Live Sculptures and Soft Machines

Inspirational biomimetic artwork

2011-02-23T14:19:00.003+13:00

I was so interested recently when I heard about Diana Eng, a fashion designer from New York City. She is a self proclaimed ‘fashion geek’ due to her love of fashion and textiles but also because she loves ‘geeky’ computer programming and technology. I love that she embraces the idea of being a geek and uses her interest in both fields to create some amazing and innovative things.

Diana Eng came to Auckland last month to be a part of AUT’s Colab Summer Workshop Series. The workshops allowed Diana to share her ideas with other creative people and inspire them to use new technology. It seems with her collections that she is interested in biomimicry, as I am with my own project. Biomimicry essentially means the imitation of life. For example, look at Eng’s collapsible structures which mimic the pleat pattern structure of a leaf when it blooms.

Watch this Campbell Live item which looks at Eng’s use of conductive thread in her clothing. The clothing also has sensing capabilities. For example, the electro luminescent wire used in a garment lights up and responds to the sound of talking. A skirt lights up when the wearer is walking. It is amazing to see clothing that is sensing the environment around it and responding to it. These garments are an example of smart clothing. Another innovative item Diana Eng actually sells is a smart scarf, called the Jack Frost Scarf. The images of snowflakes develop and become larger when the scarf is exposed to cold temperatures. I remember hyper coloured t shirts from my childhood which seemed to work in reverse. The fabric changed colour when exposed to heat. I loved pressing my warm handprints to the fabric and making other patterns with hot breath or by standing in the sun. They weren't so great though if you had hot underarms!

Eng comments that these items cannot be washed so they fail to meet some requirements we need in our everyday clothing. But that hardly matters. The items are wearable and function to cover the body in a fashionable and innovative way. Are they items of clothing or works of art?

It is inspiring to see another artist/designer collaborating with experts in fields different from their own. We can see what is possible when we come together from different fields and investigate how to combine them.

Right now, my project is really accelerating. I have successfully completed a large artwork (roughly 700 x 700mm). The artwork looks great and I am looking forward to actuating all the elements as soon as possible. I will post some video of the movements once they are working. For now, I have some photos of the static work. I hope you like it.

The artwork viewed from a short distance. The display box is visible to see how the frames are put together.

Close up of the artwork. The artwork is jigsaw puzzle of different frames put together to create the image.

Testing the sensor!

2011-01-13T16:22:00.000+13:00

Just before we stopped for the Christmas break, the team got together to test for the first time the camera and sensor for our interactive artwork. We set up all the necessary stuff in the workshop and we had a good play around with the camera to see how it worked.

So far, so good. The guys have done an amazing job. So far, the camera can see a person approach. It can sense when someone is far away or close. You can see in the video clips that the movement of a person near then far, turns the actuator on and off.

We did our first test on “The Pond”, a previous artwork because we know that it actuates already. We connected only one of the elements to the power, so only the shape on the right hand side is actuating.

Eventually, we will develop this concept so that the artwork is constantly actuating. It will actuate faster or slower depending on where the viewer moves in the room. If the person comes close, we can make the artwork actuate quickly. If they move away, the artwork will actuate more slowly. This is all part of how the audience reacts to the work, and how the work reacts to the audience. This will make the artwork very interesting to interact with. Essentially the artwork is ‘alive’ and responsive to the energy of the people around it.

The Stretching Rig

2011-01-12T16:12:00.001+13:00

Hi everyone. Alot has happened since I last wrote for the blog. The year is now 2011 so I guess you’ve been wondering what we’ve been up to? Well, we've been very busy . . .

A very major part of our project was to attempt to increase the scale of the work as much as possible. So instead of making pieces that are 14x14cm, we want to get to 1x1m or larger. I really think that the size of the artwork will be the first thing that will capture our audience and draw them in. While the small pieces were successful, you had to have a little bit of patience and a good eye to see the movement sometimes.

