Understanding a sensor and an RGB LED

The first thing I did was connecting a RGB Led. When I managed to change the colors I decided to connect it with a sensor, I used the ultrasonic sensor. The color changes whenever I get closer or further away from the sensor. This was the outcome:

#include <NewPing.h>
// ( trigger, echo, max cm)
NewPing sonar(5, 2, 20);

int greenPin = 3;
int bluePin = 4;

void setup() {
  // put your setup code here, to run once

  Serial.begin(9600);
  delay(50);

  pinMode(greenPin, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(bluePin, OUTPUT);

}

void loop() {
  // put your main code here, to run repeatedly:

  Serial.print("The distance is:");
  Serial.println(sonar.ping_cm());
  delay(1000);
  if ((sonar.ping_cm()) > 10) {
    digitalWrite(greenPin, HIGH);
    digitalWrite(bluePin, LOW);
  }
  else {
    digitalWrite(greenPin, LOW);
    digitalWrite(bluePin, HIGH);
  }
}

Connecting the sensor, motor and RGB LED

When I understood how you could connect a sensor with something else I added the actuator. Whenever I would come closer to the sensor, not only the color of the LED would change but the speed of the actuator as well, this was the outcome:

#include <NewPing.h>
// ( trigger, echo, max cm)
NewPing sonar(3, 4, 20);

int bluePin = 1;
int greenPin = 2;
int redPin = 6;
int motor = 5; 

void setup() {
  // put your setup code here, to run once

  Serial.begin(9600);
  delay(50);

  pinMode(greenPin, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(bluePin, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(redPin, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(motor, OUTPUT);

}

void loop() {
  // put your main code here, to run repeatedly:

  Serial.print("The distance is:");
  Serial.println(sonar.ping_cm());
  delay(1000);
  if ((sonar.ping_cm()) > 0) {
    digitalWrite(greenPin, HIGH);
    digitalWrite(bluePin, LOW);
    digitalWrite(redPin, LOW);
    analogWrite(motor, 0);
    
  }
    if ((sonar.ping_cm()) > 5) {
    analogWrite(motor, 120);
  }
      if ((sonar.ping_cm()) > 8) {
    analogWrite(motor, 130);
  }
        if ((sonar.ping_cm()) > 10) {
    analogWrite(motor, 140);
  }
  if ((sonar.ping_cm()) > 12) {
    digitalWrite(greenPin, LOW);
    digitalWrite(bluePin, HIGH);
    digitalWrite(redPin, LOW);
    analogWrite(motor, 150);
  }
          if ((sonar.ping_cm()) > 14) {
    analogWrite(motor, 180);
  }
   if ((sonar.ping_cm()) > 16) {
    digitalWrite(greenPin, LOW);
    digitalWrite(bluePin, LOW);
    digitalWrite(redPin, HIGH);
    analogWrite(motor, 200);
   }
             if ((sonar.ping_cm()) > 18) {
    analogWrite(motor, 230);
  }
               if ((sonar.ping_cm()) > 19) {
    analogWrite(motor, 255);
  }
}

L289N, first try building something with DC motor

When I thought I understood the components and the code well enough to build something that I liked I started looking into stuff that I wanted to build. I found that you can build a small car that can go forward and backward with an L298N and a switch. So I got that board and switch to try. I tried to control the speed of a motor with a potentiometer and control if the motor would go backwards or forwards with the switch. Unfortunately after a lot of trying I couldn't figure out why the motor wouldn't connect with my arduino through the l289N, so I gave up on this.

// L298N board by How to Mediatronics
#define enB 5
#define in3 14
#define in4 13

//toggle button
#define button 9

// defaults
boolean buttonState = LOW;
int rotDirection = 0;
int pressed = false;

void setup() {
  // put your setup code here, to run once:
  pinMode(enB, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(in3, INPUT);
  pinMode(in4, INPUT);
  pinMode(button, INPUT);
  
// set initial rotation direction
  digitalWrite(in3, LOW);
  digitalWrite(in4, HIGH);

}

void loop() {
  int potValue = analogRead(A0); // Read potentiometer value
  int pwmOutput = map(potValue, 0, 1023, 0 , 255); // van 0-1023 naar 0-255
  analogWrite(enB, pwmOutput); // verzend potentiometer value naar l298n board
  // Read button - Debounce
  if (digitalRead(button) == true) {
    pressed = !pressed;
  }
  while (digitalRead(button) == true);
  delay(20);
  // If button is pressed - change rotation direction
  if (pressed == true  & rotDirection == 0) {
    digitalWrite(in3, HIGH);
    digitalWrite(in4, LOW);
    rotDirection = 1;
    delay(20);
  }
  // If button is pressed - change rotation direction
  if (pressed == false & rotDirection == 1) {
    digitalWrite(in3, LOW);
    digitalWrite(in4, HIGH);
    rotDirection = 0;
    delay(20);
  }
}

Making something without the L289N, second try

Because the DC motor did work without the L289N, i figured to just skip it. I've looked up on internet so many things and i tried a lot of different setups but I couldn't get it to work. I tried to make something without the L289N. Since I can not let it go backwards or forwards I figured that I can maybe make some propellor so that I wouldn't have to put the motor into the wheels. I made a sketch so that I knew what to build.

In my sketch I didn't had my sensor yet because I figured out later that a part of the assignment was to have an input that was made by yourself. I tried making a propellor out of a plastic bottle, I glued the motor into the lit:

I was pretty happy with the result so I continued building the car. I used small candles for the wheels and straws and sate sticks to connect it to the black board.

The car wasn't moving forward when I was blowing it with my own mouth so I figured that it wouldn't go forward with the propellor either. I thought it could be the wheels so I changed the wheels.

But it was still not moving forward when blowing it. I thought maybe I needed lighter material. So I used a plastic bottle, but it still didn't go forward unfortunately.

Another idea

When making the 3rd car still without success I decided to come up with another idea. I thought of stuff that turns. One of the first things that came in my mind was a windmill. I started making the windmill out of the carton of a toilet paper roll and made a hole in it for the motor.

It was pretty hard to make the hole of the square where the flags are attached to just as big as the turning part of the DC motor. I made it too big first and because of that it wouldn't turn anymore.

When the DC motor was working inside the windmill, I started making my sensor. First I decided to use the foam and set it up exactly as I did before with the crystal, but unfortunately that didn't work because there were no copper parts touching (loes told me).

Input week 6

I tried making something out of the conductive wire and fabric for a bit but unfortunately I only had a small needle where the wire couldn't go in to. So I decided making one of Loes' examples of the untoolkit week. If I would still have more time left I would've made another one made by myself.

End result

I decided to pimp it up a bit with some fake grass. I made the folding pressure sensor into a window and glued it on the side of the windmill. The windmill is on a 10x10 black swatch and the windmill itself is also black so that it fits the series of week 6. When i would have more time left I'd like to put led lights in the grass and controll them with a joystick.

Unfortunately my DC motor started working at the end (maybe a power failure?) It only worked for a few seconds and then I had to plug out the diode and plug it in again for it to work again for a few seconds. So that's why I can't show the working end result with the sensor in a video. I've tried a lot of different set ups and codes but I couldn't undeerstand why it suddenly didn't work anymore because it worked just fine before with the same setup.

