In de eerste anderhalve week in de minor Makerslab hebben wij een introductie programma afgewerkt. We hebben kennis gemaakt met de docenten en de medewerkers van het lab. Bovendien hebben we toffe excursies en workshops gevolgd.

De eerste opdracht vanuit de minor is het maken van een safety zine, een handleiding voor de veiligheidsvoorschriften van de machines die in het makerslab staan. Deze zine maken we door gebruik te maken van de RISO printer.

Samen met Daniël heb ik de 3D printer en de Uprinter / spoelmachine behandeld. We hebben de medewerkers van het lab gevraagd wat mogelijke veiligheidsrisico's kunnen zijn bij het gebruiken van deze apparaten. We hebben de belangrijkste veiligheidsrisico's op een rij gezet, en vervolgens gingen we aan de slag met het ontwerp van onze spread.

De uiteindelijke spreads kwamen er zo uit te zien:

In the second week of the minor we started on working with electronics. To prepare for this week, we've read two texts : Getting Lost and Unlearning Certainty and Unmaking 5 Anxieties.

During the discussion in class the topic of hacking was talked about. What is the reason that people hack, and what is the definition of hacking? Does it only apply for technical products, or also processes in daily life?

Zine design

Exploring material properties

As I stated in the previous week, I wanted to work with origami patterns. I already made an inspiration board with different patterns I could use. Because my contrast was flexible-rigid, I wanted to show the difference between these properties in a gradual manner. What I mean with that is that paper can be rigid and flexible at the same time.

To begin, I wanted to experiment with paper and look how it behaves when folded.

I quickly noticed that the thickness of the paper is a big factor for the behaviour when folding. When paper is thinner, like 30 gram standard A4, it can be folder more times. The downside is that the paper is more flimsy, and will not retain it's shape. In addition to that, wrinkles and unwanted folds can occur quickly.

When I started to fold thicker paper that was 80 gram, I could make slicker and nicer folds. The downside of the thicker paper is that the fold lines can get wrinkly. So you have to be careful when making these folds, because it can look ugly when you over do it.

The decision of material was made, so now I was looking for patterns to fold. In the previous week I looked up an academic paper of three Japanese students, Kazuya Saito, Akira Tsukahara and Yoji Okabe. Their research was all about folding lines in a herring-grate folding design.

Their aim was to make supporting structures in this classic folding design. They did so by creating holes in the corners of the fold.

Before looking into these advanced structures, I wanted to experiment with different paper thicknesses. My goal was to determine if the thickness of paper does attribute in the rigidity of my designs.

To make these designs, I created folding patterns in adobe illustrator. When I load these patterns into a laser cutter, I can make precise cuts in different kinds of paper. This will make the folding process much easier than when I would print the designs on the paper. Because I make the paper weaker on the cutted lines, the paper will retain it's rigidity and foldd more easily.

With my folding patterns and paper ready, I walked up to a laser printer and uploaded my files. To do so, you have to save your illustrator files in illustrator 8 first. Then you can open the RDCAM program on the computer attached to the laser cutter. When you import your file, there are different settings for each line in your design.

DOT - cut dots / lines in a perpetual fashion SCAN - kissing line that will not go entirely through your material CUT - cut through your material

For my first designs, I experimented with these functions. I used 30, 50 and 80 gram paper for these experiments.

In the image above are my first four experiments.

Top left : 80 gram paper, 15% laser power with cutting line Top right: 50 gram paper, dotted line, 10% laser power, 3 mm interval Bottom left; 30 gram paper, dotted line, 10% laser power, 1 mm interval Bottom right: 50 gram paper, dotted line, 15% laser power, 2 mm interval

When I started to fold these designs, I noticed that the thickness of the paper was very important for the rigidity of the design. I liked the 80 gram paper the best, because in a unfolded state my designs were flexible, but when folded they were solid and rigid.

The dotted lines were in my opinion the best way to cut the lines, because the lines wouldn't tear apart.

The next iteration I made was a dotted lined design on a 80 gram paper. From my previous experiments, these properties were the most rigid. I made 2mm dots with 2mm intervals, at 15% power.

This design is perfect, it is rigid but also foldable. It is flexible when unfolded. The next step is to add holes on the corners of the folds.

Unfortunatly, I didn't make pictures of the newest design I've made. I made holes on every corner with the cut function. This resulted in a more rigid and flexible design at the same time! It was easier to fold the design, because the holes made up more free space to make a fold. Because I could pinch the corners more tightly now, it could become more rigid as well.

For my sample book, I wanted to show a gradient of flexible folds to more rigid folds. I discovered that the more folds are made, the more rigid the herringgrate design would become. The most rigid design would become the cover of my book. With the cut function I wanted to write the title. The designs I wanted to print are as follows:

Reflection

During this week I was zine editor, and it took more time than I expected. Because of this, I couldn't commit my full time to the assignment of this week. The fact that Daniël got sick didn't help me in that perspective. Because making a zine was still a novel thing for me, my process could be smoother.

The cutting supersurfaces assignment opened my eyes concerning material properties. I liked how my designs turned out and how I manipulated the properties of paper. The other students delivered very cool work as well, and I learned a lot from them.

The laser cutter is a simple machine, once you know how to operate it. When I can use it again, I have some ideas I like to work out, like a keytag for my keychain.

In this week's assignment, we were assigned in pairs to produce a working speaker. I collaborated with Daniël van Kesteren for this assignment.

The following instructions are paraphrased from Daniël's page.

The first step was to make an amplifier. Components for this were provided to us by the minor. These were: a circuit board, one crocodile clip, four wires with male and female sides, one (...), five wire connectors and an unconnected auxiliary jack. To assemble the amplifier, use the following steps:

1. Using the soldering iron, solder the (...) to the circuit board. Make sure it's soldered at the side with the positive and negative side on the circuit board.

2. Solder the 5 connecting points to the other side of the circuit board.

3. Use scissors to cut the crocodile clip in two and strip both cut sides of the wire so that the fibers are exposed.

4. Screw the fibers of the exposed wire into the (...) that is soldered to the circuit board.

5. Cut the male parts of the four wires and strip them the same as the crocodile clip.

6. Connect the female parts of two of these wires to the circuit board (audio in + and audio in -).

7. Solder the stripped male parts to the two poles of the auxiliary jack. The positive pole is the short one!

8. Connect the female parts of the other two wires to the circuit board as well (Ground and 2-5VDC). Ground is the positive one.

9. You know have a working amplifier! You can check with the Multimeter if everything is connected properly.

With the amplifier working as desired, it was time to design the coil. Thijs and I wanted to work with the vinyl cutter to make our coil. We had chosen to work with copper foil to make our coil, because we had worked with this material before during the making of the circuits in Part I. We already knew this material was conductive and thus could be used in the making of a coil. Thijs used his knowledge with Adobe Illustrator to design a coil with a relatively simple, yet appealing design:

This design could then be uploaded to the vinyl cutter that is located in the Maker's Lab. There are a couple of settings that need to be set correctly in order for the vinyl cutter to work properly:

1. You need to insert the green knife into the machine. This one is meant for copper paper. The white one is meant for normal paper.