So that brings me to the creation of the rig. This is a tool or machine that will enable the VHB to be stretched to the size that we want. We had been using a small rig, so logic dictates that in order to make a 1x1m work, we needed a bigger rig! After several months of design, fabrication and construction, we finally have our beautiful rig.

Kit next to the rig while still under construction.

So many people are intrigued in the rig alone purely because it looks so unusual. To begin with, alot of the people at the lab at IRL thought the rig was the artwork! At least that’s what they thought until they saw me use the rig and saw the action and purpose it has.

It is such a great tool and it has already successfully allowed me to create larger work. One of our goals has definitely been achieved already! At the moment, I am encountering issues trying to get the VHB to stretch out past 50cm. I have broken so much VHB eek! Although, I have been experimenting with different sizes, seeing how much I could stretch a very small 7x7cm piece, and then 15x15cm piece. Alot of it comes down to the skill of knowing when to stop, when to adjust certain parts of the VHB or the arms. Now I have some 30x30cm VHB so this will be the type that makes it to 1x1m frame size.

I am also using different methods to ensure the material sticks to the bolts on the arms. I bought some great magnets to try to hold everything in place so I hope this method works out. I need to do some more experimenting with them now. In the photo above you can just see them stuck to the bolts on the edge of the arms, holding the edge of the VHB in place.

Rig and view of the crank handle on the right side.

All in all, the rig has been really successful and even though it looks like I am playing the harp or weaving a tapestry, it is fun to use. The rig has a crank handle so I can turn that with one hand while I have the other hand ready to fix any breakages or tears that occur. How useful.

Smart Arts

2010-09-08T10:48:00.001+12:00

Just a few weeks ago I found an old Canvas magazine from the New Zealand Herald and the cover story was called, ‘Where Science Meets Art’. Of course this grabbed my attention so I pored over the article. In Auckland a month or so ago, there was an exhibition showcasing artworks that were the result of a collaboration between artists and scientists. 15 artists were paired with 15 neuroscientists and were instructed to create artworks based on their interpretations of various kinds of brain research. The exhibition was called, ‘Do You Mind?’ and you can view the organiser’s blog here.

It is very exciting to me that while I continue with my interaction and collaboration, there are similar efforts out there in Auckland to bring together the two industries. The goals of our two projects are the same. Both efforts want to bring artwork to the public to raise the profile of the area of scientific research. We have been allowed into a world that the ordinary person has no access to and would most likely never gain access to. We can toil and struggle in the lab. We can discover these new things and report back to the public with our findings in a way that the scientific community doesn’t.

A major difference in our projects is that the artists from, ‘Do You Mind?’ only witnessed the research and interacted with the neuroscientists. In my project I am actively using the very same technology, materials and processes that the scientists use. The technology is my artwork. I am making the science a part of the final visual experience, rather than doing a drawing or a painting of my interpretation of the research. However, the end result is still the same. Our audience has become aware of another part of our world that we had not entered before.

The artists in the neuroscience project describe the separation of the art world and the science world. For most artists this is a fact. Art and science do not collide. Visual artists generally gravitate towards a way of expression like painting, sculpture, performance art or video art. These types of artistic expression are not experimented with in a lab. Scientists usually do not express their ideas in a visual interpretation. They may map out 2D and 3D imagery to see how something could work or take measurements of weight and force etc but their efforts are geared towards answers and fact based on experimentation, not subjective expression.

I am drawn to the obvious example of Leonardo da Vinci who had many skills and was talented in a number of fields. He was not only a master painter but an inventor, engineer, geologist and anatomist. Da Vinci is merely one man of many of his time who were more than capable of artistic pursuits as well as scientific ones. Not only was he a thinker in both fields, but he could combine his talents for one goal. For example, all of his knowledge of the anatomy, space and perspective combined to create perfect paintings.

Since Leonardo’s time until recently, the gap between art and science has widened. People have become masters of only one field, not many. With my project, and the recent project with the brain research, this gap is becoming smaller. It’s an exciting time.

Farewell Tocky!

2010-08-31T16:45:00.003+12:00

From Left: Emilio, Tocky, KatyPie and Kit.

Since almost the beginning of our project, Tocky has been a major part of our team. Recently Tocky was given an opportunity to pursue his creative dreams in London. So from Emilio, Kit and I, congratulations Tocky and thank you for all of your contributions to the project. We have all greatly enjoyed working with you.

Tocky is a part of the bio engineering lab at the University of Auckland. He was very helpful to me and I am super thankful for all the lessons in learning to use the technology and materials.

Tocky you will be missed by all of us and we hope to make you proud with our final results next year. Good luck with all of your endeavours and we hope to see your amazing work on the world stage soon.

-KatyPie

A visit from Maori TV

2010-08-31T16:34:00.003+12:00

Kia ora friends.
In January we had visitors from the production company, Adrenalin Group, come to see us at the bio-lab. They had heard on the grapevine about our project and wanted to interview the team to see exactly what we're up to. Last Friday on Maori TV, the show aired. Click here to see the episode:

Our item is 16 minutes into the show. Enjoy.

Also click here to check out the bio-engineering team who were also interviewed and were featured on the show some months earlier.
Both episodes are a good watch and very interesting.

As an update on the project, I am drawing away and we're having some tools designed and built so we can create the magic. So nothing too artistic to show as yet but it's not too far away.

Happy watching. Yay for Maori TV.

-KatyPie

We're Back!

2010-07-23T15:25:00.004+12:00

Wow it has been a loooooong time since the last blog post. A very long time! What have we been doing since February 25th? Well, let me tell you . . .

Kit, Emilio, Tocky and I were very busy for a month or so trying to secure funding for the next stage of our project. After lots of report writing and a video presentation we were able to secure the funding from CNZ and MoRST to ensure we could keep creating and experimenting. So thank you very much to those funding bodies for making this all happen. And congratulations to the other teams that made it through to this next stage. Please follow the links on this blog so you can see what each funding body is all about.

So now the hard part is over (the report), another hard part is still to come. We have big ideas and I mean big. We want to create an artwork that is large in scale. Right now we are planning and designing brand new rigs and tools so that we can make each working element of the artwork hopefully about 1metre squared. That's big as far as I'm concerned. We've enlisted the help of an IRL intern, Eric, to design the rig. I'm very excited that we can solve some of our manual and time consuming fabrication problems. Thanks Eric!

Before I forget, some of the team from the Biomimetics Lab at The University of Auckland went to the annual EAP conference in San Diego in March of this year. Along with all of their important discoveries and experiments, they took some of my EAP paintings with them to show the crowd. I am pleased to say that one of the paintings did survive the long journey and they were able to actuate it for the audience. We were all happy with how well the small artworks were received and I hope this will inspire some of the visiting scientists to take the idea back to their own countries and start something similar with their local artists. Artists can definately offer a new perspective and new ideas to this kind of technology.

Until next time . . . !

Kit's Personal View

2010-02-25T10:36:00.013+13:00

First of all, I would like to start by apologizing for a very belated blog entry. It seems like it was yesterday, when we got the grant from Creative New Zealand. Time really flies!

Now, I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Chee Kit Wong, or more commonly known as Kit. I am a research scientist within the Engineering Innovation team at Industrial Research Limited (IRL) in Auckland. IRL is a crown research institute with a focus on research and development in science and engineering.

As Katharine has already explained, we are a research collaboration that is funded by Creative New Zealand through the Smash Palace Fund. The objective of this funding is to foster linkages between artists and scientists. Essentially, the team consists of three main members: Katharine Ngatai aka KatyPie, Dr Emilio Calius and myself! In addition, we are also supported by Mr Tokushu Inamura. We have very different backgrounds and interests; and therefore play very different roles within the team.