This is the setup i've used for my DC motor. Besides this example I've put the sensor in +, GND on the breadboard and the i/o pin in A0 on my arduino board.

And this is the code I've wrote for the sensor and DC motor:

int drukSensor = A0;
int motor = 13;
int sensorValue = 0;

void setup() {
  // put your setup code here, to run once

  Serial.begin(115200);

  pinMode(drukSensor, INPUT);
  pinMode(motor, OUTPUT);

}

void loop() {
  // put your main code here, to run repeatedly:
  delay(1000);;
  sensorValue = analogRead(drukSensor);
  Serial.println(sensorValue);

  if (sensorValue > 10) {
    digitalWrite (motor, HIGH);
  }
  else {
    digitalWrite (motor, LOW);
  }
}

Reflection

In the beginning I was feeling full of inspiration, I had a lot of nice ideas. I really liked this assignment because you can do a lot of things with a DC motor. But after working on it everyday and one day even from 13:00 - 04:30 am, I got more and more frustrated because I hadn't the right materials at home to for example glue things together with a glue gun, or a good soldering iron to solder things together. I did try to make it work with the things I had. Besides not having the right tools, on the way to the end result, different, technical things went wrong a lot of times. For example, components in the circuit wouldn't work anymore when it did work a few minutes before and I had to build certain circuits over and over again just to find the mistake. When I would find the mistake and it worked again it was very satisfying. I am quite upset that I couldn't finish the assignment on time, while I put so much effort and time in it in my opinion. I did learn a lot about myself in this process. I learned that I have an insane amount of patience until I go nuts, haha. But everyday whenever waking up I would try again.

In this weeks' spread I am reflecting on my making process from last week. The reflection relates to a workmanship of risk/certainty from Cole & Perner-Wilson

Making a DIY soft speaker using the laser or vinyl cutter.

Documentation

1. Strip about 3cm of 4 female wires.

2. Put 2 of the 4 wires into the holes of the jack connector. Pull them from inside the hole to the outisde (see picture) so that it stays better.

3. Remember which color wire you put in which hole of the headphone jack. (In this case the white wire is put into GND (-) because it is the long part, and the green wire is put into SIGNAL (+) because it is the short part.

4. Put the ends of the two wires into + and - on the mono amp. (Depends which wire you put in which hole of the headphone jack).

5. Loosen the screws of the blue block and put it on the mono amp. Then, put the crocodile clips into the holes of the blue block, and tighten the screws (see picture). The black crocodile clip belongs to Ground officially.

6. To adjust the blue block on the mono amp you need to solder it. Turn the mono amp around and put wax on it. (See GIF).

7. After you put the wax on it you start soldering. First: Heat up the spot that you want to solder the tin on. In this case its on the circles from the mono amp. After that you bring the tin next to the solderering iron. When you think you have enough tin you put the tin away and leave the iron for a few seconds to let the tin flow. When you remove the iron you should have a pyramid of tin on the mono amp. (see GIF). (Loes helped me and Britt with soldering)

8. When you have soldered the blue block on the mono amp for the crocodile clips, you start soldering the black block where the 4 stripped wires need to go into. You use the same soldering technic.

9. After soldering the blocks on the mono amp you start soldering the 2 stripped wires into the holes of the headphone jack. (see GIF) It makes it easier to put the wires into clips like on the GIF.

10. After the soldering is finished you can start on designing! :D See my design below.

Coil Design

Because the design can only be one continious line I was first thinking of a sacred geometric pattern. But very soon I came to the conclusion that this design will be complicated to make because of the different patterns that have to connect and many rules that this style has. After making various sketches I was thinking about modern cubism. An art movement where I noticed that many lines and elements are connected with each other. Because it is so abstract it doesn't matter where the mouth or the eye is on a portret, which makes designing a coil pattern much easier; there are way less rules than with a sacred geometric design. My design is a portret of a singer that has a microphone attached to it, i thought this would be fitting with the speaker. The line starts at the microphone and finished in the eye but it does not close.

From sketch to illustrator

Coil design open line for vinyl cutter

Making the speaker

Finishing result

Me and Britt measured the amount of Ohm from the speaker with a multimeter. Because the copper wire had some coating on it we had to burn the coating off on the ends where we had to put the pins on from the multimeter. We had some extra windings of copper wire on the back of our design to get some more resistance, it was also nice to put it on the back so that it wouldn't bother our design.

The design had 8 Ω, which is exactly what we needed to have to make some noise with it. The sound was not too loud, I think this is because we used a pretty thick background material which blocks the sound.

For my next iteration I would like to use other material and a different design to see if it the sound would be louder.

Application idea

For the application I thought it would be a nice idea to have it in for example a magazine or in a newspaper. It would make good advertisement or just a nice way to hear the mornings' news.

Reflection

I am very happy about the design. Athough I don't think the end result is very neat because it was hard to bend the wire exactly as I had designed on my laptop. I also don't like the look of the background material, also because it blocks the sound, I think. Overall I am happy that it is working and that it looks quite unique.

This week we think about the definitions of making. Is it still making if you use kits and prefabricated materials? When do we consider outcomes original work? What are the benefits of returning to the basics of how materials can connect, and what does it mean to untoolkit a making process? We will explore the possibilities of conductive materials and basic laws of physics in a playful way, by creating paper circuits and soft DIY speakers. (bron: Brighspace)

Cover Safe Lab: Alles gaat op de illustratie in het makers lab mis, de lasersnijder en de soldeerbout staan in brand. De liniaal wordt als nagelvijl gebruikt en de computer is kapot.

In this week, we’ll work on exploring material properties and experimenting with these properties. Material properties can change depending on the state of the material and each of these states offers different venues for experiments. For the making assignment, we’ll focus on turning 2D into 3D with the use of the laser cutter. You will create a sample book which displays manners in which a flat sheet can be transformed into a 3D surface by cutting cleverly and exploring this within one set of assigned contrasting material properties such as soft-hard, organic-geometric, flexible-rigid, transparent-opaque etc.

Core concepts: material engagement, material behaviour, affordances, material dialogues Bron: Brightspace

This week we will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the 3D printer and additive manufacturing. The 3D printer was announced as a disruptive technology, but what does this mean and is this still the case? We will think and talk about our responsibilities as makers and the impact of making objects on people, society and the environment. Why and when should we use the 3D printer and for which types of products? In pairs, you will design and print three different molds that can be used in the open material archive. The aim of these molds is to be able to reproduce material experiments with the same mold but different materials. These molds should create textual experiments for the casted material. (Bron: Brightspace)

When we talk about "inputs" in electronics, what does it mean? How are inputs structured in such a way that they become readable by computers? This week we make the bridge between connecting materials (week 2), and translating their properties into digitally readable formats. What is the anatomy of a button anyway? And what is the difference between a "digital" and an "analog" input?

