Testing the sensor!

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

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.

Parts of a body

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

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!

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

Videos of the DEMES

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

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

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

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