Katharine, being the artist, is our creative brain. If you haven't seen her work, you should. She has some amazing pieces! Emilio is an expert in smart materials and is a colleague of mine at IRL.

As for me, my interest is in the application of spatial reasoning for the development of intelligent robotic systems. Particularly, I am interested in how humans and animals do not acquire precise representations of their surroundings but yet, still able to navigate successfully. This is very different from traditional robotics research in navigation and mapping, where every environment must be represented precisely. If you are interested to find out more, visit: http://aut.researchgateway.ac.nz/handle/10292/427

I see my involvement in this project as being twofold. Firstly, to address the electronics requirements of the project; and secondly, developing the software to control and provide life-like interactions with the viewing public. I envisage that I will utilise a lot of my prior experience in information extraction and interpretation from sensing devices; and at the same time, develop new knowledge in human machine interactions.

Prior to this project, I have not had any experience with Dielectric Elastomers. To be honest, the whole smart material domain was very foreign to me. I really did not know what to expect! One of the first things we did was to visit the Biomimetics Laboratory at Auckland University. We were given a quick tour and were shown some of the pieces that were created by the students at the lab. I have to admit, I was astonished. I have not come across actuators that are so life-like. More importantly, the pieces are very compact, mainly because the pieces are themselves the actuators! Instantly, Katharine and I saw why Emilio was so interested in applying this material for art.

Dielectric Elastromer Actuators (DEA) are very different from traditional actuators. One important difference is the fact that DEA actuates itself, whilst motors and other traditional actuators are used as means to provide actuation. Traditional actuators are clunky and often, and consequently, the size of any design is restricted by the size of the actuator. For DEAs though, one can construct as big, or as small an actuator as one desires, at least in theory. And because the material is of non-rigid characteristics, its looks and movement is extremely life-like, as one can see from the video images in Katharine’s blogs.

However, it is not easy to work with the DE materials. A lot of the processes are very manual and hence, very time-consuming. At times, this can be quite frustrating as it takes so long to make a single piece. In some instances, we have to develop the process ourselves! However, we learn something new all the time and that is very rewarding.

Thats all from me, for now. My next blog will be on latex. Yup ;-)

Questions

2010-02-24T13:52:00.003+13:00

Several weeks ago our team was lucky enough to be invited to participate in a television show on Maori TV. The show is called 411 and it investigates science and technology stories from around New Zealand. For me, it was a nerve racking experience being filmed and asked a lot of questions. I tend to freeze and then once I am thawed out, I ramble! As tense and stressful as it was for me, it was also great to have 'outsiders' come into the lab and see our work. It was nice to see the crew's reactions to what we are doing. Here are some of the questions I was sent before filming that day:

Questions for Katy:
- Where did the idea for the project come from?
Kit contacted me through his sister in law, my friend. He was looking for an artist to collaborate on this Smash Palace project funding he had found. We met several times, discussed what we do etc. We like what the other person had to offer and so then Kit started showing me what type of robotic scientific things were possible. I latched onto the EAP thing pretty fast because the YouTube clips were pretty exciting. When we knew that was the direction we were interested in moving towards, Kit got Emilio involved.
The artwork ideas have come from what I do and how we could involve my ideas together with the technology.

- What benefits does technology like this give you as an artist?
It allows me to use new materials I never would have considered using. It allows me to realise the dream of making the kowhaiwhai move like I have always wanted to do.

- What challenges are there in combining art and science like this?
Many. I am not very scientifically or mathematically minded. I have a creative mind. It has been quite a struggle to get my head around the ideas, the materials, and the possibilities. So many things. I have to spend a bit of time on the computer. I break a lot of the materials before I can even start painting them. Science is used to trying a million types to get the right thing. I am used to planning with things I know, like wood and plastic so I know in advance that things are going to succeed. This is not the case with combining my art with this science. There are so many failures and it makes you stronger and persevere harder when you fail. But it can be very frustrating.
Also, I need to adhere to the integrity of the art idea. The concept is important for me. I don't want to create something that is scientifically astounding if it is not going to add to or develop the concept in any way. It is a struggle for me to maintain the integrity of the concept while trying to use the technology in a different way.

