Fabacademy - How to Make (almost) Anything
Submitted by alex on Mon, 09/15/2008 - 14:53
This course provides a hands-on introduction to the resources for designing and fabricating smart systems, including CAD/CAM/CAE; NC machining, 3-D printing, injection molding, laser cutting; PCB layout and fabrication; sensors and actuators; analog instrumentation; embedded digital processing; wired and wireless communications. This course also puts emphasis on learning how to use the tools as well as understand how they work.
See the complete documentation on the MIT site:
- 3697 reads
-
Project Blog
visual manual
Indenteto attend the fab academy - "How to Make (almost) Anything", I decide to carry the project out with the exploration of visual manual of how to make (almost) anything!
and I tried it out with different setting on the laser cutting machine.
- 920 reads
-
Press fit kit - Zebra
For the mas863 class, last weeks assignement was to construct a press fit kit. I started off making some tests with cardboard with discs and arms, but i didnt like the design of it. I wanted to make something totally reduced to as less possible parts, and use very basic shapes like a square.
Another aspect was that I wanted it to become a product. So i endet up with making a room divider. A room divider has to be flexible, so I had to think of press fit joints. I used 4mm soft wood which is very light. Here are all the connector shapes neccesary to build the room divider.
Obviously the joint is build by putting the 'nail' through the one piece with the whole, and press it in the other one with the square shape. Notice the detail on the piece to the right. Nothing special but handy, you can hang a towel on it ;) You can also leave out some squares to create windows if you like.
As for laser settings for the wood I used:
cutting: s = 1 / p = 100 / ppi = 1000 | raster: s = 100 / p = 20 / ppi = 400
The press fit measurments:
For all the connectors, the drawing is 0.5mm thinner than the material thicknes. The nail is on the bottom 4.1 mm, and on top 4.9. With this measurments you can really press it in the square of the joint piece. The whole of the other joint piece is 5.6 which is simply exactly the diagonal lenth of the square.
The zebra pattern just finished off the design for me, but it could be any image off course. I like the idea that people who buy one, can send their own pattern and we will laser it on the squares.
Plans:
I really want to scale it up to the real size. I guess i will increase the material thickness to 8mm and build a big one.
on the image above, the feet is missing ;-)
Sunday september 28:
No the joints are improved to reduce the space between the rows of the room divider. Look at hte image below. You can see that now there is the same distance as on the vertical connectors. that must look even better. Tommorow I will laser it and test the stability of them.
- 1067 reads
-
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend
MAS863 Proposal
For the class of how to make almost anything, we want to explore the possibilities of building intelligent objects. Objects that can be combined in different ways and that they know what kind of shape or narrative they are. For instance if you put a crown on a puppet, the 2 know they are a princess. The technology of communication can be touch or wireless. Starting point of inspiration is the ‘Bauspiel’ This is a set of 22 wooden blocks, which can be combined in various ways. It has been developed at the Bauhaus by Alma Siedhoff Buscher in 1923. The idea is to make something on a larger scale, as an indication of scale that a children could sit on the boat shown below. Some of the research questions are: - how can you let a set of objects (in a certain constellation) know what kind of shape they represent? - how can you built narratives with sound and light according to shapes? - what are the possibilities of wireless communication between objects? - what are the possibilities of communication when objects are touching each other? - Can you program the objects in such a way that they learn from the different combinations that they have been, that it will create a kind of 'state' - database? - How can you describe a object of it's shape, and within what context it can exist? possible follow up projects: Diorama A room with a set of objects that children can pop up like in a pop up book. Depending on the decor will complement each other to react (auditory and visual). Relationships are emerging between the elements and the narrative form as the environment. The pop up elements respond directly to the input of the children. The space is decoratet by the children and everything slowly comes to life, so they determine the direction of the narrative. The decor and activating the pop ups are the scenario, the pop ups themselves tell the story. It is an interactive game between the space and the children. Snoezel objects: Another possibility is to use the principles for snoezel objects. The term snoezel is originated in Holland in the seventys, and it is a way to helping disabled and other people suffering from sensory disturbance. Here is a researh done by Kylie Abbot @ Waag Society
- 781 reads
-
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend
Mas863 Introduction
Last monday, my Collegue Bas van Abel at Waag Society told me that I could follow a class from MIT, MAS863, how to make almost anything. This is a initiatieve of Neil Gershenfeld, direcor of the Center of Bits and Atoms at MIT boston. It's the first fab seminar, where the class is beeing teached on the MIT in boston, and we follow it from Amsterdam and other copuntrys through the polycom system which is present in every Fablab. Well, what can I say. really inspiring, after so many years back to school. I really hope we can do a nice research together with Mike Pelletier, and Arjen Sondag. The classes take place every monday from 7 pm - 11pm Amsterdam time
- 895 reads
-
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend