COSTA RICA WORKSHOP 4 day workshop in association with Veritas Universidad
Tae-In ‘Timmy’ Yoon Unit 22 2014/2015
COSTA RICA WORKSHOP
4 day workshop in association with Veritas Universidad
DESIGN DEVELOPMENT The starting point of the design came from Sirisan’s first project. In particular the joints he developed for his structure. The group was interested in applying its flexibility to a system that would be installed within Veritas Universidad.
Sirisan’s joints
1
PULLEY SYSTEM
CACOON
2
Joint movement
We were interested in the lateral movement of the joint but felt maybe it was too difficult to produce in a short amount of time. We decided to simplfy the movement into a constantia motion and in terms of purpose, it would serve as a screen that could have an interactive aspect to it. We decided to use a pulley system using human weight to move the screen made from the joints. From initial discussions, we could divide the design into 4 main categories: PANELS
MAIN FRAME
COSTA RICA WORKSHOP
4 day workshop in association with Veritas Universidad
LABOUR DIVISION The group was divided into teams to deal with the main aspects of the design. Mixing the teams with both Bartlett and Costa Rican students. As some parts would require more time than others, these groupings were not exclusive but gave us a good starting point to fabricate the design efficiently
PULLEY SYSTEM TEAM
COCOON TEAM
PANELS TEAM
MAIN FRAME TEAM
Alejandro
Estiban
David
Josh
Julian
Monserrat
Max
Paulo
Oliver
Viviana
Timmy
Sirisan PROJECT LEADER
Marco
Ruben
COSTA RICA WORKSHOP
PULLEY SYSTEM The main task and trouble of the pulley system was to allow for smooth movement of the the rope that will carry the weight of an individual. The improvements to the system were impromptu and used found materials, mainly timber and bycycle wheels. STAGE 1
The frame was made of scrap timber in 3 parts that were relatively easy to cut using the band saw. It gave a strong rigid structure capable of taking more than 100kg. However, we did not take into consideration the placement of the rope. It would not stay on the groves of the bicycle wheel.
STAGE
1
STAGE
2
STAGE
3
STAGE 2
To deal with the mis-alignment of the rope, a secondary element was introduced. The core of a bicyle was cut out with industrial wire cutters and placced within the hole to lock the rope between it and the bicycle wheel groove STAGE 3
We were noticing a degree of flex when weight was applied downwards of the wheel. So a timber brace was introduced to hold all the elements.
COSTA RICA WORKSHOP
COCOON The design of the cocoon was intuitive and dependent on the materials that were available to us. We were able to take advantage of many bicycle wheels that we found along with a variety of scrap fabrics. There were constant testings to see if the cocoon is structurally sound:
Bicycle wheel form test In joining the bicycle rims into a cocoon form, it was necessary to test which fabric and the way it was tied would give the most stable structure. The first test proved too weak with only a couple of layers of wound fabric. However, with a could more layers and a intertwining fabric knots as shown by the colourful fabrics gave a much more stable structure.
1.Bicycle frame assembly
2.Fabric test
3.Intensive knitting of all holes
4.Hanging
in place
Strength test There were material tests too. It was not all fabric, we also used the tires of the bicycles to tie knots and lift test its strength by applying a large weight- in this case myself! This rubber lattice would eventually form the casing for the counterweight that would return the structure to its original state once the user gets out of the cocoon.
1.Tessilating rubber structure
2. Strength test
3. Assembly and hanging
in place
COSTA RICA WORKSHOP
PANELS
STABILITY TEST
RESULT WITH LEVERAGE ARM ON BOTTOM OF PANELS
The panels were a simple component that needed to be as easy to fabricate as possible as we needed to create an excess of 40 panels. Again, materials were scavenged from the local skip. This also had an implication on the size of the panels as it was not easy to source large off cuts. In the end the design was as follows:
X 14
Scale 1:10
PANEL CONSTANTINA TEST
ADD-ONS The panels are offcuts of MDF or plywood found in the skip with the connections made with rubber from the bicycle wheels from the cocoons. In order to get the constantia effect, it was necessary to leave a gap between the panels otherwise they would just lock up. The rubber was used instead of zip ties as they posed the inverse problem of being too flimzy and did not guide the panels to its original positions.
Rod to guide end panels up the vertical columns
Bamboo rods to reduce horizontal flex
COSTA RICA WORKSHOP
MAIN FRAME The main frame would hold up the whole panel system and also give rigidity to the back pulley system. The frame was again mostly scrap timber and the design was intuitive, adding elements to address structural and mechanical problems. Exploded diagram of mainframe arm
Main frame
Timber panel holder
PVC pipes
COSTA RICA WORKSHOP
DESIGN ISSUES AND POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS
BUILT ON SITE
POSSIBLE SOLUTION
The main issue we had with the installation was due to the mechanism. This problem occurred as we worked in such divided groups. The biggest issue occured in the interaction between the panels and the main frame. Here I will offer some solutions we could have applied.
MECHANISM INTENT
As a person would sit on the cocoon, the screen would lift along with the counterweight. If they get off, the counterweight would return the screen and cocoon into its original position. the problem we were having was with the distribution of force at the bottom of the screen and the friction on the bottom lever was too great and did not allow for a smooth movement of the screen.
Perspex runner
COSTA RICA WORKSHOP
BUILDING PROCESS AND THE FINAL INSTALLATION