- What’s been the process?
The process has been me, meeting with Toki our technician October and November, simply learning the materials, technology and the lab environment.
Now that I feel that I understand EAPs I can begin to concentrate on the art ideas more fully.

- What are you conveying through the artwork?
I feel that the artwork I create and the designs I use are beautiful. I want to see them move, and jump off a 2 dimensional surface in some way. Traditionally, kowhaiwhai was painted on rectangular rafters in meeting houses. Last century we saw kowhaiwhai and other Maori designs leaving the sanctuary of the meeting house and entering the everyday world. There is kowhaiwhai on crockery, clothing, etc being involved and appreciated outside the meeting house. I have wanted to inject colour, new materials, light, 3dimensions etc with my designs. The ultimate for me is to make the designs move and throb and pulse with a life of its own. I have always wanted to make it so much more dynamic and take it to places I never thought of before.
The designs themselves contain stories while some are abstract and open to interpretation.

- What’s in the future (for combining art/science)?
In our future we hope to make more artworks and have an exhibition. We would also like that exhibition to travel around the country. In combining these two things, we may develop some breakthroughs in the technology.
Science and art are never too far away from each other. Maybe this is a return to the old days, when in the Renaissance for instance, artists were painters, sculptors, scientists, inventors, engineers etc. all in one. This may inspire me to continue with scientific influences in my artwork.

So that was another insight into how I am getting on with the project so far. You can see me, KatyPie, and my team members Emilio and Kit on the 411 programme coming in April or May!

Parts of a body

2010-02-16T14:42:00.002+13:00

It’s been really great looking back at all the video footage and photographs I have taken so far. I have only put several videos on the blog because they take so long to upload. After not looking at them for a while and then coming back to them with fresh eyes you see new things. For instance the DEMES videos. There is the one where I had 3 DEMES fixed to one plate. We had them moving at different times to create a ripple effect. Now that I look at it again it looks like fingers of a hand stretching outwards then curling inwards again towards the palm. It would be cool to make five of them and slightly change the triangular shape of the DEMES to make them look more finger-like. In this way you can imagine how cool it would be to create a whole body that moved or something like that.

Thanks for all your great comments and feedback about what you see on this blog. I also need to point out that nothing can replace what you see with your own eyes. The videos are great but you really get the greatest understanding and impact from the work when you see it actuate in front of you. Take ‘Red Breeze’ for example. If I had the time I could look at that for so long. See the different rhthyms of the movements and watch the muscles contract and expand. It is quite hypnotic. Then while you are watching all the components moving, you can imagine that they are parts of a body. Parts of one whole. I imagine lungs expanding, inhaling and exhaling. A heart pumping. Eyes blinking. This is what I see. I see a living body that needs all of its parts to function in order to live and breathe.

Speaking of blinking eyes, here is an article Emilio found that shows the latest success for artificial muscles:
http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/newsroom/newsdetail.html?key=3626&svr=http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu&table=published

As far as I can tell no one in the lab has tried to do a layering of planer DEAs. For me the movements of the layers of VHB has greater impact and they tell a story about the parts of the body that are working together to create this artificial life.

As you can probably tell, the team is very keen to get these artworks out to the public so you can see them and appreciate them with your own eyes. This is something we would like to bring to you as soon as possible!

Triumphs and Failures

2010-02-16T12:12:00.006+13:00

Wow it has been a crazy couple of weeks. There have been days of complete failures and some days of amazing successes. Both are necessary and helpful for getting the ultimate end result that we are looking for. One day I stretched 33 (!!!) pieces of VHB before I managed to secure a frame on it. No exaggeration.