2. The cutting speed needs to be set to 80 in/s.

3. The pressure of the knife needs to be set to 6

You need to insert the material (the copper foil) so that both scanners of the vinyl cutter are covered. The vinyl cutter will then scan your material so it will know the boundaries of where it can cut. Once that is done, you can open CutStudio and import the Illustrator file. Then press the R button in the top right corner. Then you need to go to file -> cutting setup -> property -> get from machine, and press OK twice. The program now has the same settings you put in the vinyl cutter. Press Origin on the vinyl cutter so that the knife will move to its starting position. You can now press Cutting to start the cut.

Unfortunately our design was flawed. There was not enough space in between the different coil windings. This caused the knife to have to cut lines that are very close to each other, which in turn caused the copper foil to unstick from it's sticking layer, which ruined to coil, as seen below:

We tried to increase the space in between the windings, but it was still not enough to make the copper foil stick to the sticker layer. Because of time issues, we decided to abandon the vinyl cutter and think of another way to make a coil. During brainstorming, Loes came to us with a great idea for a coil. It consisted of a piece of denim that is nailed on a piece of wood (I used twelve nails. They are nailed in a circular pattern). You then use copper wire to wind around the nails in the pattern shown below:

Once you finished winding the coil, you sew the twelve nodes of the coil to the denim so you can remove the nails. It's quite a simple design but it looks really cool (and Loes promised extra credit if we used it :D). The two ends of the copper wire are meant to serve as the positive and negative connection (it doesn't matter which one is which).

When we tested our speaker, a very dim sound could be heard. When we played a song with a lot of bass, the sound was very distorted. When we played a calm song, the quality exceeded our expectations.

Reflection

During this week I learned about electrical circuits. I learned how to measure different variables of the circuit, like current, voltage and resistance. Additionaly I've learned about the vinyl cutter. In my opinion, that is a lot. I am really interested in electronics, and I thought it was cool to learn more about it in a step-by-step approach. When I heard about the assignment of making a speaker, I had a lot of ideas. Unfortunately, these ideas didn't work out. I wanted to make a pattern and cut it out with the vinyl cutter from a piece of copper foil. Because of the fragility of the material, I was unable to cut my design out. So Daniël and I had to get creative and make something else. That's how we created the new coil design. The bottom line is that you always have to be creative when things don't work out the way you intended it.

Zine

During this lesson Loes explained us how electronic circuits work. To experiment with these circuits, she handed out some debugging templates. We had to attach an 3-volt battery to some copper tape. The copper tape only conducts on the top side, you to complete the circuit we had to fold the template in a ccertain manner to make the top sides touch. On this circuit we had to attach a LED. When you made the folds properly, so the top sides of the copper tape would touch, the LED lights up. When there is no load on the circuit, and the power of the battery can flow back freely to the battery, a short circuit will occur, and the battery will drain itself. There will be a danger of heating as well.

We were also practicing with the variables of a electric circuit.

R= resistance, measured in Ohm. V = volt (DC), to measure how much power an object uses. I = Current, measured in Ampere. How much power goes through te circuit.

To measure such values, we can use a multimeter. With two probes, you can touch parts of an electric circuit and measure the different values we discussed above.

Ohm's Law

Ohm's Law is all about the relation between Volt (V), Resistance (R) and Current (I). In an electrical circuit, current is passing through a resistor between two points, andd is related to the voltage difference between the two points. You can measure the resistance needed in an electrtical circuit by using this formula:

R = V/I

Because the elements in this formula are related to each other, you can also calculate the voltage and current the other way around :

V = R * I

I = V/R

For example, if we know that we are using a 3 volt battery, and there is a current of 10 ohm, we want to calculate the resistance needed on the circuit.

R = 3 / 0,006 = 500. We need a resistance of 500 ohm in this circuit.

Assignment 1 - individual

Create your own sample book in which you address the following aspects:

• Explore what the assigned contrast in material properties entails (this can be in the form of mindmaps, collages, moodboards etc.)

• Explore what the available flat sheets materials offer and what material(s) would suit your assignment best (share your results with each other). You can also bring your own material(s).

• Show iterations on the process, work towards a range of experiments that explores the two extremes of your contrast and various stages in between. Document your process and use a template to document the material properties, machine and settings used.

• Bundle your experiments in a sample book which displays your material exploration. Your sample book contains your interpretation of the assigned contrast, your experiments with various materials and techniques (at least 2 iterations with several gradations), and your final range of gradually moving from one extreme of the contrast towards the other end of the contrast (at least 5 gradations).

• Your sample book displays experimenting with the laser cutter. Use the laser cutter at least for one iteration with several gradations.

• Book binding is part of the process of creating your sample book.

• Document all the steps, tricks, tips, settings and outcomes as described on your documentation page. Please don't forget to document small experiments that did you perhaps did not include in your sample book (such as cutting/etching, folding/forming experiments).

____________________________________________________________________________________________

During week 3 of the minor, the assignment is to discover material characteristics and how to manipulate them by using a laser cutter.

Sam handed out post-its with two extremes for characteristics, and we could choose one of those contrasts.

I immediately was thinking about materials that are flexible by itself, like paper or latex. But I could also work the other way around, by making rigid materials like plywood flexible. There are many sources of inspiration and examples around. I started looking in the makerslab for some inspiration, and I saw some interesting examples.

My interest for the art of origami inspired me to work with paper. Paper is very versatile, we use it everyday in a 2D form, but the possibilities in 3D are endless.

For this week's assignment, we are working with with 3D printers. I am working together with Desiree. The idea is to make three different prints; one solid print, one press mold, and one regular mold for a shape.

In addition to this, we are writing a zine about the texts we've read for this week.

Zine Design

Assignment 0 - with the entire group

Produce a class zine on the RISO printer together, 2 people will be editors this week. Individual contributions in the form of zine spreads (minimum 150 words + original imagery).

Reflect on what your responsibilities are as a maker/designer for making objects and the impact they have on people, society and the environment. Create your own maker manifesto. Discuss how you used this in your making process this week, and how it’s (an aspect of) this week’s work.

Assignment 1 - individual

Document the in-class assignment on your gitbook documentation page, include the tips and tricks that helped you understand Fushion 360, Cura and the 3D-printer.

Write for each mold a tutorial with instructions. Include useful images with annotations to show each step of the design and print process. Another person should be able to follow your steps and reproduce your design.

Assignment 2 - in pairs

Make 3 molds

Documentation

In order to start with designing 3D objects, we needed to learn the instructions of new software. Sander and Micky showed us the ins- and outs of the software we need to use : Fusion 360; to make 3D shapes, and Cura; to convert STL 3D files to G-Code.

The 3D printers read the G-Code, and they produce the 3D shape with filament.

3D model: monkey

For my 3D model, I wanted to make monkey's face. To make it, I used 3D spheres and connected them to each other. For the eyes and nose I added spheres as well. To make the nose holes, I used the 'cut' function to excavate in the bigger sphere.

Additionaly, I made a mouth and eyebrows with lines. I added a sweep on them, so they appear as 3D tubes. I've made the ears with toruses.

Mold 2 - Zig Zag Surface

Desiree made the second mold that was an mold within an mold for the plasic assignment in two weeks. This was about making an structure in the plastic. So she made an round design with zig zags, when the first zig would be on top and then the next was under the surface. This goes back and forth.

On Desiree's page is a more detailed explaination.

Tips and tricks

• Don't make sharp angles, but always give it an degree. This way it's easier to get the mold out.

• I made al the zig zags one by one. I was told that if you make it a body, you can copy it.

Mold 3 - Star

For the third mold we wanted to make an star. And on that star we wanted to make some icons/ structures to make it look beautiful and intersting. Sadly the program quit a couple of times but eventually we made it work.

First we watched a video on how to make an star. You'll have to make two polygons, one big (6cm) and one small (3cm) in the middle of that. Than you connect the two polygons with lines and delete the outer lines. Select everything and join them. Select everything and extrude it (3cm) with an degree (40 degrees). Than you have an nice star. We decorated it with little roundings on the side. You make these by putting a circle on the surface and extrude it by 1mm with an degree. When you're finished with your design you can mirror it.

Then we wanted a box around the star with two holes for the air and fluid and a couple of markers so you can click it together. We asked Sander and watched a video to figure this out. To put the box around the star you first have to make an square in te middle of the star and extrude it both ways, make it a body. Than add a mid plane in the centre of the box to cut the box in half. Make the top invisible and make 4 spheres, one at each corner (join). Make the top visible again and cut the spheres out of the top. Than make the holes by selecting one half of the box and press H, then click on the screen where you want the hole and adjust the settings to your liking.

Tips and tricks

• Watch video's while making this. It will save you a lot of time.

• Make sure you leave one or two surfaces black so you can make the holes there.

Bronnen: https://youtu.be/vKZx9eHEL6o, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SobgJgljn8

Cura

To upload our designs to the 3D printers, we have to export our GCode file (3D model) to Cura. Cura is software specificly made for the Ultimaker 3D printers we have in our lab.

In Cura you can adjust your design in size, infill and quality. Also the parameters from the 3D printer can be adjusted.

3D Printer

When using the 3D printer, you have to consider a few parameters.

• Filament / material (2,85mm)

  • There are different kinds of materials you can choose from. The most common are:

    • PLA

    • ABS

    • PVC

    • PET

• Printing speed

  • When adjusting the printing speed, you can manipulate the duration of your print. Keep in mind that a faster printing speed has a lower print quality.

• Infill

  • To save material and to make a design more rigid, the inside of your print consists of infill. This infill is a polygonal pattern with a lot of empty space in the middle. You can adjust the pattern and percentage of infill in cura.

• Nozzle temperature

  • Depending on the filament you are using, the nozzle can heat up to the temperature that fits the filament the best.

• Plate temperature

  • The plate where you're printing on is heated as well. When the plate is heated, your print will stick to it, granting stability during the printing process.

• Fan speed

  • Above the nozzle are two tiny fans whose speed can be adjusted. The fans cool your print, providing it more stability.

These settings can be selected when you start printing, but also when the printing already has begun. When you select 'tune' on the Ultimaker display, you can tweak the different parameters. For example, for our second set of molds, we cranked up the fan speed because the filament on the plate didn't solidify. What we didn't expect was that our filament was blown away by the fans. We had to stop the print and start over.

The following collages are on courtesy of Desiree.

Vacuum forming

Reflection

During this week, we learned how to use 3D printers and how to make 3D models. I was looking forward the most to this week, because I am fascinated by 3D printers. The posibilites are endless and they are very modern. For my project, I want to involve 3D printers and design an nifty application with them.

I discovered that 3D printing can be an unpredictable proces. Many of our prints failed because of unforeseen errors. To begin, the material is critical for the quality of your print. In our experience, PLA was the best material. PVC worked the worst, it failed 3 times. The PVC dried slowly, resulting in a failed print because the nozzle was dragging the previous layer with it. After we recalibrated the machine, the same error occured. With PLA we had no problems.

Also the printing speed is critical. When printing too quickly, the machine will vibrate, resulting in mis-printed lines.

The next time when I will be 3D printing, I will consider errors in my time schedule. Also I would prefer quality of quantity. The machine will operate for a long time anyway, so it's better to sacrifice time for a better print.

After crafting and experimenting with the different bioplastics I discovered some interesting properties.

The cornstarch bioplastic is very sticky and wet, even after a week. I figured that adding less glycerin into the mixture will create a more rigid plastic. Because of the clear look en flexible properties, it can be used for toys or a replacement for rubber in machines.

The agar agar plastic was very popular by my cat. She loved to sniff and play with it. Adding catnip to the plastic can make a fun cat toy!

The gelatin bioplastic was the most brittle and rigid of the bioplastics I've made. It can be used to make sculptures, or glass-in-led.

In addition to this week's assignment, Daniël van Kesteren and I were Zine editors.

THIS WEEK'S ASSIGNMENTS

Assignment 0 - with the entire group

Produce a class zine on the RISO printer together, 2 people will be editors this week. Individual contributions in the form of zine spreads. Write a text of approx. 150 words and create your own image.

Reflect on your process and discuss how you engage in a dialogue with the material through experimenting. How do the materials and the techniques you apply shape your thinking about the design? What kind of tools do you use in various stages of your creative process and how do they each facilitate different engagements, how do they help establish new thoughts?

https://www.notion.so/Week-4-Zine-3edb24f3fbd04c4881028640e2425cf5

The theme we wanted for our zine this week was a blueprint look. We are using blue 80 gram paper, and white RISO ink.

After collecting each spread from our fellow students, the file we were going to print looked like this:

To print the spreads accordingly, I used the ordner that Desiree made. In this way, you can see which spreads need te be put together on a paper. In the illustrator file, the top spreads are the fronts. The bottom ones are the backs. Each position of the spreads corrospond with the back and fronts for printing.

The printing went smoothly. We learned bookbinding in this week, so I used a technique we learned : a simple pamphlet book stitch.

To make the stitches, I had to punch holes in the paper first. In the makerslab there is a hole-puncher, but I didn't know how to configurate it correctly. Luckly, a staff member of the makerslab was so kind to help me out.

The final zine looked like this, I am happy with the end result.

Zine

My zine design :

Assignment 1: RGB LED & digital switch

For this assignment, I used my Grove Arduino board. My regular board is broken so I had to improvise. Loes helped me out with this problem and showed me a way to connect the grove board with my breadboard.

To begin with, I connected the RGB LED to my groveboard on the D0, D1 and D2 pinholes. I connected those to my breadboard. Then I placed three 22 ohm resistors on the board, paralel from the LED pins and the cables. At last, I connected the LED to an GND port, and connected this to the GND of my arduino.