We will make our own buttons and sensors and you will learn how you can use a microcontroller as a probe to "read" what is happening in an electronics circuit. You will get familiarized with the Arduino IDE and a type of microcontroller board, you will use a breadboard, and you will learn (or refresh) how to get readings from input devices - even ones you make yourself! (Bron: Brightspace)

Crystal analog switch

I used Loes' examples as a reference for the crystal sensor. I soldered everything together like she had done before with hers. I tried using the thick copper steel but unfortunately I had nothing to break and bend it with so I had to use the thin copper wire which was hard to solder on the copper tape.

Then I connected the crystal sensor like I did before with the paper LEDs and button to the breadboard to see the outputs of the sensor. I used Loes' code.

I got really weird outputs in the beginning in the serial monitor, but this was because I didnt match the baud with the serial.begin and upload speed. After Loes told me this and I changed it the sensor was working!

Then I connected 2 LEDs with the sensor to make it a bit different than Loes' example and I changed the code a bit with an if/else statement.

/*
  created by David Cuartielles
  modified 30 Aug 2011
  By Tom Igoe
  modified 13 March 2020 
  By Loes Bogers
  This example code is in the public domain.
  http://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/AnalogInput
*/

int sensorPin = A0;    // select the input pin for the potentiometer
int ledPinRood = D1;      // select the pin for the LED that has PWM (~) e.g pin D1 on Node MCU
int sensorValue = 0;  // variable to store the value coming from the sensor
int mappedValue = 0;  //store the mapped values
int ledPinGroen = D2;

void setup() {

  // initialize serial communication with computer:
  Serial.begin(115200);     //make sure it matches with the number in the serial port

  // declare the ledPin as an OUTPUT:
  pinMode(ledPinRood, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(sensorPin, INPUT);
  pinMode(ledPinGroen, OUTPUT);
}

void loop() {
  delay(1000);
  // read the value from the sensor:
  sensorValue = analogRead(sensorPin);

//// FIND MIN & MAX RANGE FIRST, THEN COMMENT OUT
  // print values to serial to find lowest and highest values (min and max) in serial monitor
  Serial.println(sensorValue);      // met 10K voltage divider: bijv. range 100-850 zonder een fietslampje erbij (beter voor de video)
   
//PUT THE VALUES YOU FOUND (YOUR_MIN, YOUR_MAX) INTO THE LINE BELOW (line 36)
//put your min value and max value (as seen in the monitor) and map to a range 0- 255 for output
  mappedValue = map(sensorValue, 242, 1024, 0, 255); 

    // print values for debugging
    Serial.print("Old Value (no mapping) = ");
    Serial.print(sensorValue);
    Serial.print("\t");   // add a tab between the numbers
    Serial.print("New value (mapped) = ");
    Serial.println(mappedValue);

    if (sensorValue > 300) {
      digitalWrite (ledPinRood, HIGH);
      digitalWrite (ledPinGroen, LOW);
    }
      else {
        digitalWrite (ledPinRood, LOW);
        digitalWrite (ledPinGroen, HIGH);
      }
    }

If the sensor will catch light, the red led will go on and the green led is off and vice versa.

Then I tried to make the sensor in another kind of shape. Unfortunately because I understood the assignment a bit wrong and went so many ways because I didnt understood the circuit at first, I didn't had much time left for the actual creative part so I made a simple box. I would've loved to put more effort and time in this.

Box open = Red ON, green OFF Box closed = Green ON, red OFF.

Reflection

To be honest I'm not too proud of what I've made. It all took so much time because I couldn't understand how the circuits were working. I discovered that I was having trouble with understanding the assignment first, and then begin at the very first step. Instead of diving into the crystal sensor and being in a cycle of not understanding it. If I had started from the beginning I would've had more time left to make something nice. But I am happy that it is working at the end, it took a lot of time and patience.

In this weeks' zine I will be reflecting on my process. I will discuss how I engage in a dialogue with the material through experimenting. How do the materials and the techniques I use shape my thinking about the design? What kind of tools do I use in various stages of my creative process and how do they each facilitate different engagements, how do they help create new thoughts? (Bron: Brightspace)

In this weeks' zine I am not really happy about my lay-out. I think it's too simple but I wanted to put more time and effort into my products for next week. But I did think a lot about the content of the zine (:

Intro

I haven't done this assignment at school but during the Corona virus at home. So I didn't have a coin cell battery at home and a piece of velostat, instead I used a normal battery (3x AA) and a piece of ESD foam for the sensor. I also couldn't measure the values of the circuit because I don't have a multimeter at home.

Paper circuits

Standard paper circuit

The circuit starts at the + of the battery, the current goes through the LED and then the 220 ohm resistor reduces the current flow and then the circuit ends at the - side of the battery. This was my setup for the paper circuit with the LED and 220 ohm resistor:

Sensor paper circuit

For this circuit I've used ESD foam for the pressure sensor instead of velostat to connect the 2 conductive traces. The harder you press on the sensor the more resistance flows through the circuit. Unfortunately it didn't work and i'm not exactly sure why. I've connected the LED's + on the right side and the trace was smooth (no rips in the tape). I also made sure that the copper tape was under the sensor.

Ohm's Law explained

Ohm's Law shows a relationship between the voltage (V/U) and the current (A/I) in an electrical circuit. The current passing through a resistor between two points is related to the voltage difference between two points, and are related to the resistance (R/ohm) between two points. It is important because with Ohm's Law you can control the amount of current in a circuit, adding resistors to reduce the current flow and taking them away to increase the amount of current.

Schematics

The first paper circuit (standard):

The second paper circuit (sensor):

In this weeks' zine I will be reflecting what my responsibilities are as a maker/designer for making objects and the impact they have on people, society and the environment. I will be creating my own maker manifesto. I will descuss how I used this in my making process this week, and how it's (an aspect of) this weeks' work. (Bron: Brightspace)

Introduction

This weeks' assignment was about exploring materials with the laser cutting machine with the assigned contrasts we have gotten. The exploration needed to be visualized in our own sample book. The sample book had to visualize the extremes of the contrast in 5 gradations.

The contrast I have chosen was flexible - rigid

Interpretation of the contrasts

Flexible: When I think of fexible I think of a material that you can make how ever you want to make it look like, like chewing gum or clay for example. Rigid: With rigid I think of something that is stiff, unbendable but also firm because of that.

Moodboard - Flexible

None of these pictures on the moodboard are mine. They are from different artists on Pinterest.

Moodboard - Rigid

Translation to animals

I wanted to have a theme in my sample book so that it would be less abstract and easier to elaborate my ideas. For it not to be abstract I would really know how and where I could apply these techniques to because it is not only a movable square for example. For me personally, it would also be easier to connect the contrasts to not only the technique and the material but also to a characteristic of an animal, if that makes sense.

Dragonfly: For my most flexible element I have chosen a dragonfly made out of thin wire. The wire is flexible and bendible to how ever you want to make it look like. And the dragonfy is flexible because it has 6 legs and can move easily from branch to branch because of his 6 legs.

Frog: For my next most flexible element I have chosen for the frog, made into a pop-up page. I think paper is a little less flexible because you can make it how you look like but not totally because it will fold and not look so nice. Also it is thin and it could rip. The frog is very jumpy and that was in my eyes a flexible characteristic.