The things that I have been concentrating on are three paintings that are very closely related to the kind of artwork I usually do. I felt that I needed to truly develop and incorporate this new material into the work I am known for. This way my audience can see a true progression and understand how my work has gotten to the point that it’s at. So if you’ve looked at my website or you know my work, you can see in the photos that I am lasercutting my original designs in acrylic but these designs are part of a framework that holds the VHB membrane. On this membrane I am painting with the grease and the grease will actuate when connected to the power box. Combining the static, colourful and solid designs with the wet, black, ‘living’ grease makes for an intriguing artwork.

Here is a photograph of ‘Red Breeze’.

You can see that I have a central red design which represents a breezy light wind. Behind is another layer in fluorescent yellow of the reversed breeze design. Layering the frames adds another dimension to the work. The acrylic and the VHB are transparent so we have alot to look at and explore in the small work. On the front red frame I have a solid black shape at the top and a positively lined design at the bottom. Here I am exploring the thickness of the lines. These two shapes behave differently when actuated.
Behind on the yellow frame I have painted the grease on the negative area of the design. The positive lines are transparent. This will also alter how the membrane behaves once actuated. Unfortunately I had painted another negative design in the bottom right corner. You can see where the VHB has retracted back to the edges of the yellow frame after tearing. It has left smears of the grease on the side when it broke. Unfortunately I never got the chance to actuate the whole thing before it broke.

Here is a photo of the broken work and the sketch of how it should have looked.

This work is still successful for me because as well as spending time making the frames, designing the artwork, painting and putting it together; I wanted to come up with a frame idea that looks like what I have made in the past and it hides most of the cables, clips and copper. To me these things are a distraction to looking at the artwork. They also indicate the process behind the artwork. I think it is nice to have an element of mystery behind the mechanics of the piece. You really get a sense of wonder when you look at it and don’t know how it works or why. It really does look like a thin clear skin that is mysteriously animated. It’s not a computer or tv screen, its not a robot or clunky machinery. So what is it? That is what I hope the viewer will ask.

Here is an example of the front red frame actuating alone.

Here is the artwork with both working layers. Excuse the camera work. Here the work is connected to the power box which is being controlled by a computer to get the three components moving at different frequencies. The voltage for all is the same at 2250 volts.

Welcome to 2010!

2010-01-19T20:20:00.004+13:00

Kiaora and welcome back!
The hardest thing I did today was enter the lab again after a months absence. The reason I found it difficult was because I was worried I would have forgotten everything I had been taught so far in the lab. But it is amazing how things just come back to you!
I've been absent from the lab over December to fulfil my job obligations and to allow myself to focus more on creativity. While I thoroughly enjoyed my training in the lab, i felt creatively restricted. I felt I couldn't confidently bring forward an artistic idea, without soon finding out it would be impossible to create. Now however, I do feel confident that I know the possibilities and the limitations of the material. This knowledge has allowed me greater exploration of my concepts and ideas.
So now I am more aware of how to create, my problem is, 'what to create?'.......

KatyPie using the lasercutter

2009-12-01T07:04:00.004+13:00

Videos of the DEMES

2009-11-19T13:19:00.009+13:00

November 6

I arrived at the lab today and one of the 5 DEMES (DEMES Kat 2) had broken. It left some greasy yellow stains on the white paper and the membrane had shrivelled up inside the frame. The membrane has not pulled away from the frame so it must have had a hole in it somewhere else. DEMES Kat 2 was the one I made with 2 paths going vertically through it. Maybe this was not the best design!

Today's plan was to actuate the remaining DEMESs and the other Kats 2-5. All intact- so far.

When I started trying to actuate the planer DEAs, all my copper kept falling off. I guess sitting around for nearly two weeks they lost their adhesive. So I had to spend a while fixing all of them.

Last week when I hooked up 'Kat 4' to the power box, only the koru that was directly connected to the box was actuating to its full extent. I was disappointed with this result. When we had made the motor we had 3 different cables connecting straight to the box. This is what I liked best and what we did today. 4 phases max on the control box is what we used which was enough. 'Kat 4' looked awesome and we played with the switching, timing, frequency and voltage.