In Arduino, I used the following code that Loes provided to me:

int RED_PIN = D2;
int GREEN_PIN = D1;
int BLUE_PIN = D0;

// This variable controls how fast we loop through the colors.
// (Try changing this to make the fading faster or slower.)

int DISPLAY_TIME = 100;  // In milliseconds

void setup()
{
  // Here we'll configure the Arduino pins we're using to
  // drive the LED to be outputs:

  pinMode(RED_PIN, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(GREEN_PIN, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(BLUE_PIN, OUTPUT);
}

void loop(){

// Off (all LEDs off):

  digitalWrite(RED_PIN, LOW);
  digitalWrite(GREEN_PIN, LOW);
  digitalWrite(BLUE_PIN, LOW);

  delay(1000);

  // Red (turn just the red LED on):

  digitalWrite(RED_PIN, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(GREEN_PIN, LOW);
  digitalWrite(BLUE_PIN, LOW);

  delay(1000);

  // Green (turn just the green LED on):

  digitalWrite(RED_PIN, LOW);
  digitalWrite(GREEN_PIN, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(BLUE_PIN, LOW);

  delay(1000);

  // Blue (turn just the blue LED on):

  digitalWrite(RED_PIN, LOW);
  digitalWrite(GREEN_PIN, LOW);
  digitalWrite(BLUE_PIN, HIGH);

  delay(1000);

  // Yellow (turn red and green on):

  digitalWrite(RED_PIN, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(GREEN_PIN, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(BLUE_PIN, LOW);

  delay(1000);

  // Cyan (turn green and blue on):

  digitalWrite(RED_PIN, LOW);
  digitalWrite(GREEN_PIN, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(BLUE_PIN, HIGH);

  delay(1000);

  // Purple (turn red and blue on):

  digitalWrite(RED_PIN, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(GREEN_PIN, LOW);
  digitalWrite(BLUE_PIN, HIGH);

  delay(1000);

  // White (turn all the LEDs on):

  digitalWrite(RED_PIN, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(GREEN_PIN, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(BLUE_PIN, HIGH);

  delay(1000);
}

After I uploaded the code, the LED on my breadboard began to shine different colors!

Now my LED is working, I am going to connect a switch to toggle between the different colors of the LED.

Because I don't have a 10K resistor at home, Loes has thaught me to use a Pullup. In this way, you can enhance the signal a digital pin is giving. I had to swap the High and Lows in the original code from Micky, because the connections on the breadboard are different. The button is normally attached to a ground, but now it has to be attached to a 3v port. My code looked like this:

//       RGB LED Color Control
//      circuits4you.com
//========================================================================
//Changes made by Micky van Zeijl 
 
// constants won't change. They're used here to
// set pin numbers:
 
// Make sure to change the pinnumbers when you’re using the Arduino MKR.
// For the nodeMcu you can use all pins except 0. Don’t forget to add a D
// so it’s redPin = D3; for example

const int buttonPin = D8; // for Arduino MKR 1010 I used 6
const int redPin = D1; // for Arduino MKR 1010 - use pin 3
const int bluePin = D3; // for Arduino MKR 1010 - use pin 4
const int greenPin = D2; // for ARduino MKR 1010 - use pin 5

int counter = 0;
bool previousbuttonstateHigh = false;
void setup() {
  pinMode(redPin, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(greenPin, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(bluePin, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(D8,INPUT_PULLUP);
  Serial.begin(115200);
}

void loop() {

  int buttonState;
  buttonState = digitalRead(buttonPin);

  Serial.println(counter);

  if (buttonState == HIGH && !previousbuttonstateHigh) {
    counter++;

    if (counter > 3) counter = 0;
    previousbuttonstateHigh = true;

  }

  if (buttonState == HIGH) {
    previousbuttonstateHigh = false;
  }

  Serial.print("buttonstate is:" );
  Serial.println( buttonState);
  Serial.print("previous buttonstate is:");
  Serial.println(previousbuttonstateHigh);

  if (counter == 0) {
    digitalWrite(redPin, LOW);
    digitalWrite(greenPin, LOW);
    digitalWrite(bluePin, LOW);
  }

  else if (counter == 1) {
    digitalWrite(redPin, HIGH);
    digitalWrite(greenPin, LOW);
    digitalWrite(bluePin, LOW);
  }

  else if (counter == 2) {
    digitalWrite(redPin, LOW);
    digitalWrite(greenPin, HIGH);
    digitalWrite(bluePin, LOW);
  }

  else if (counter == 3) {
    digitalWrite(redPin, LOW);
    digitalWrite(greenPin, LOW);
    digitalWrite(bluePin, HIGH);
  }


}

At first, I received unexpected outputs from the counter in the code. I only saw a red light from the LED.

To check if my code was correct, I added a serial print line to each else if statement. The code was correct so it had to be my hardware.

//       RGB LED Color Control
//      circuits4you.com
//========================================================================
//Changes made by Micky van Zeijl 
 
// constants won't change. They're used here to
// set pin numbers:
 
// Make sure to change the pinnumbers when you’re using the Arduino MKR.
// For the nodeMcu you can use all pins except 0. Don’t forget to add a D
// so it’s redPin = D3; for example

const int buttonPin = D8; // for Arduino MKR 1010 I used 6
const int redPin = D1; // for Arduino MKR 1010 - use pin 3
const int bluePin = D3; // for Arduino MKR 1010 - use pin 4
const int greenPin = D2; // for ARduino MKR 1010 - use pin 5

int counter = 0;
bool previousbuttonstateHigh = true;

void setup() {
  pinMode(redPin, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(greenPin, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(bluePin, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(D8,INPUT_PULLUP);
  Serial.begin(115200);
}

void loop() {

  int buttonState;
  buttonState = digitalRead(buttonPin);

  Serial.println(counter);

  if (buttonState == LOW && !previousbuttonstateHigh) {
    counter++;

    if (counter > 3) counter = 0;
    previousbuttonstateHigh = true;

  }

  if (buttonState == HIGH) {
    previousbuttonstateHigh = false;
  }


  if (counter == 0) {
    digitalWrite(redPin, LOW);
    digitalWrite(greenPin, LOW);
    digitalWrite(bluePin, LOW);
    Serial.println("uit");
  }

  else if (counter == 1) {
    digitalWrite(redPin, HIGH);
    digitalWrite(greenPin, LOW);
    digitalWrite(bluePin, LOW);
    Serial.println("Rood");
  }

  else if (counter == 2) {
    digitalWrite(redPin, LOW);
    digitalWrite(greenPin, HIGH);
    digitalWrite(bluePin, LOW);
    Serial.println("Groen");
  }

  else if (counter == 3) {
    digitalWrite(redPin, LOW);
    digitalWrite(greenPin, LOW);
    digitalWrite(bluePin, HIGH);
    Serial.println("blauw");
  }


}

I finally noticed that my resistors didn't connect properly, so the green and blue colors didn't want to light up. When I fixed this, I noticed that the output was very unstable. It had to do with my counter, because I saw in the monitor that the counter value fluctuated from 0 to 3 very quickly.

When I switched

bool previousbuttonstateHigh = false;

to

bool previousbuttonstateHigh = true;

I fixed the problem. Because when the previous button state is high and the counter reads false, it forms a loop and pendles between the counter values. When the previous button state is high and true, the counter can make a distinction between the different inputs.