Fox: In between flexible and rigid I have chosen for a fox made from string art. Wire in between nails isn't very flexible but you can still move the wire a little bit, it is not thick metal for example. The fox is a very addaptable animal. It can live anywhere, from cold to warm and anything in between. Because of that the fox was for me the perfect animal to put in between flexible and rigid.

Buffalo: For the element that is more towards the rigid side I have chosen for the buffalo that is exists out of different parts of hard paper all connected by another piece of hard paper. Because it is not glued together but sticked together like a puzzle it is not totally rigid, it can still move a little. The buffalo is an extremely strong and smart animal but because of it's heavy and rigid bones it's not a flexible and limber animal like the dragonfly.

Bear: For the most rigid element i have chosen for the bear. The bear in my sample book is made out of hard paper layers all glued together. There is no way you can move the bear in anyway. All the layers are stuck together. Of course you have a ton of different bears, some of them are great rock climbers and some of them are not. But most of them have one thing in common: hibernation, also known as the winter sleep. Most bears during winter tend to slow down during winter and like to stay at their home. This part of their characteristic falls in my perspective into the rigid class.

Elaboration

I wanted to have a theme in my sample book so that it would be less abstract and easier to elaborate my ideas. The theme I have chosen was 'beestenboel', because it is a bit of everything/chaotic and I made different animals with different technics with the laser cutter. The first thing I did to start was thinking about what I can do with the laser cutter. I sketched my ideas out and filtered them from flexible to rigid.

Book lay-out

I wanted to keep the bookbinding as simple as possible because I have never done this before and wanted to put my focus on the contrasts. I chose to cut rectangles of 30cm x 15 cm. I made an art board on Illustrator to visualize my idea.

The small squares you see on the left side are going to be laser cut so that I can put big silver rings in it later. This way of bookbinding seemed the easiest and most esthetic to me.

Cover

Making the cover went pretty smooth. I thought of what my animals had in common and it was nature. All animals live in the nature. I wanted to show that in my cover. Again, I first made an art board in illustrator to visualize it. The black parts are going to be laser cutted and the red parts will be engraved. I chose for a fat, bold font so that I have enough space to let things come out of the letters.

I put it through the laser cutter, and this is how it came out. Unfortunately, I lost the inside of the B's, it fell into the holes of the laser cutter. I did manage to rescue the hole of the O.

To visualize the nature that all the animals have in common I put some fake grass (but real flowers) between the cover and another page that I have glued together. The texture looks a bit different than the other photo but I edited the photo a bit.

The cat - String art

As you maybe saw in my sketches I first had a lion in mind. But because the lion had so many details it was too complicated to make string art out of it so I chose to continue with a cat that has less details.I first made a geometrical illustration from the cat in the size of my book.

At the ends of each line I put a dot that was about half the size of the nail I was going to use. A diameter of 0,05 cm. From my first design I learned that it's better if the hole is smaller than the nail otherwise the nail will fall through the hole and the thread won't stay!

I put this design through the laser machine, put the nails into the holes and put the white thread around the nails so that it visualizes my earlier design. I liked that I started and finished the thread on the cats' nose so that I could use the thread as the nose hair.

Iteration:

My first design was a lion and it went totally wrong! I had way too many holes and tried to put the nails in with a hammer which was really hard because all the holes were so close to each other.

After the hammer didn't work out too well I figured why not put it through the laser cut machine? I did that but then I found out later that the holes were way too big for the nails so the nails went through the holes and the thread got loose every time. As you can see there are also a lot of holes which makes making the string art a bit too complicated.

Buffalo - 3D miniature

When thinking of a 3D miniature I looked at a lot of different examples of other miniatures to see how it was done. When making the buffalo myself, I looked at various photos of different sides of a Buffalo. I seperated the face of a buffalo in a few parts for the laser machine. For me, this was the easiest way to make the miniature myself.

When making the seperations, the more I would go to the back of the buffalo the bigger I would make that part to create the 3D-effect, if that makes sense.

Instead of glueing I wanted to make a part that would connect all the parts together. I did this by making 2 splits in all the parts, except for the one that connects all the parts. This 'connecting' part has as many 'splits' as there are parts. These connecting parts are on the upper left side. I put this through the laser machine and this is how it came out:

When I saw the result I already wished that I made the splits a big wider because the paper was almost thick as the split. This made shoving the parts into each other really 'rigid'. Which is funny actually because this is number 4 of number 5 of the most rigid designs I created. So in this sense, it doesn't really matter. I did made two 'connecting' parts but I only managed to use one of them because the splits were too thin for the material. When putting the parts together, this is how it came out:

I'm not super happy of the result because it is kind of awry because I could only get one of the connecting parts in it. But I was happy enough with the result to move on to another design because I still have a lot to do D:

Frog - Pop-up

For the frog I choose to do pop-up. Because this technique is somewhat flexible. This is the tutorial I used as inspiration. I First fold a 15x15cm paper in half, because this is half the size of my book and then I still had some space left for text. After I folded the paper in half I cut the paper halfway on the middle of the paper (see picture).

After I did this I folded both sides on the cutted part in 90 degrees:

When I opened the paper it looked like this:

I 'popped' the mouth of the frog on the other side of the paper so it looked like this:

I closed the paper again and I drew two lines about the same size and angle for the eyes of the frog, it looked like this:

I cut the lines and opened up the paper again and 'popped' the eyes like I did before with the mouth, from the other side of the paper:

Iteration:

Now it kind of started to look like a frog already, I tried to make it green with paper but then it didn't really turn out like I wanted to. I tried to make the same on a green paper and wanted to cut the folded parts out so I could glue it onto the white paper, but it fell apart unfortunately.

I also tried to put a tongue in it but it didn't really pop up together with the rest, so I decided to skip it.

That's why I chose to just draw a bit on it so that it would look more like a frog. The googly eyes made it look a lot better too (: This is the end result:

Dragonfly - Wire art

This was my most 'flexible' animal because it is made from wire, a material that you can bend however you want to make it look like. This one is probably the most simple one I have made, I think it doesn't need to much explanation on how I made it. I bend a metal wire of 0.4mm thickness in the anatomy of a butterfly and added red fiber paper for the wings. After that I drew a bit on the wings to make it a bit less boring. The dragonfly by it self wasn't something I was proud of. But all together with the fake grass and the engraved wood made it come alive a lot more.

Bear - Layered art

I am probably the most proud of this bear. It was also the most complicated one to make. The bear consists of layers that are glued together and therefore it's my most rigid one.

I first made a simple geometrical illustration of a bear, I then cut most parts out of it in Photoshop so that I could easily trace the lines in Illustrator.

When I imported the last picture in Illustrator I mostly traced only the outlines and then filled it in with different shapes. The drawing was more as a reference to see which bodyparts have to stay together in the geometrical pattern to keep the depth.

I then copied this board a 6 times. After every copy I deleted some lines. Every board is going to be another layer later. That's why you can't have the same lines on every board, it won't create the 'layered' effect.

The red and blue lines are cutted first and then all the green lines, in case the material would move and the pieced won't be exactly fitting on each other again.

End result:

I wanted to paint every layer another color with neon bright colors but unfortunately there wasn't any paint at school so I kept it like this.

Reflection

Overall I am pretty proud of my end result. Of course there are things that I would have done differently or added if I had more time. But I think I have used my time optimally and I have learned a lot about the laser cutting machine which is the goal of this assignment at the end.

Editors

For this weeks' zine me & Britt were the editors. The guidelines that we set up can be found . The idea is to make an online interactive look-book since it is not possible to print out the zines but I think most of us would still like to see each others work. By making an online look-book with the zines this is made possible. I think this is a pretty cool idea, also because personally I like the visual designs better on screen than if they are printed.

The core concepts of this week are: materials research, circularity, material driven design, material aesthetics. I will be reflecting on my process and discuss how (one of) these concepts relates to my approach, process and/or results.

Cover

As you can see the colours we have chosen for this weeks' zine are red and black on a beige colored paper. This is the cover I've made for the zine:

Meaning behind the design

The process of cooking bioplastic is illustrated here. Natural resources like mushrooms and plants are used for making bioplastics. After this is molded, casted and cooked, a circular product, in this case the plastic bag, will be the end result of this process. I think the idea of my cover is nice but I could've drawn everything a bit more neat, I'm not sure if other people will see what some stuff is. Especially the little guy in the middle diving into the bowl with a loupe is a bit unclear. Also the composition could be a bit better since everything is a bit all over the place. This drawing took me about 5 hours and I realized that it will never be finished in my eyes so I just left it for what it is now.

Own spread

For my own spread I didn't mean to keep the design simple but when I was experimenting I was satisfied pretty soon in the designing process, although it doesn't match the style of the cover very well. This design took me about one hour while the other one took me five, and I might even be happier with this one.

Meaning behind the design

When I decided to talk about circularity, the first thing that came in my mind were circles. In circularity things don't mean to go to waste. I was experimenting what could come out of a circle, and it was another color if you combine the 2 circles together. This way the circles get re-used and something else comes out of it.

Assignment intro

This week was about bioplastics. Plastic made out of renewable biomass sources such as corn starch, woodchips, food waste, etc. This assignment consists of 4 sub assignments:

1. Try various recipes, add other materials, play with textures and use your mold. Document your process and findings.

2. Describe the properties of your material

3. Understand the experience of your material

4. Develop a concept for future applications

Making my own bioplastics

Make your own bioplastics. Try various recipes, add other materials, play with textures and use your mold. Document your process and findings. (Bron: Brightspace)

I've tried about 6 different recipes. First I wanted to avoid the gelatine because I don't like eating pork. But when I saw that most recipes in the bioplastic cookbook were with gelatine I did made 2 bioplastics with gelatine because I felt like I needed to try different kinds of recipes. When cooking the gelatine it smelled so bad that I really couldn't stand making more bioplastics from gelatine unfortunately. My molds are digitally finished but I haven't had the time yet to print them out so for now I've just used my petri dished.

For the recipes I've used the

1. Agar Agar - plant based bioplastic

Recipe

For this recipe I used:

• 2.7 g glycerine

• 40 ml water

• 1.6 g agar

• Tulip flower & leaf

I had to make this 4 times to fill up the petri dish enough for the tulip flower. So I actually used this amount of ingredients but then x4

1. The first thing I did (with every recipe) was greasing the petri dish with vaseline so that the plastic would come off easier after 24 hours when it hardend.

2. Secondly, I poured about 2.7g glycerin into a pot.

3. Unfortunately I didn't have an electric scale so I just guessed that in this teaspoon was about 1.6g Agar

4. I added 40ml of water and started cooking at about medium high heat which was 5 on my electric cooking stove.

5. Beforehand I filled up a petri dish with some tulip leaves and green flower spikes. When the ingredients in the pot became a bit viscous I poured it into the petri dish as quick as possible before it dried. I had to repeat step 1-5, 4 times before the tulip was mostly underneath the liquid:

After 24 hours

It got very fragile and it was still a bit wet, maybe because I put the entire petri dish in my garden and it was a bit moist outside. It broke a bit when I tried to take it out.

Video

2. Agar Agar Foam - plant based bioplastic with soap

Recipe

For this recipe I've used:

• 2.7 g glycerin

• 40 ml water

• 1.6 g agar

• 6 ml soap

• Tea spoon of kurkuma

• 20ml of blue Listerine

I also repeated this proces 2 times to have enough to get the petri dish filled. I just forgot to pour in the soap the first time.

Beforehand I filled up a petri dish again with what I wanted to have in the plastic; a small branch with needles on it.

When the ingredients became a bit viscous in the pot I filled up the petri dish. Unfortunately I couldn't get the bubbles out. I poured some of my own natural paint into the petri dish. I did this when I just poured the ingredients into the petri dish and it was still a bit watery. I made blue from Listerine and yellow from kurkuma. I injected this through the open side of the petri dish with some kind of dosage vial.

After 24 hours

I like the end result a lot, it looks pretty and it feels very firm and durable.

Video

3. Hard Agar Agar - plant based bioplastic

Recipe

For this recipe I've used:

• 1.8 g glycerine

• 40 ml water

• 1.6 g agar

After 24 hours

II discovered that using less glycerine made the end result a lot less flexible but it gave it a nice glass-like effect. I like this kind of feel of the material way more than the kind of jelly ones.

But when the ingredients became viscous and I wanted to pour it into the petri dish, I was too slow so i couldn't get it in nicely like the shape of the petri dish. But it came out looking like a butterfly, which was pretty cool.

Video

4. Flexible gelatine foam - animal based bioplastic.

Like i've mentioned before I didn't enjoy the smell of the cooked gelatine. I think animal based bioplastic is a bit contradictory. Making plastic from animals is not very environment friendly and the whole idea of bioplastics is to make it environment friendly in my opinion.

Recipe

For the first gelatine recipe I've used:

• 30 g glycerin

• 60 ml water

• 45 g gelatine

• 6 ml soap

• table spoon of kurkuma & sugar

I've used Kurkuma again to give it some color, this time I used more kurkuma than water so it became more bright yellow. I steered into the pot until it became viscous again and then put it into a petri dish. I forgot to put it outside in the cold so the green stuff you see is mold I think. After this I put it in my garden again and it didn't mold any further after another 24 hours. It's about 3cm thick.

After 24 hours

After 24 hours it became very jelly-ish and it still smelled very bad because of the gelatine. The foam on the other side was very soft but it was very firm.

Weirdly enough only the front side (the side which was against the petri dish) is the only side that is from foam, the other side is just kind of jelly. I think this is because I didn't steer it well enough.

Video

5. Firm gelatine foam - animal based

Recipe

For this recipe I've used about: (I'm not sure exactly anymore)

• 1.8 ml glycerin

• 12 g gelatine

• 60 ml water

• table spoon of kurkuma & sugar

After 24 hours

It looked the same as recipe 4 but just thinner and more rigid. It also had foam on the front side but not on the back side. This one didn't mold after 24 hours inside the house. Probably because it had a lot less gelatine in it.