'Kat 5' is different as this one doesn't seem as obvious because I only painted parts of it. 2 heads of the koru expand while the other 2 stems expand. Nifty effect but very subtle. I might look further into that.

The other DEMES works were successful too. Watching them put lots of ideas in my head. So many possibilities for these things!

Solidworks after lunch. I re-draw alot of my pencil cketches onto Illustrator, a computer drawing programme. Now in order to laser cut my drawings I have to convert them and trace them onto Solidworks. This is great software but hard to get used to. I can't wait to start cutting my own designs into plastic very soon.

DEMES

2009-10-28T00:22:00.007+13:00

Ben O’Brien, a PhD student in the Biomimetics lab, taught Kit and I how to make a DEMES today. DEMES stands for Dielectric Elastomer Minimum Energy Structure. So far, I have made planer DE’s but a DEMES is more 3d.

With Ben we cut some already existing templates on the lasercutter. I imagine that making a drawing on ‘Solidworks’ for a DEMES frame is very complicated. The slightest design change will affect the performance. It took Ben ages to get the right shape for the motion he wanted. The DEMES is miniature which is perfect for what Ben needs to make. For artwork, the design is very small. Scale is important to me as I want the artwork to be accessible to many people. Rather than a group of people peering at a small sculpture in an exhibition space, I would prefer the artwork to be easily visible from a distance if possible. It will be a challenge to increase the scale of the DEMES to an appropriate size. For now, I will stick to what we know works!

Ben showed us all the steps to making the DEMES. Then we got it working. It is very cool. The flexible frame allows the membrane to straighten up and relax. It looks like it is flapping back and forth.

Then it was my turn. What a drama! With some frames already made and ready, it was my job to stretch the VHB. I thought stretching it on one plane was difficult. With a DEMES, in order to curl the membrane over the frame, you have to stretch in with different tensions in different directions. Super tricky. This requires a new stretcher. I found it close to impossible. The VHB kept tearing. It wants to pull away from the paddles so quickly. You have to keep your eyes and fingers on it or it breaks. I broke 3 before I managed to stick one to the strat successfully. One small victory. There is only one thing to do: practise practise practise.

Hei konei ra.

-KatyPie

Above: Cutting VHB meterial to construct our first DEMES

Above: Our first DEMES in action ( with a little help from Ben)

Above: Increasing the applied voltage increases the amount of bending motion on the DEMES

Above: Increasing the frequency increases the speed of the DEMES

Pulsing koru

2009-10-19T21:06:00.004+13:00

This was the first attempt at animating kowhaiwhai with DEA.

16/10/09

Yesterday I learned how to use the computer software, ‘Solidworks’. I can use ‘Illustrator’ well enough but this seems to be a more difficult programme. I can use the programme for visualising and simulating a machine. This will be a very helpful tool. The Biomimetics Lab has its own lasercutter. Tocky taught me how to make a frame and cut it on the lasercutter.

Today, I tried making my own frames on the lasercutter using ‘Solidworks’. There are alot of things to remember. The most important rule is that all lines must have a relationship to one another. If I don’t establish a relationship between lines (ie. this line is parallel to this line) when I want to move a shape I have made, the shape won’t necessarily stay intact. However, with some coaching, I made 10 square frames.

I stretched 5 frames. Is it too early to say I have got the hang of it? Yes maybe. But at least now I think I can correct my mistakes while stretching before it’s too late and I lose the VHB to tearing. I need to come up with a better method of cutting the excess VHB from the frames. Not only are my edges really messy but the torn edges will decrease the life of the work.

I painted two koru designs free hand on one of the frames. My mini easel idea kept my hands free for painting. I then cut a mask out of the VHB backing tape. This means I can paint quickly over the whole membrane then quickly tear the backing tape away to reveal a clean picture. This is a great method except the backing tape is small. If I want to make larger frames I will need to find a masking material that can come in a larger sheet and will peel away easily from the sticky membrane.

