Agenda: Discursive Agenda
Goal: Performance
Framework: Enchanted Objects
Project Title: Auto-cleaned Cat Food Bowl
For this project we were assigned with the agenda, goal, and framework, which at first I didn’t really get the clear definition. But as we work more into the project, I get more clear about these words.
We first decided what our project is about – cat. We all raise cats so it is part of our daily life, and it does bring us some problems. We listed all the problems we encounter and picked one as the problem we were to solve, that it is troublesome to wash cats’ food bowl every time after they eats. So we brainstormed together and reached a solution – we can design a machine that holds the bowl and it can wash/clean the bowl if someone press the button. But when making the machine, we found that it would be more convenient if the bowl and the machine were integrated as one-piece. Because the mechanical arm will hit the bowl in the former case, and we need a notch on one side to make sure the arm can lift up.
We used two servos to respectively control two rotation. One is at point (a), it controls the lift up and put down of the arm. The other one is at point (b), it controls the rotation of the cleaning cloth.
We also have word instructions under two buttons which clarifies the function of each button. The red one is “wash”, and the yellow one is “up”. The “wash” button controls the rotation of the cleaning cloth. Press once, the cleaning cloth rotates 180 degrees clockwise, and if press again it rotates backwards, also 180 degrees. The “up” button enables user to lift up the arm by 90 degrees, and if you press it again, the mechanical arm will come back to vertical position.
In terms of the agenda, I think the discourse is the balance of relationship between humans and pets. By using this auto-cleaned bowl, human can save labor but still keep a close relationship with pets. You can still feed them, take care of them, but let machines to save you from the endless washing work.
The material of the cleaning cloth also matters as it is a significant part of our goal of performance. It should be able to clean the bowl easily, and in my vision, the cleaning cloth can also be glued together layer by layer. When used, people only need to tear off the dirty layer, and the rest can be used next time. So we chose to use cotton and waterproof paper as the material for the cleaning cloth. But according to the feedback from class, it is also expected to be environment-friendly and reusable. I do think this is a good and important suggestion. The performance can be improved in this way.
I do think our project is a good showcase of enchanted objects. According to David Rose, enchanted objects are “ordinary things that have extraordinary capabilities“. So here cat food bowl is an ordinary thing, but it has the extraordinary capability of cleaning itself.
Working demo video: