Syazwan Hanif
M.Arch in Design For Manufacture Research Cluster 102 Design Tutors: Christopher Leung and Gary Edwards Introductory Design Workshop BENVGF11
A FOUND OBJECT
The project begins with a found object of the student’s choice. This object was then studied and analysed for it’s mechanisms, material and processes involved in producing it. Along with the skills acquired through the design skills portfolio, the study into this found object formed the basis of our design project for this term. I chose the Olympus XA2 film camera as I was impressed by it’s small size and reliability, for a relatively low priced camera. Produced in the 1980s, it is still a sought after beginner’s point and shoot film camera. After scurtinising the object, by taking it apart and studying it’s materials, I found that some key areas that interested me were it’s ergonomics and it’s lens mechanism. Though it was small and easy to fit in my pocket, I found that it was not optimised for one-handed use. It’s boxy shape made it less than ergonomic to hold for lengthy periods of time. These drawbacks gave me the idea to explore the opportunity within ergonomics.
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By taking the object apart, I was able to observe the camera’s len focus mechanism. This simple mechanical movement, beginning with a vertical translaton of the switch, resulted in both a minute translation as well as a roll about the z-axis as defined in the diagram. This simple solution inspired me to delve further into this mechanism and others like it. I was interested to see how a similar mechanism may be translated into other moving machines.
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ERGONOMIC STUDY: ANTHROPOMETRY
With ergonomics in mind, I figured that the place in which ergonomics played a significant role in our lives was in the ergonomics of work. Here I honed in on desk-bound work, which us as designers can relate to. Long hours spent at static desks was counter productive to the work that designers do. This to me was a fitting narrative for the beginning of my journey in the M.Arch in Design for Manufacture programme, designing a healthier environment within which to work, paying close attention to how this new environment would be manufactured.
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I then questioned these standards by pitting them against a male and female example and also against a dynamic experiment of deskbound work. The study shows unsurprisingly the large differential between the standard and the selected individuals. It’s obvious to say that to conclude that a standard is not worthwhile, because of a singular set of data that deviates from it would be naive. However, to ignore the fact that we are all different and aggregate us into a singular static standard does not do much better. We then have a look at the dynamic study to show that even in a desk bound environment, us humans are constantly moving.
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I studied the New Metric Handbook by David Adler, as a standard for anthropometric study. The book provided a compilation of standards for humans interacting with urban spaces that have been crafted based on a mean of body types to give a reasonable standard that is benefitial for a majority. Here I looked at the standards for deskbound work.
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Forward translation of neck Ideal angle of 90 degrees
Eyes should look directly at top of screen
Eyes are angled downwards
Emphasis placed on the screen, keyboard and mouse position to indirectly influence the posture of the individual and also the use of lumbar supported chairs. Similarly, the dynamic environmental conditions modern workers work in call for a solution that is both flexible and consistent. The assumption of a static workplace is naive, as we know in today’s context, the working population is spending more time on the go, in and out of meetings; doing work in unorthodox places.
Here the vertical red line represents the ideal position of the head in relation to the shoulders, whilst the horizontal black line represents the correct eye level. Even with a laptop stand, we see that the user still adopts improper posture, with a forward translation of the head and a downwards tilt in his gaze.
By taking interest in the optimum measurements for an ergonomic seating arrangement within a controlled environment and testing these in real life situations, we can then have a better understanding of the allowances we are able to set. My speculation is that a desk bound environment which is largely static could be made better with more dynamic objects.
I speculated that work within a desk-bound space was dynamic. This assumption of static standards to be not ideal. I employed the use of emulate the standard given within the New Metric Handbook such that ergonomic comparison. I then positioned a camera to track my spectacles from view. This was done to study the movement of the users head during the process
would render an a raised screen to there was a fair both front and side of desk bound work.
We can see that there is significant movement in the process of work as given by pictures. This appears in both instances where the laptop is raised on a stand and without it. The different heights of the screen show the variation in the head movement, in which the raised screen achieved a more horizontal movement, whilst the non-raised screen forced the user to angle his head down towards the top of the screen. This brought to my attention that standards that may be easily applicable to a majority of people, do not take into account the dynamism of the work place. I saw this as an opportunity to dive deeper into dynamic objects as means to aid the ergonomics of the work place. The goal was to understand if an addition of dynamism would improve the desk-bound working condition.
ERGONOMIC STUDY: WORK ENVIRONMENTS
To understand the ergonomics of the work place, we must first understand that the today’s work place is no longer limited to the office. Today’s digital nomads are working on the go, in varying environments, at varying times; with a great emphasis on being mobile without sacrificing quality of work experience. I take reference to today’s digital nomads and study the various places and times they may engage in laptop based work , some common sights and others less plausible. With a larger variation in conditions within which we may work, the solution produced must be one that is adaptible to different situations.
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Model of Aeroplane Economy Class Seats based on average dimensions
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Through the study of work environments, I concluded that there would need to be a solution that worked in different work environments. However, I deduced that to form a solution that worked best in all environments, I would have to look to the most restricted of spaces. I then took reference to a modern day digital nomad that spends his time working on the go and decided as the economy class seat as the most restrictive frequented work space.
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Taking an average of dimensions of economy class seats of both major airliners and budget airlines, I then modelled the space and understood the restrictions placed on workers within such a space. Taking this into consideration I was then able to model the hyperboloic shape within a given dimensional limit.
LENS MOVEMENT: HYPERBOLOIDS
Inspired by the movement of the lens mechanism, I researched mechanisms that replicated its movement. Through an exploration geometrical shapes, I discovered a hyperboloid made out wooden sticks and rubber bands. This shape was able translate and rotate about the y-axis, similar to how the lens mechanism
on of of to did.
I modelled the hyperboloic shape in multiple ways, trying to reconcile the degrees of freedom needed to ensure that the hyperboloid maintained it’s transformation and yaw along and about the y-axis. Different iterations of the hyperboloid were made in response to the performance of both the CAD and physical model. This led me to study the hyperboloid shape and prototype a folding hyperboloid that folds into a cylindrical bunch of sticks. By modelling the hyperboloid in the CAD dimension, I am able to study how to design the hyperboloid to achieve the required translation and rotation. Hyperboloid made out of sticks and rubberbands by http://science-totouch.com/Adventskalender/
Stripped down hyperboloid with 3 legs
CAD model of Stripped down hyperboloid with 3 legs
Physical models were produced to explore the hyperboloic shape and develop a greater understanding of the degrees of freedom that must be fixed to ensure the model moves as required. Working with the physical model helped me understand what modifications I would like to make and what kind of joints worked well to ensure the movement I wanted. Though the CAD models provided an understanding of how joints should be made such that I would achieve the desired movement, there was still a need to make the physical models to better understand how to the made object would then be fitted together.
CAD model of hyperboloid with joints with 1 degree of freedom
3D Print of hyperboloid with joints with 1 degree of freedom CAD model of hyperboloid with pseudo-ball joints
physical models of hyperboloid with pseudo-ball joints
After a few iterations, i then settled with a model made out of acrylic sheets, aluminium rods and wooden balls. The wooden balls run along tracks made in the acrylic sheets. The alumium rods act as the legs of the mechanism. The acrylic disks are connected to each other through a standard servo. This servo is will then be connected to an arduino and ultrasonic sensor for it to be automated to react to the distance of a person from the object.
ASSEMBLY
AUTOMATION: PROXIMITY RESPONSIVE STAND
With the use of the Arduino, the standard servo is programmed to move to positions depending on the distance of an object from a given ultrasonic sensor. The object used here, the book, is moved closer and further away from the ultrasound sensor, causing the position of the standard servo to turn accordingly. This movement of the servo will translate into a rotation and translation about the y-axis. Given the ultrasonic sensor as the input for the circuit, with the output being through the servo, I am able to programme the Arduino in multiple ways to change the interaction between the ultrasonic sensor and the servo.
Through automation we are able to make the design interactive. As the person, This interaction has given me the idea of developing this project into a project for the disabled that have mobility issues. use of such a stand can greatly improve their experience of represented by the book/hand, moves away from the stand, the stand rises to meet the The individual. It maintains this height when an optimum distance between user and stand is achieved. doing work as objects come towads or away from them based on a series of mini gestures.