Assignment 2: RGB-LED & analog sensor

The next assigment was to connect a RGB-LED to an analog sensor. Originaly, we had to use a LDR sensor. I didn't have one, so I used a grove light sensor.

At first, I tried the code on DLO. Because I use a different sensor, the code didn't work properly. I searched on the internet and found a nice code I could use to manipulate the RGB-LED with the sensor:

int sensorPin = A0; //Light sensor
int redPin= D1; 
int greenPin = D2;
int bluePin = D3;
int sensorValue = 0; // variable to store the value coming from the sensor

void setup() {
Serial.begin(115200); //sets serial port for communication
  pinMode(redPin, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(greenPin, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(bluePin, OUTPUT);
}
void loop() {
sensorValue = analogRead(sensorPin); // read the value from the sensor
Serial.println(sensorValue); //prints the values coming from the sensor on the screen


delay(100);

if (sensorValue < 400) {
  setColor(170, 0, 255); //purple
  }

  else {
    setColor(255, 255, 0); //green
    }

}

void setColor(int redValue, int greenValue, int blueValue) {
  analogWrite(redPin, redValue);
  analogWrite(greenPin, greenValue);
  analogWrite(bluePin, blueValue);
}

The code worked perfectly, the color of the LED changed when placed in a dark environment.

Processing & Digital Swatch

The next step is to work with Processing. Processing is a sketchbook software that generates visuals by the input of code. It is possible to connect the input of your sensor with Arduino to manipulate the output of Processing.

Because I was working with the grove light sensor on my previous assignments, I decided to use it for this assignment as well because I am familiar with it.

The output created by Processing has to resemble the series we created, so I am aiming for a black background and copper details.

I searched on the processing website for some nice variable examples in shapes. They all use the mouse position, I have to adjust to code so the output reacts to my sensor input.

To do so, I wrote some code for the Arduino, so the output on my COM3 will convert it's values for processing languague.

int sensorValue = 0;

void setup() {
Serial.begin(115200); //needs to match processing baudrate
}

void loop() {
//Serial.println(analogRead(A0)); // for debugging only
sensorValue = analogRead(A0); // store value in sensorValue
Serial.write(map(sensorValue, 0,1023,0,255)); // map to processing range
delay(50);
}

Next, I looked at the examples on the processing website. I came across a cool design, a bezier.

The code for this example was originaly like this:

void setup() {
  size(640, 360); 
  stroke(255);
  noFill();
}

void draw() {
  background(0);
  for (int i = 0; i < 200; i += 20) {
    bezier(mouseX-(i/2.0), 40+i, 410, 20, 440, 300, 240-(i/16.0), 300+(i/8.0));
  }
}

The sketch now only uses the input of your mouse. The styling is also not in line with my idea. So I had to connect my sensor input with Processing, and change the values of the sketch to make it appear more like the series we've made.

The code I wrote looked like this:

import processing.serial.*;
int x;
int y;
float outsideRadius = 150;
float insideRadius = 100;
Serial myPort;
int dataInput;
PImage bg;


void setup() {
  size(500, 500);
  stroke(91, 53, 17);strokeWeight(4);  // Thicker
line(20, 40, 80, 40);
  noFill();
  String portName = "COM3";  //change to your own port address!
  myPort = new Serial(this, portName, 115200); //needs to match arduino baudrate
}

  
 void draw() {
  background(0);
  for (int i = 0; i < 200; i += 20) {
    bezier(dataInput-(i/2.0), 40+i, 410, 20, 440, 300, 240-(i/16.0), 300+(i/8.0));
  }
}

void serialEvent(Serial myPort) {
dataInput = myPort.read();
 }

I adjusted the thickness and colors of the lines. I also adjusted the canvas size to match the 10cm * 10cm requirement. I changed the bezier input to dataInput instead of mouseX.

I uploaded the code, and the bezier moved when I changed the light on my light sensor!

Reflection

During this week, I learned a lot of new insights concerning programming on Arduino. I had some prior experience, but that was very basic compared to the things I've done this week.

Especialy the combination with the breadboard and additional electronical circuit props, like resistors (and the lack of them) has thaught me to debug, program and build cool installations.

Loes helped me out a lot this week, because I didn't have all the required parts. I learned how to pull up a signal for my Arduino board, so I can bypass the required 10k ohm resistor for my button.

In the first weeks, I had contact with my former clients to ask them what the daily problems caused by the corona virus they are facing. The thing that struck my most were the travel issues; they don't want to use public transport / taxi services anymore, because they are affraid to be infected.

After I did research and ideation sessions, I came up with the protection screen for in cars. On the internet I saw a lot of variations and implentations of this idea, but the bioplastic version was still missing. That's when I knew I wanted to make a bioplastic screen for in cars.

I called my former employer, RMC Amsterdam, to ask if I could measure out a car for my screen. They told me they already have corona protection screens installed in their cars. I immediately felt like my idea was obsolete, because they already have protection screens installed.

After some thinking I concluded that my project is still a solution to the current problem. The screens the taxis are using right now are made of plexiglass. When the corona crisis is over, most of these plexiglass screens are unnessecary and will be recycled. The proces of recycling plexiglass is hard, and will . Bioplastic however can easily be recycled and molded over in other objects, without any extensive and harmfull recycling processes.

Project brief

1. I Found it enjoyable and interesting to work on:

a. Bioplastics c. Material design (changing properties) e. 3D modeling and printing f. Mould making

2. From the 3 themees, I'm most interesting in:

b. material activism & archiving

3. I explored the resources and will work on...

Puzzles and games made for the elderly and lonely people at these trying times. I want those games and puzzles to be made of bioplastics, so it's environment friendly and easy to produce. Some parts of these puzzles could be DIY recipes for them to make themselves.

4. I want to contribute by...

Make a games and puzzles (and maybe other household necisisties) and distribute them to elderly people. I also want to create a book or website where they can discover new DIY recipes for bioplastics and applications.

5. This is relavant because... During the corona crisis, there a lot of lonely and sick people who can not be visited by their children, family or friends. I want to entertain them and to let them know we think about them. In addition, because I use bioplastics, it is environment friendly and durable.

6. My first experiment will be... I want to design a grocery-money exchange device. I do groceries for two of my old clients and transferring the groceries and money is always an issue. Maybe I can design a grocerybag holder that has a money tray, so they can deposit money for the groceries that I can collect. When I'm done and return their groceries to them, I can hang the shopping bag in a safe manner on their door/window.

7. Things I will need..

• Glycerin

• Agar

• Gelatin

• Moulds

• Fusion 360

• 3D printer

• Water

• Other natural ingredients for color/texture

8. Lead times of locar suppliers

• Gamma

• Makerslab

• Etos

• Nature

Pitch presentation

Screen properties

I am already familiar with different bioplastic recipes. However, I made these bioplastics in small quantities and in small petri dishes. The screen I want to produce will be roughly 7,2m², so the material will probably behave different on a larger scale than I've tested before.