The two koru worked well. See the vid. Tocky suggested to only paint parts of one side of the frame so the shrinkage and expansion can occur only in the parts of the design that I choose. This sounds cool. To be continued.

-KatyPie

Our first active piece

2009-10-12T11:36:00.010+13:00

Kiaora. Welcome to the Live Sculptures blog site. The ‘Live Sculptures and Soft Machines’ team consists of me, KatyPie, with Emilio Calius and Chee Kit Wong. Helping us with engineering support is Tokushu Inamura. So who are we and what are we doing?

I’m an artist, with a special interest in Maori kowhaiwhai designs. I like to create my own stories with the language of the design. Emilio is a senior scientist in Future Materials & Structures team at IRL and Kit also works at IRL and is a research scientist, specialising in robotics and spatial cognition. Tocky is an Auckland university Biomimetics Laboratory design engineer and DE manufacturing process specialist. Phew.

We were brought together by the Smash Palace grant, provided by Creative New Zealand in partnership with the Ministry of Research, Science and Technology (MoRST). This fund is to support collaboration between artists and scientists on an art project. We want to exploit artificial muscle actuation and sensing technologies to inject the breath of life into my art through motion.
In the union of art and science, we will use EAP technology to make my original Maori kowhaiwhai (painted designs) come alive. EAP are being actively studied for applications in bio-engineering and bio-robotics because of their potential for mimicking the movements of live beings. When electrically stimulated, polymers that can shrink, expand or change shape are classified as electro-active polymers (EAP) and are also known as artificial muscles because their characteristics are closer to that of biological muscle than any other smart material or conventional actuation technology. When a large electric field is applied, charge attractions and repulsions give rise to significant planar expansion and thickness contraction. In KatyPie speak, that means a polymer membrane that has been stretched onto a plastic frame, is coated on both sides with a black grease in various designs. Electrodes are added and charge applied. The membrane tenses and relaxes as the charge flows, causing the black grease designs to shrink and grow. As you can see in our first video, the designs appear to pulse.

The application of self actuating robotic materials to Kowhaiwhai design is a novel method for connecting the past to the present, which we believe will give people a deeper regard for the traditional by presenting it in a modern way.
Ultimately we aim to create an active sculpture for exhibition at public art galleries nationwide.

For the first couple of months of the project I will be trained how to use the new technology. This should be interesting! I am usually pretty capable with different kinds of materials and tools, but this is a whole new thing altogether. Stick with me and I’ll let you know how I get on.

Thanks so much for joining us on our journey. Comments, questions, and ideas are all welcome.

Hei konei ra,
KatyPie.

Short video of the first movements of our first 2-dimensional trial piece.

9/10/09

First day in the lab! We got straight down to business and created a planer dielectric elastomer (DE) motor. The hardest part of building this was stretching the VHB. This is a very viscose polymer. If I cut out a piece that is 5cm by 5cm, I can stretch it to 3 or four times the size. The problem is keeping the VHB intact while I make it bigger. I used the ‘iris’ and the ‘umbrella’ tools for stretching. I like the umbrella. I think it took 2 or 3 tries to stick the Perspex frame onto the VHB before it broke. It will get easier as I go on – I hope! I also stuck a Perspex ring to the centre of the membrane.

I adhered the copper tape electrodes easily enough then started painting the grease. That was actually harder than I thought it would be. You can’t apply too much pressure to the membrane or it might tear. And you can’t slide a dry brush over the surface or it will tear. All this while holding it dextrously in one hand.

After painting, the DE motor was ready to go. I painted 3 segments of the membrane. These expand and shrink in sequence, causing the ring in the middle to move. We could connect a crank in the middle to make it turn. The main thing is that I made my first actuating DE!

-KatyPie