Video

6. Fragile agar agar - plant based bioplastic

Recipe

For this recipe I've used:

• 2.7 g glycerine

• 1.6 g agar

• 40 ml water

• dried apples & peers

• muesli

• teaspoon of honey

This is the honey I used:

After 24 hours

After 24 hours I took the material out of the petri dish and it looked very breakable, I didn't expect this to happen because I filled it up with a lot of hard stuff like the muesli and dried apples and peers. It did smell very nice and it felt very heavy.

Video:

Introduction

With this assignment I was working together with Daniel. We decided to let me do mold 3, and Daniel mold 2. Whoever was finished first would do mold 1 as well. Mold 3 was the 3D mold, I choose this one because it seemed the most interesting to me because you could basically make what ever you want since most things in life are 3D.

Daniels' mold 1 and 2

Daniel and me decided that he could do mold 2 and mold 1 and I would do mold 3. Mold 2 is an 2,5 D object and mold 1 is the object itself and mold 3 is the 3D object. Maybe there was some miscommunication because later on I saw that his mold 2 wasn't a 2,5 D mold but a 3D one, the one I also did. But I think he did a good job, especially with mold 1; he discovered that you can upload an .PNG into Fusion 360 and it can cut ino the mold, which is a handy trick to know.

Qlone

After some researching I found an app called 'Qlone'. This app makes a photo into a 3D object. I thought this would be an easy way so that I wouldn't have to create a 3D object myself and save some time with that. This sounded to good to be true, and indeed, it was. I had to print out some sort of QR code and put the object that I wanted to have a 3D object of, on the QR map. The 3D object came out very unaesthetic! I even chose for a simple object without too many angles, a pack of cigarettes, but it still didn't do the job.

Internet Lego man

After the failure of making something in Qlone, I decided to still go on in Fusion. For the 3D mold I have chosen to make a Lego man. I chose this because the Lego man is made out of simple figures put together, like boxes and spheres, the edges are just adjusted. Since this would be my first experience with Fusion 360 I did not wanted to make this a experience that would be too difficult.

I knew that I could make this myself because it is not a complex 3D object, and I am going to, later in this documentation, but for now I just didn't had the time unfortunately.

Printing

The printing went pretty smooth, however, I forgot to turn on support in Cura so the first time a piece of the Lego man was printed in the air and it didn't stick to the bottom part of the printer. Luckily, I watched the printer print the first 15-30minutes, like recommended, so I saw this happening. The first time it came out like this:

When Henk told me why it was doing this I changed the settings with him in Cura and about an hour and a half it came out perfectly! I chose for a white fillament because I wanted to paint on it later.

After pulling off the support with tweezers it came out like this:

End result

I choose to paint it a bit to let it come more alive and make it look like a Lego man a bit more. I just used simple acrylic paint bought at Action.

Vacuum former

After the 3D Print was done I created a 2.5D mold of the 3D object because I did not have a mold of the 3D object yet. I simply put the Lego man on the frame and put PET-film on top of it. I closed the frame and because of the heat the film will go around the LEGO-man.

My own 3D print

First assumptions

I knew hat the arms were going to be the toughest part because that part is not just a figure, it is very adjusted in a way that I don't know how to do. Parts like the upper body and legs are simply stretched out squares or pipes. The hands are a cilinder with a hole in it and a square is cut into the cilinder on one side to make the hands open. With these assumptions I started designing:

End result

This GIF is only about 30 seconds, but in real life this took me about 2 days because I was completely new to 3D designing. I asked help on the Autodesk forums and watched a few tutorials. Overall, this experience was very fun and I have learned a lot in about a week and a half.

Reflection

I am pretty happy with my end result. Of course it's not as detailed as the one I have printed before and took from the internet but, hey, at least it's mine and I designed it myself. Like I said in my assumptions, the arms were the toughest part that's why I chose to just make rectangles instead of some very adjusted body part, unfortunately I haven't figured out how to make something like that yet.

My own Mold

This mold was such a pain in the ass! To make the mold itself it went very smootly, the only thing that kept on happening was that some bodyparts didn't cut into the mold, like on this picture:

Stuck with a problem

Solution

The head of the upper body and head were hollow! This sounds so logical now but I haven't thought of it before. That is why it didn't cut through mold. I tried filling the hollow parts with create > boundry fill, but unfortunately it didn't work. After spending a lot of time on the same thing and not figuring out how to do it, I decided to just make the upperbody and head again. It didn't turn out as nice as it was before but I was already happy that I knew the answer to my problem. When deleting my old upperbody and head I designed them again in the solid menu. After that I made the mold (again, lol), it looked like this:

End result

On the picture above you can see the bottom part of the mold, and it finally turned out as I wanted to, kinda. I think the Lego man is to wide, but I didn't wanted to do it all over again. I then put some spheres with a diameter of 4mm on each corner of the bottom mold and combined it. After combining I could split the sphere faces of the top mold so that it would substract the spheres on the top mold. When printed out, the spheres of the bottom mold fall into the holes of the top mold. I made a hole to put the material in on the upper body of the Lego man because it is in the middle, and it just seemed the most logical place to me, I think because the material would go eevenly through the hole body. I made an airhole, which was smaller than the material hole, on the highest part of the Lego man, which was the head.

Reflection

Because of the virus I haven't had the time to go to school and print the mold out yet, so I am not totally sure about the end result. But what I see on my screen and the effort I have put into designing this I can say that I am proud of what I have made. Of course I still see some things that I have wanted to do differently, like the arms or making the man a bit less wide but, I couldn't have thought of designing this 1.5 week ago. I'm very excited to see how it will turn out when it is printed.

This week we continue to untoolkit technological making processes. After going to the basics of connecting materials, and studying the anatomy of a button and variable resistors. This week you will increase your coding prowess by building a circuit with inputs and outputs. You will be introduced to a large variety of actuators (or outputs), and learn how to gather the information needed to use them in your projects. You will learn how to install and use libraries, and practice the most important control loop structures in Arduino to create control a system you created using your own input and your choice of actuators.

(Bron: Brightspace)

Reflection

I've used about 4 different recipes, the only thing that changed the most with every recipe was the amount of glycerine. Sometimes I used gelatine, and sometimes I didn't. I wish that I've made more hard plastic ones instead of a lot of jelly ones because I think it is more durable and you can do a lot more stuff with it because it's firm, and it looks and feels nicer in my opinion. I would love to experiment more with bioplastics and try different recipes. I think it's really cool to design your own materials for your base of a product.

On/off switch with LED light

For this antiprimadonna me and Loes made a circuit where the LED would go on when the button is pushed. The code was found here, I just changed the pins for the button and LED.

int ledPin = D2; // choose the pin for the LED
int inPin = D3;   // choose the input pin (for a pushbutton)
int val = 0;     // variable for reading the pin status

void setup() {
  pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);  // declare LED as output
  pinMode(inPin, INPUT);    // declare pushbutton as input
}

void loop(){
  val = digitalRead(inPin);  // read input value
  if (val == HIGH) {         // check if the input is HIGH (button released)
    digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW);  // turn LED OFF
  } else {
    digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH);  // turn LED ON
  }
}

I also drew a schematic of this circuit. But i'm doubting this is right:

I don't think this is right because I didn't know where to put all the pins from the arduino, I feel like there is more on the board than there is on my schematic.

Ultrasonic sensor

Ive tried working with the Ultrasonic sensor, so that I could ideally change the pushbutton to the ultrasonic as a start for my working circuit. First, I just wanted to see the output of the sensor in the serial monitor just to check if the sensor was working. I did this with the following code:

#include <NewPing.h>
// ( trigger, echo, max cm)
NewPing sonar(D5, D6, 20);

void setup() {
  // put your setup code here, to run once

  Serial.begin(9600);
  delay(50);

}

void loop() {
  // put your main code here, to run repeatedly:

  Serial.print("The distance is:");
  Serial.println(sonar.ping_cm());
  delay(1000);
}

in the parameters of NewPing sonar you can how I connected the Ultrasonic to my Arduino. I've connected them with wires from the Ultrasonic straight into the Arduino pins (without breadboard, just to check). But unfortunately the distance in my Serial monitor kept staying on 0cm. So I think I accidentely took a broken ultrasonic.

First try analog Switch with LED light

I basically started here, with the crystal, without doing the first steps that were posted on Youtube, because I'm stubborn I guess. I connected the resistor with the backside of the copper tape, which is not conductive, I found out later because of Loes' whatsapp video. For some reason I thought it was possible because I vaguely remember doing something like this in week 2 with the paper circuits.

This was my first try with connecting a LED light with copper tape and the breadboard. I am not sure what I did here, the confusion began.

I decided to start over with the button and LED I have made before but then on a paper circuit, hoping I would understand it better.

First I wanted to check if the button was working so I connected it to my breadboard and sent the state of the button to the serial monitor with this code:

int pushButton = D3;
// the setup routine runs once when you press reset:
void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600);
  // make the pushbutton's pin an input:
  pinMode(pushButton, INPUT);
}

// the loop routine runs over and over again forever:
void loop() {
  // read the input pin:
  int buttonState = digitalRead(pushButton);
  // print out the state of the button:
  Serial.println(buttonState);
  delay(1);        // delay in between reads for stability
}

And it worked:

Debugging

Then I connected the button on a paper, exactly how I connected it to a breadboard.

I checked it again with the same code, unfortunately the button didn't work anymore. This was because the pins of the button were sodered together on the copper tape. Because of this the currtent can not go around the circuit anymore. So I soldered the pins that weren't needed loose and tried it again. During the soldering I accidently broke a pin so I used another button but it worked! I could now see the right state of the button in the serial monitor. I soldered it like this:

The side that the paperclip is on togetheer with the resistor is connected GND(-), the other paperclip is connected to V3V(+).

Now I did the same thing but with the LED lights

The long side of the LED (upper one) is + and the one in the bottom right corner is GND(-). I connected the button and LED together on the breadboard and used the same code as before with the on/off switch to check if my first paper circuit was working. (And it worked, yay!)

Now that I understood the paper circuits better I wanted to take another try in a sensor paper circuit.

Second try analog switch

I used Loes' examples as a reference for the crystal sensor. I soldered everything together like she had done before with hers. I tried using the thick copper steel but unfortunately I had nothing to break and bend it with so I had to use the thin copper wire which was hard to solder on the copper tape.

Then I connected the crystal sensor like I did before with the paper LEDs and button to the breadboard to see the outputs of the sensor. I used Loes' code.

I got really weird outputs in the beginning in the serial monitor, but this was because I didnt match the baud with the serial.begin and upload speed. After Loes told me this and I changed it the sensor was working!

Then I connected 2 LEDs with the sensor to make it a bit different than Loes' example and I changed the code a bit with an if/else statement.

/*
  created by David Cuartielles
  modified 30 Aug 2011
  By Tom Igoe
  modified 13 March 2020 
  By Loes Bogers
  This example code is in the public domain.
  http://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/AnalogInput
*/

int sensorPin = A0;    // select the input pin for the potentiometer
int ledPinRood = D1;      // select the pin for the LED that has PWM (~) e.g pin D1 on Node MCU
int sensorValue = 0;  // variable to store the value coming from the sensor
int mappedValue = 0;  //store the mapped values
int ledPinGroen = D2;

void setup() {

  // initialize serial communication with computer:
  Serial.begin(115200);     //make sure it matches with the number in the serial port

  // declare the ledPin as an OUTPUT:
  pinMode(ledPinRood, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(sensorPin, INPUT);
  pinMode(ledPinGroen, OUTPUT);
}

void loop() {
  delay(1000);
  // read the value from the sensor:
  sensorValue = analogRead(sensorPin);

//// FIND MIN & MAX RANGE FIRST, THEN COMMENT OUT
  // print values to serial to find lowest and highest values (min and max) in serial monitor
  Serial.println(sensorValue);      // met 10K voltage divider: bijv. range 100-850 zonder een fietslampje erbij (beter voor de video)
   
//PUT THE VALUES YOU FOUND (YOUR_MIN, YOUR_MAX) INTO THE LINE BELOW (line 36)
//put your min value and max value (as seen in the monitor) and map to a range 0- 255 for output
  mappedValue = map(sensorValue, 242, 1024, 0, 255); 

    // print values for debugging
    Serial.print("Old Value (no mapping) = ");
    Serial.print(sensorValue);
    Serial.print("\t");   // add a tab between the numbers
    Serial.print("New value (mapped) = ");
    Serial.println(mappedValue);

    if (sensorValue > 300) {
      digitalWrite (ledPinRood, HIGH);
      digitalWrite (ledPinGroen, LOW);
    }
      else {
        digitalWrite (ledPinRood, LOW);
        digitalWrite (ledPinGroen, HIGH);
      }
    }

If the sensor will catch light, the red led will go on and the green led is off and vice versa.

Then I tried to make the sensor in another kind of shape. Unfortunately because I understood the assignment a bit wrong and went so many ways because I didnt understood the circuit at first, I didn't had much time left for the actual creative part so I made a simple box. I would've loved to put more effort and time in this.

Box open = Red ON, green OFF Box closed = Green ON, red OFF.

Reflection

To be honest I'm not too proud of what I've made. It all took so much time because I couldn't understand how the circuits were working. I discovered that I was having trouble with understanding the assignment first, and then begin at the very first step. Instead of diving into the crystal sensor and being in a cycle of not understanding it. If I had started from the beginning I would've had more time left to make something nice. But I am happy that it is working at the end, it took a lot of time and patience.

• From the video class Ive just learned that the crystal is not a light sensor but a pressure sensor.. :')

This week we dive into materials and how to make your own bioplastics. 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.

Core concepts: materials research, circularity, material driven design, material aesthetics (Bron: Brightspace)

In this weeks' zine I will be discussing the relationship between technological development and the military-industrial complex.

Intro

For this assignment I will be thinking about a concept for future applications for my material. I'll be making mood boards to give an idea.

1. Tulip agar bioplastic

Souvenir

When seeing tulips I would think of Holland. That's why I think it would make a nice souvenir. The plants stay alive and look very nice inside the bioplastic for a long time.

2. Agar Agar foam

Mousemats

I wasn't exactly sure what to do with this material because it didn't made me think about something specific. The touch did kind of reminded me of the old classic mouse mat feeling, especially the part where you rest your wrist on.