For my screen, I want to following properties:

• Translucent

• Lightly flexible

• Shatter-resistant

• Lightweight

I chose these properties concerning travel comfort and safety. I want the screen to be translucent, so the driver and passenger can communicate visually, and the driver can look through the back window of the car.

The material needs te be lightly flexible, because the application and margin of error (bumping your head against it) will be smaller and less harshly punished. It can't be too flexible though, because otherwise the screen will flop over and the purpose of the screen is nullified.

For safety concerns, the screen should be shatter-resistant. If one bump or shake can break the screen, it will create a dangerous situation.

At last, the screen should be lightweight. This has to do with flexibility and the other safety concerns stated above.

Testing on small scale : materials

From the materials that I've produced in week 7, the ones made from gelatine and agar agar were the most rigid. The ones I've made with corn starch are wet and sticky, and are not suitable for fabricating a protection screen.

The first test I conducted was with gelatine. I used a different recipe than I've made before. I used :

• 50 ml water

• 18 gram gelatine

• 2 gram glycerin

I cooked the batch and poured it into a petri dish. If the material satisfies my expectancies, I will make the same bioplastic on a larger scale with the same ratio. Unlike the previous time I made gelatine-based bioplastic, I scooped out the bubbles of air that rose up because of the heat. By doing so, the material is more clear and translucent.

On first impressions, I was satisfied with the look and feel of the bioplastic. Because I didn't add a lot of water, I hope the moisture in the bioplastic won't evaporate too much, causing a wrinkly and dried out bioplastic.

Gelatine bioplastic - day 2

When I checked my bioplastic one day after cooking, I noticed it wrinkled quite a bit. I guess this is due the amount of water and glycerin I used. This is not as desired, because I need the protection screens to be straight. In week 7 I cooked another gelatine bioplastic, however with another recipe. This one on the other hand is more rigid, so for my next experiment I will use the old recipe.

aa

Isa helps me out to describe her sensory and interpretive impressions about the bioplastics I crafted. As reference, I used the Ma2E4 Toolkit worksheets.

In the video below, Isa is discovering the bioplastics for the first time.

Corn Starch & Cayenne Pepper

Sensorial level

Interpretive level

Isa describes this as sticky, wet and unpleasant.

Meanings of the material:

• Calm

• Aloof

• Vulgar

• Frivolous

• Nostalgic

• Feminine

• Strange

• Not sexy

• Natural

• Manufactured

Affective level

• Love

• Amusement

• Surprise

• Reluctance

• Enchantment

• Rejection

• Disgust

• Melancholy

• Distrust

• Doubt

Agar agar & sesame seeds

Sensorial level

Interpretive level

Isa describes this as smooth and rough at the same time. It is also heavier than the first one.

Meanings of the material:

• Calm

• Cosy

• Elegant

• Frivolous

• Nostalgic

• Feminine

• Strange

• Toy-like

• Natural

• Hand-crafted

Affective level

• Love

• Amusement

• Surprise

• Confidence

• Enchantment

• Respect

• Attraction

• Curiosity

• Fascination

• Comfort

Gelatine & dill

Sensorial level

Interpretive level

Isa describes this as the smoothest of the three bioplastics. She likes the color and feel.

Meanings of the material:

• Calm

• Cosy

• Elegant

• Frivolous

• Nostalgic

• Feminine

• Strange

• Toy-like

• Natural

• Hand-crafted

Affective level

• Love

• Amusement

• Surprise

• Confidence

• Enchantment

• Respect

• Attraction

• Curiosity

• Fascination

• Comfort

Zine

Assignment

Design and build two inputs:

• Create an on/off switch (tact, toggle, slide, tilt or other)

• Also create an analog sensor (potentiometer, capacitive touch, other)

• Show at least 3 iterations (drawings, prototypes) before making the final paper sensor in black cardboard

• All the nodes should work as series, none can take visual supremacy

• The sensors shown in class are the point of departure for the series. You can recreate the technical circuit but not the form

Program your circuit and test your inputs

• Program a Node MCU to read the values with the serial plotter

• Change an LED’s brightness depending on switch & sensor values

Material

For this week, we are using a Node MCU and a breadboard. The Node MCU is an open-sourced firmware development kit. You can program code to manipulate electronics. One way to connect the Node MCU to electricity, is a breadboard. A breadboard is a switchboard where electronics can be attached to.

The Node MCU uses digital ports and analog ports to read out information. The software we use to upload code to the Node MCU is called Arduino.

Pinch switch (digital)

Because Kaz and I are working seperately, I am focussing on making Switches, and Kaz on analog sensors.

Loes showed us some awesome examples of switches, and I took some inspiration of them. The goal is to make these switches with

• black cardboard

• copper tape

• paper clip pins

• LED

For my first switch design, I wanted to use the herring grate origami pattern to fold a piece of paper. The goal is to pinch te paper, so the planes of the origami touch. When these planes are attached to copper tape and the paper clip pins, the circuit will be completed and the LED I attached on the circuit will light up.

To make the pattern on the piece of paper, I used the laser cutter to make dotted folding lines. I used 20% of the laser capacity, and made 2mm dots with 1 mm intervals. To give the structure more rigidity, I cut out holes on the corners of the folds. I used 50% of the laser capacity to do so.

When I tried to fold the material, I quickly discovered that the paper is too small to support the folds. The paper is also too thick, so it would break if I tried to make complex folding patterns.

Because I had no access to the makers lab anymore, I decided to simplify the design. I only used the vertical lines I made, and cut out the center planes in a rectangular shape. On both sides I attached copper tape. When the paper is pinched, the copper tapes will touch.

This switch is an 'always open' switch, because the two sides don't touch when idle. They can only make contact when you activate the switch (pinch), and will retract when you let loose.

Now I can attach the design to my Node MCU. It is attached to a breadboard, so I can connect the switch and LED to it.

To illustrate the functioning of the switch, I've made a schematic.

Ultimately, when I attached my Node MCU to a power source, the design worked perfectly. When I pinch the paper, the two copper tapes touch and they complete the circuit, just like a switch.

Analog capacitive sensor (made by Kaz)

The following work is made by Kaz:

In class, the day before the schools closed the doors because of the corona virus, we made a crystal that is conductive. Loes showed her own crystal sensor and I really wanted to make one myself. So at first I started to build a capacitive sensor with a conductive crystal, but later on I also tried different conductive materials. This setup works with every conductive object.

Conductive crystal

I just can't seem to get the setup to work. To my idea I've checked everything. I've checked if I've put USB behind every serial . I've checked if the I had connected the wires in the right way to setup the circuit. I've swapped the wires for other wires, to check if the wires are broken. After that I checked if the it works without the conductive crystal, so just with the paperclip. But the paperclip unfortunately doesn't work either, so I can't conclude that the crystal doesn't work.

The black wire looks like it isn't connected, but it is. It is connected to the same copper tape as the conductive crystal. The copper tape is one piece of tape that's also on a little bit on the back of the piece of paper. I made sure that its one piece, otherwise it wouldn't work.

