more talking pictures

two cam followers

closeup of cam followers

more followers

new part of writing mechanisim

more talking pictures

studio wall

spring

soon the machine will write

talking pictures

the phrase the machine will be writing

the work desk

cam follower arm

first cam prototype on wall

the first steps

This is a sketch of how a cam disc looks. 4ft dia.

A sketch of how the bumps would move a cam follower up and down.

Some progress

So it has been a long time since my last post, some things to know…

-I have decided to make a cursive writing machine.

-Fabrication is at its peak

-I have a lot of pics coming.

The basic premise of the machine is that it writes through completely mechanical means. It has six cam discs that control followers that move the writing elements.

What else?

My profs and GSIs may not realize it, but I have been burning the candle at both ends. Not only am I preparing for where I want my work to be shown- I am compiling and designing a website for it to go in as well. I recently decided to teach myself Dreamweaver and while it has been difficult and time-consuming, I have nevertheless made progress in it. I have an idea of how I want the site to look and know exactly how people will navigate through it, but the tough part has been getting the navigation to come through in the coding. What I was looking for all along was the sleek but  somewhat typical “lightbox” setup, where  someone can stay on the same page and just enlarge photos of work. I was able to get three versions i liked for different reasons up and running. I think I came to a conclusion with which one I will be using.

I was thinking something like the backside of an object like the one below would be the front page and a user would click on a lable/object and it would take them to the next page.

This was another option. I could recreate this sort of circuity pattern.

Lastly I have three links below  for the different lightbox navigation setups. I think I will be going with the third because of its features and movie support. Copy and paste them into the browser.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v206/tippmannballer/?action=view&current=SnapzProXScreenSnapz011.flv

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v206/tippmannballer/?action=view&current=SnapzProXScreenSnapz010.flv

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v206/tippmannballer/?action=view&current=SnapzProXScreenSnapz012.flv

Meanwhile

In addition to the normal IP regiment, a few fellow students and I have been working to fund our off site exhibition. If you are reading this and are capable, please come to our bake sales or one of our other fantastic events and help us out. Proceeds go to the off site fees like rent and space preparation.

Below we have two fantastic fliers done by Ercia Fink:

Recipe

In case someone was wondering how the electromechanical writing aperatus below works, here are the main ingredients:

-Arduino board

-Breadboard

-2 Potentiometers

-Wire

-A dash of skill

CODE:

#include <Servo.h>

Servo myservox;
Servo myservoy;
int potpinx = 0;
int potpiny = 1;
int valx;
int valy;

void setup()
{
myservox.attach(9);
myservoy.attach(10);
}

void loop()
{
valx = analogRead(potpinx);
valy = analogRead(potpiny);
valx = map(valx, 0, 1023, 0, 179);
valy = map(valy, 0, 1023, 0, 179);
myservox.write(valx);
myservoy.write(valy);
delay(15);

}

So what have I been up to?

Alright, it has definitely been a while since my last post. So, lets catch up. I have been working on making at sort of writing machine as one of the three electromechanical interactive sculptural installations. While the other two are not exactly planned out, all of the works are stemming from elements or themes of my day-to-day life. I realize that can be a pretty generalized term, so I have looked within that overarching concept for categories to narrow down to. From there I realized a key theme for at least one of the pieces. The intended theme of this piece is one step forward two steps back. This is something that has relentlessly haunted my life. It often seems like I will never be able to get out of the whole I am in or get ahead of money troubles. With that being said, this piece takes on that theme of stepping forward and backward and ties it tightly to the money aspect of that theme by utilizing paper in a receipt format. The viewer/participant  will come up to an apparatus that is connected to a pen and sign their name. The tablet they are signing on will remain blank and the output of their signature will be in a different location, establishing an awkward disconnect between the person and the signature. Simply put, one could say this is a glorified credit card machine. In addition, the spool of paper being used is thermal paper and will be written on using a glow plug from a diesel engine. So, what does all of this have to do with one step forward and two steps back? Now it seems to deal more with consumerism than stepping forward or back.  Hmm this is where I am at. Thinking and brainstorming.

Below is some of the ideation process including images of models and sketches as well as a short movie clip of an early prototype.

The idea behind the receipt scroll is that as the paper unravels from a spool, it erases the text on the side of it. The text will contain words and phrases from my day-to-day life. As one spool is erased, the other winds back up with the same text as if nothing has changed.

Copy and paste link to demo video available here—> http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v206/tippmannballer/?action=view&current=DSC_0141-1.flv

Ah Hah!

This is a simple stirling engine. I came across this when researching drinking chickens. I think this opens a world of possibilities and ideas for me. One idea is to use it as input for a piece. I could have several of them and the different heat from individuals would make each one spin at a different speed. Also, I could use the rotating disk as a piece of information. When it spins, a light sensor could be reading off it and that in turn could create another link in the system. I don’t know yet… it was just something interesting.