very light, but it also feels very fragile, the grey alumide one feels stronger. So I think I will use the alumide version and try to put the USB-stick into it. And then I need to put it on Etsy and Shapeways! Which can be quite scary because then I need to think of a brand!

But next week I’ll be done with that so I’ll show the results of it :)

cheers!

Frank

Digital – Analogue interactions

Ever since I started this blog, or, actually the reason that I started this blog, was to develop an idea. When I started working with Arduino and other prototyping / digital tools there was this spark that lid some part of my imagination, but I never knew what to do with it. So I needed to bring more fuel to this spark. 

Anyway, later on I found that it is interesting to look at the friction between the analogue and digital world. We’re all turning into more digital beings, where our social lives are becoming more digital, our work is more digital and how we create things is becoming more and more digital. One of the results in the beginning of this digitalization is apples, then beloved and now hated, Skeumorphism. To lead new users into this digital world a lot of metaphors have been used to make it a quicker transition. We got our desktops back together with our files and folders. And we could fill these in with our trusty keyboard, the new typewriters.

This is all said and done before, but with the new smart phones and tablets coming you see a shift in what is possible. Now we have cameras and touch sensitive screens that help make the interactions much more intuitive. Also with techniques like the Kinect interacting with the digital world becomes more interesting.

Even though the interaction with the digital world is becoming more diverse, the way that the digital world interacts with us is mostly by images on screens and sounds. Of course we also have printing and now 3d printing, even though it isn’t really an interaction is it is a form of output.

So, where I’m trying to get, is that it is an interesting space to explore: the interaction of the digital in the analogue world. And I guess that this is where Arduino can be (or is) at its strongest.

Examples

Ping

This lamp exists out of 2 parts, one part stays at your house and the other in the house of your partner. When you touch it, it lights up, but because of an internet connection with the other lamp, that one also lights up, making your partner aware that you turned on your light. And when both lamps are on they both shine brighter.

It is a very simple concept but it lets you share an emotion with just an ‘analogue’ interaction.

LittlePrinter

This is a small cute printer that prints you tweets, new, puzzles or other things daily. To have a good start of the day. With you smart phone you can select what kind of prints you would like to get, and then you just need to wake up.

Again it is a deceivingly simple concept, but a great interaction. By tearing of the receipt like print, you have a nice way of getting your information. But also as it just sits and smiles at you when it is done. It is a great way for your digital world to become part of your analogue world.

Picollo

This is a small Processing / Arduino based CnC Bot. It has a small hand which can grab something like a pen or small knive and it can move on three axes. It’s small and inexpensive at thus easily to get hold of and to start experimenting with.

I think this can be a very good way to let the digital world into the analogue world and to leave a trace. I’m not sure how the processing sketch will work, but with it you can probably also plug it into the web. and create cloud data based sketches! :)

Okay, I’m not sure yet where this will lead, especially since all these products are still a work in progress or just not for sale. But I’m going to try to find out more about it.

see you next week!

frank

Tower-USB

Tower-USB

When I finished my master I had to do a presentation to present the work that I had done for my graduation project. Remember the research to the aesthetic preference to product metaphors? Well It’s kind of normal to give you mentor and chair a small present as a sign of appreciation, usually this is the normal to give something like a bottle of wine, or something similar. But I wanted to give something special, something I had designed during the project itself!

  

So this is the USB stick that refers to a castle tower to convey the message of protection of your data. For the gift I already made a printable file (which was a pain in the ass BTW!) and I printed them out at the faculty :). And I bought very very very small USB-sticks to put into these towers. So far so good, expect that I still needed to finish my presentation and didn’t have any time to work on it anymore. So in the end I ended up giving the tower and the USB stick separately, with the promise to finish it after my graduation.

I had one for myself to make first, as an experiment and then I would make that of my mentor and chair. But I lost mine, during the time that I moved from my student room to my parents place. And I searched and searched in all the boxed. But today, I found it in a very small insignificant box. So this is what I had.

The USB-stick doesn’t fit at the moment because of it’s large behind (how polite) but it was easily removed by giving it a bit more space by means of sticking a screwdriver between the USB part and the black part.

To make the hinge, I drilled too small holes into the tower, and also carved a little into the metal part of the USB stick. On that little hole I added solder and attached a small part of some wire. Then I cut the wire until it is very small and put it in the tower. 

I needed to make more space in the tower at the holes to make up for the extra solder. Also, the USB stick is a little bigger than I anticipated, so I needed to make the ‘gate opening’ slightly bigger so it can turn inwards. So here is the result:

And when connected.

Next week I’ll talk about my website, and maybe about some theory?

cheers!