//https://www.instructables.com/id/Capacitive-Sensing-for-Dummies/
//https://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/Smoothing

#include <CapacitiveSensor.h>
// how to install libraries https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/installing-an-arduino-library 
// download capsense lib here https://playground.arduino.cc/Main/CapacitiveSensor/

//send at pin 4, receive at pin 3, 1-10M ohm resistor between
CapacitiveSensor cs_3_4 = CapacitiveSensor(3, 4); // 1-10 megohm resistor between pins 4 & 3, pin 3 is sensor pin, add wire, foil

const int numReadings = 10;     // size of array/number of readings to keep track of (higher = slower)
int readings[numReadings];      // the readings from the analog input
int readIndex = 0;              // the index of the current reading
int total = 0;                  // the running total
int average = 0;                // the average
int brightness = 0;             // initialize delay time at 0
int ledPin = 11;
int newAverage = 0;             //store values after mapping

void setup() {

  // initialize serial communication with computer:
  SerialUSB.begin(9600);           //start serial communication via USB cable
  
  cs_3_4.set_CS_AutocaL_Millis(0xFFFFFFFF); // turn off autocalibrate on channel 1 - just as an example Serial.begin(9600);

  //initatialize readings array setting all values to 0
  for (int thisReading = 0; thisReading < numReadings; thisReading++) {
    readings[thisReading] = 0;
  }  
}

void loop() {

  // subtract the last reading:
  total = total - readings[readIndex];

  // read from the sensor:
  readings[readIndex] = cs_3_4.capacitiveSensor(30);

  // add the reading to the total:
  total = total + readings[readIndex];

  // advance to the next position in the array:
  readIndex = readIndex + 1;

  // if we're at the end of the array...wrap around to the beginning
  if (readIndex >= numReadings) {
    readIndex = 0;
  }

  // calculate the average:
  average = total / numReadings;

  // USE THIS TO FIND THE SENSOR RANGE (COMMENT OUT WHEN DONE)
  // send it to the computer as ASCII digits
  SerialUSB.println(average);  // if using Arduino serial >> e.g. 0 (touch), 70 (no touch)

//  // UNCOMMENT THIS TO MAP THE VALUES TO THE LED RANGE
//  // map the average value to the min and max we recorded above
//  newAverage = map(average, 70, 0, 0, 255);
//
//  //set brightness of LED to sensorValue (between 0-255)
//  analogWrite(ledPin, newAverage);  
//
//SerialUSB.print("Old Value = ");
//SerialUSB.print(average);
//SerialUSB.print("\t");   // add a tab between the numbers
//SerialUSB.print("New Value = ");
//SerialUSB.println(newAverage);

  delay(10); // arbitrary delay to limit data to serial port
}

When I was unwiring the circuit I still had my Serial Monitor open and it suddenly showed values. After looking at the wires one last time I saw I didn't make a mistake following the instructions. I recognized a mistake, the only thing I had to do was swap the wires connected in pin 3 and 4.

//send at pin 4, receive at pin 3, 1-10M ohm resistor between

The code works, just this comment should be changed to this:

//send at pin 3, receive at pin 4, 1-10M ohm resistor between

After this the setup worked (without the conductive crystal connected, just the paperclip) I could finally conclude that the crystal doesn't work.

Copper wire

At the show and tell I showed the sensor and told all the debugging I've done in the last week. After talking with Loes at the show and tell we came to the conclusion to solder the copper wire to the copper tape. So the copper wire and copper tape have better connection. In my design the copper tape makes the connection to my sensor, the copper wire. It's important to have no flaws there.

After soldering the copper wire to the copper tape I had a bit better results, but not as great as it needs to. I completely missed the part where I had to use 1 - 10M ohm resistance. The whole time building the multiple capacitive sensors I used 40k ohm. 40k ohm was the maximal amount of resistance I could create with the resistances I took with me before the school was closed, because of the corona virus.

All iterations

Attaching a LDR sensor

I had many problems with attaching my LDR sensor to my Node MCU. To begin; I didn't have a regular LDR sensor. Luckily, I had some older sensors from a previous course I followed. When I tried to attach my node MCU to my pc, I got various errors. My serial write wouldn't work, and my board wouldn't connect. I asked Loes for help, and after some resets it appeared to work again.

After some iterations in my code, it stopped working again. Then I decided to use my Grove Node MCU. This one worked perfectly. I attached a light sensor to the AO, and found some code on a forum to make it work:

/*
/* Grove - Light Sensor demo v1.0
* 
* signal wire to A0.
* By: http://www.seeedstudio.com
*/
#include <math.h>
const int ledPin=12;                 //Connect the LED Grove module to Pin12, Digital 12
const int thresholdvalue=10;         //The threshold for which the LED should turn on. 
float Rsensor; //Resistance of sensor in K
void setup() {
  Serial.begin(115200);                //Start the Serial connection
  pinMode(ledPin,OUTPUT);            //Set the LED on Digital 12 as an OUTPUT
}
void loop() {
  int sensorValue = analogRead(0); 
  Rsensor=(float)(1023-sensorValue)*10/sensorValue;
  if(Rsensor>thresholdvalue)
  {
    digitalWrite(ledPin,HIGH);
  }
  else
  {
  digitalWrite(ledPin,LOW);
  }
  Serial.println("the analog read data is ");
  Serial.println(sensorValue);
  Serial.println("the sensor resistance is ");
  Serial.println(Rsensor,DEC);//show the light intensity on the serial monitor;
  delay(1000);
}

I could read the values of the sensor in the serial monitor. I set it manualy to 115200 baud. Here are the values I received:

Reflection

This assignment was really annoying for me. I've worked with Arduino and node MCU's before, and it always worked perfectly. This time around, I faced many unforeseen problems. Luckily Loes could help me out at some of my problems, but most of them kept reappearing for no clear reason. Then I decided to use my grove MCU board, and this one worked perfect. I really like to work with the hardware and to experiment with different pieces of code, but debugging really sucks. I learned to be patient and to carefully look for the root of the problem.

Because of my interest in bioplastics, and the will to make the COVID-19 situation more bearable, I am going to focus on a bioplastic product to battle COVID-19.

From my personal work experience, I come in touch with a lot of elderly people. I've worked as a household support in Amsterdam for elderly and handicapped residents of Amsterdam. I also worked as taxi driver for RMC Amsterdam, a public transport taxi service for the elderly and handicapped.

I still have contact with some old clients, and I know their fear and inconviences during these trying times. That's why I decided to imply my bioplastics solution in this field.

I called my contacts and asked them about the problems and inconvienences they are facing at the moment. I combined their input in a word cloud:

Now that I've looked into the problem and spoke with my target group, I am going decide what direction I am heading for my project. Because a lot of my clients depent on transport, but they are too scared to travel at this time, I want to create a solution that eases this specific problem.

To come up with new ideas for the transport problem, I did a brainstorm session.

I came up with some fun ideas, but most of them are very hard to make in the current situation. That's why I decided to make a bioplastic screen for in cars. This screen blocks vapour dispersed by breathing, coughing and sneezing. The screen guarantees the clean air and safety for the driver and passenger of the car/taxi. The screen needs te be cleanable, otherwise the goal of the screen is overlooked. I have to take this in consideration when I am going to select the material of the screen.