3. Hard agar agar bioplastic

Durable kitchen tools, cutlery, straws, cups

Because of it's good quality, behavior and feeling you could make a lot of stuff out of this. The first thing that came in my mind were cups and straws but you could basically replace any hard plastic material with this bioplastic.

4. Flexible gelatine foam

Soundproof studios I think because of it's thickness and different layers it would make very good noise isolation material. The downside of it is that it doesn't smell good.

5. Firm gelatine foam

Cases & latex like clothing

I was thinking of cases because it's very hard to make a scratch into the material. The inside of the foam makes the material protected if it would be a case. Because the gelatine foam looks a bit like latex (on the side where there is no foam) it would be cool to make latex like clothing with it. You could make anything from tight dresses to cleaning gloves with it.

6. Dried fruits agar bioplastic

Miniature fantasy house

Because of the colors and the fairy vibes it gives it reminded me of hairy potter kind of genres. I think it would be great material to make a floor with when making a miniature fantasy house. It has the exact right colors and the dried fruits inside the material gives it a nice detail.

Intro

To understand my materials better I will be using the MA2e4 Toolkit of the Material Experience Lab. I will fill in this toolkit for every bioplastic I've made. This will give me more insight for the material properties sheet.

1. Tulip agar bioplastic

2. Agar Agar foam

3. Hard agar agar bioplastic

4. Flexible gelatine foam

5. Firm gelatine foam

6. Dried fruits agar bioplastic

Intro

For this assignment I will discuss the following properties for every material:

• Sensorial (what do you perceive with your senses)

• Interpretative (how do you interpret this/what do you associate with it)

• Emotional (what does it elicit/attribute meaning to it)

• Performative (what happens when interacting with it)

Unfortunately I wasn't with anyone at home this week so I had just myself to answer these questions. Later on I got the feedback that I've forgotten to fill in the technical properties of the material and I've already thrown away my plastics because they smell bad, but I still filled them in based on my memory and assumptions.

1. Tulip agar bioplastic

Sensorial ( what do you perceive with your senses) It feels soggy, moist and kind of wet, it doesn't feel to nice. It does smell very naturally, the smell doesn't disturb me at all. The flowers and leaves inside the material look very alive. Interpretative (how do you interpret this/what do you associate with it) I associate it to a pond because it looks like the tulip and leaves are underneath foggy water. It also kind of reminds me of Holland because of the tulips, although tulips are actually originally from Turkey. Emotional (what does it elicit/attribute meaning to it) It makes me feel like I'm under water and getting in touch with nature. I don't really like touching it but I do like the vibe that comes off it when looking at it. Performative (what happens when interacting with it) When interacting with it it feels like you're touching something jelly, it's very flexible. I cant really pull it apart because it will rip.

Based on memory and assumptions because I've thrown them away already when I've gotten the feedback that I'd forgot to hand in the technical properties sheet:

2. Agar Agar foam

Sensorial ( what do you perceive with your senses) I kind of want to rub it because the bubbles between the materials and my nails give a satisfying feeling. It also feels good when I'm folding it. It looks pleasing to the eye. Interpretative (how do you interpret this/what do you associate with it) I interpretative it as a small painting or something I would put my soap on because of the bubbles. Something decorative. Emotional (what does it elicit/attribute meaning to it) It makes me curious, looking at it makes me wonder what it can do. I like the effect it has when the sun shines through the bubbles. Performative (what happens when interacting with it) I want to see the bubbles up close and pop them, I want to take out the little needle branch that is in it.

Based on memory and assumptions because I've thrown them away already when I've gotten the feedback that I'd forgot to hand in the technical properties sheet:

3. Hard agar agar bioplastic

Sensorial ( what do you perceive with your senses) I really like the color of it, it is very natural-like and the bubbles inside of it too. It's very rigid and firm. I like the way it feels and behaves, it feels like good, durable quality. Interpretative (how do you interpret this/what do you associate with it) I would guess that is is something sharp if I didn't touch it, thinking it would be glass. The shape looks like a butterfly. Emotional (what does it elicit/attribute meaning to it) It makes me very satisfied because the material feels like it would last a good while and can handle a lot. Durable things make me happy. Performative (what happens when interacting with it) When interacting with it I want to see a bigger piece, to see if it would still behave the same. I like the noise that comes from it when I'm touching it with my nails.

Based on memory and assumptions because I've thrown them away already when I've gotten the feedback that I'd forgot to hand in the technical properties sheet:

4. Flexible gelatine foam

Sensorial ( what do you perceive with your senses) It smells really bad, I couldn't stand having this in my house all day. Touching the foam feels very welcoming, it's soft and feels very nice. Interpretative (how do you interpret this/what do you associate with it) Something that can isolate sound like they have in music studios. I also associate it with jelly desserts. Emotional (what does it elicit/attribute meaning to it) The green inside the yellow is mold I think, that makes me feel disgust. When interacting with it I actually don't want to interact with it because it doesn't feel nice at all. Because of the smell and the mold inside. Performative (what happens when interacting with it) When interacting with it it moves how I want it to move because it is very flexible. It feels like it is very strong and could hold heavy pieces.

Based on memory and assumptions because I've thrown them away already when I've gotten the feedback that I'd forgot to hand in the technical properties sheet:

5. Firm gelatine foam

Sensorial ( what do you perceive with your senses) It is strong and glossy. There's no way I could make even a scratch into this material with my nails. I could only rip it with a pair of scissors. Interpretative (how do you interpret this/what do you associate with it) It looks a bit like latex because of the gloss and the way it behaves, it is also a bit sticky. This would be good for some kind of case to protect something with it or maybe even a skirt. Emotional (what does it elicit/attribute meaning to it) It makes me kind of happy to see how strong it is. The way it shines looks very appealing to me as well. I like this gelatine foam more than number 4. Performative (what happens when interacting with it) It is very flexible and strong, I couldn't break it. When rolling it in a certain way it kind of stays the way you rolled it.

Based on memory and assumptions because I've thrown them away already when I've gotten the feedback that I'd forgot to hand in the technical properties sheet:

6. Dried fruits agar bioplastic

Sensorial ( what do you perceive with your senses) It smells very nice like sweet honey. The upper side where the dried fruits are feels like a rough texture. It feels very heavy compared to the other ones. Interpretative (how do you interpret this/what do you associate with it) It looks like some path that you see in fantasy movies in the woods. It looks kind of fantasy like. It also reminds me of my breakfast because of the smell and the things inside. Emotional (what does it elicit/attribute meaning to it) It makes me feel like I am in the woods or like i'm touching my morning ritual. Performative (what happens when interacting with it) I cant really bend it because it would break. I could put heavy stuff on it because it is strong when it is put on a flat base. It's between fragile and firm. Sometimes the dried fruits fall off the material because some of them are not deep inside the material.

Based on memory and assumptions because I've thrown them away already when I've gotten the feedback that I'd forgot to hand in the technical properties sheet:

For this week's zine we could make our own GIF's. I really eenjoyed doing this, also becausee I've taken motion design classes in my 2nd year.