During my project, I encountered a lot of hickups and setbacks. Becouse of the scope of my project, and the materials / machinery I needed, I knew on beforehand that it would be a difficult task to fulfill my project objectives.

Firstly, I received some feedback from my contacts whom belong to my target group. They told me that they are still reluctant to use public transportation and taxi services, even when they've installed protection screens. The airflow in the car can still make them sick, they stated.

Above of that, it was incredibly difficult to get my hands on the appriopriate materials and machines I need for my project. To cast a large sheet of bioplastic, I ordered an acrylate plate from Gamma. I waited 1 1/2 week for it, and then I received the message that the acrylate plates are not available anymore. I had to switch from material, and I decided to buy a mirror. It is 90 x 45 cm, so it's too small to cast the car protection screen I wanted to make originaly.

That was the point that I decided to switch my focus from car protection screens to smaller protection screens. I will make face protection masks like these:

For my 1440 mm x 550 mm mold I need:

I can produce them with the laser cutter from CRE8:

Since I've decided to make a bioplastic protection screen, I conducted desk research to see if there's a comparable product on the market. I quickly noticed some webshops and garage shops that provide corona screens.

What makes my idea unique in comparison with the available products on the market is the bioplastic aspect. The ones I saw on the internet are made of plexiglass, or regular plastics like PVC.

I want to create a durable and open design product, so I am aiming for a easy DIY screen that everbody can produce. If that's not possible, I want to produce a lot of them by myself.

I started to make some sketches on how I want the screen to look. I want to use the screen in my old job's cars, Volkswagen Golf VII. I chose for this size because they have an uniform fleet, so I can produce on a larger scale, in the same design.

I decided to place the protection screen between the front and back seats. In this way, there is no possibility for vapours to disperse in the cabin. The passenger ánd the driver will be protected in this way. To function properly, there can be no airconditioning / ventilation active in the car. Otherwise the air will circulate in the car, and infection is still possible.

For my HI-FI sketch, I looked up the dimenions of the VW GOLF VII cabin. The screen has to fit from the roof to the middle console.

I have the dimensions and shapes, so now I want to make a scaled mockup to see how the screen will look in real life. I had a big piece of cardboard laying around, so I used it to make my mockup. The scale is 2:3.

ssignment 0 - with the entire group

Produce a class zine on the RISO printer together, 2 people will be editors this week. Individual contributions in the form of zine spreads.

Assignment 1 - individual

Dive into the world of biobased plastic and speculate about future applications using the Material Driven Design Method. The assignment of this week is to make your own bioplastics and use the Material Driven Design (MDD)-method to come up with future applications.

(source : DLO)

Making bioplastics at home

For this week's assignment, we are working from home to produce and discover different kinds of bioplastics.

The materials we are using to produce bioplastics are :

• glycerine

• gelatine

• agar agar

• water

• cornstarch (maizena)

Each of these materials have different properties. Glycerine adds viscosity and thickness to bioplastics. Water merges the materials together. Both water en glycerine are required for all of the recipes for bioplastics.

Recipe 1 - cornstarch with cayenne pepper

For my first try at bioplastics I made a combination of cornstarch and cayenne pepper, to create a glossy, fire red color. I used the following recipe:

• glycerine - 20 gram

• cornstarch - 2 gram

• water - 80 ml

• white vinegar - 15 ml

• cayenne pepper - 1 tablespoon

I threw all the ingredients in a pot on medium heat. I kept stirring and cooking the mixture for 10 minutes.

When it was cooked for 10 minutes, I poured everything in the plastic containers we got from Sam. The end result looks like this:

After a couple of minutes, a skin started to develop on top of the plastic. When I touch it, it feels wet and bouncy. It smells a little bit sour.

Recipe 2 - agar agar with sesame seeds

For the next recipe, I wanted to combine the nice fragrance of the agar agar with sesame seeds. I want this bioplastic to be more rigid than the previous one, so I decided to add less glycerine in the recipe. I used :

• glycerine - 1 gram

• water - 40 ml

• agar agar - 1.6 gram

• sesame seeds - 1 tablespoon

Again, I added everything in a pot and turned the heat on medium. Unlike the previous recipe with cornstarch, you have to remove the mixture from the heat when it starts to boil and become viscous. I poured the mixture in a plastic cup, and this is the end result:

After only a few minutes, the plastic is already very rigid and hard. It smells really sweet. You can press your finger into it, and it will bounce back very quickly.

Recipe 3 - gelatine with dill

When I opened the bag of gelatine, I noticed a weird and uncomfortable smell. I thought it would be a great idea to add another weird smell to it, so I decided to add dill. It also gives a nice color, so that's a bonus.

I used:

• gelatine - 15 gram

• glycerine - 4 gram

• water - 60 ml

• dill - 4 good sprinkles

When I was cooking the mixture, a strange smell was spreading in my house. When it started to come to a boil, I removed it from the heat and put it in the plastic container.

The gelatine and dill bioplastic showed a lot of bubbles when it was cooling, so maybe I let it become too hot. The mixture cooled down fairly slow, it took 15 minutes to form a skin on top of it. It doesn't have pleasant smell, like I intended. It is bouncy when you press your finger into it.

End results

After drying for three weeks, the bioplastics ended up very differently from each other. The agar agar bioplastic curled up and became very stirdy. The gelatine bioplastic became very hard, and a lot of it evaporated. The cornstarch bioplastic is very flimsy and still feels wet.

1) een foto (nav de productfotografie workshop de dag ervoor)

2) een prikkelende vraag of statement die de aandacht trekt

3) eerste versie van een introtekst van 100 woorden: beschrijf waar je project aandacht voor wil vragen en wat het concreet heeft opgeleverd

4) een tafelindeling/expoplan: ook als objecten nog niet af zijn: teken/fotografeer een plan waarin je alle onderdelen opneemt die je zult laten zien. Denk ook aan: titel, tekst enz

Foto

Statement

'In deze kritieke tijd waar wij afhankelijk zijn van de zorg en medische beschermmiddelen worden vervuilende en snel te produceren oplossingen geboden. Is het nu niet juist tijd om te antwoorden met een duurzame oplossing?'

Intro

'Nu iedereen bezig is om het coronavirus tegen te gaan zie je overal uiteenlopende beschermingsmiddelen. Van plastic spatmaskers tot plexiglazen spatschermen bij kassa's in supermarkten en taxi's. Wat al deze oplossingen gemeen hebben is het recycle probleem. Plexiglas en plastic staan erom bekend dat ze slecht afbreekbaar zijn. Na de coronacrisis zullen deze spatmaskers en spatschermen overbodig zijn, en zitten we met een grote berg aan plastic afval.

Om dit tegen te gaan wil ik een spatmasker, mondkapje en spatscherm maken van bioplastic. Dit bioplastic is op basis van gelatine. Dit materiaal is biologisch afbreekbaar en is tevens goed te recyclen.'

Indeling tafel