Movements

Prototype 1: Inflatable Mushroom

• • Movement: inflatable
  • 3D printed mushroom & silicon inflatable
  • How we vision to use it [I wrote this before our idea revision]: According to Korrina’s research, the mushrooms won’t show themselves until they feel like the environment is correct. Thus, with the inflatable (and the sound that comes along with it), we want to present a character that wouldn’t reveal herself until she feels comfortable. She’s been through trauma, so she is very careful and cautious. 

• I downloaded the model from thingiverse. I forgot to change filament color before printing it so I had to color it afterwards and it looks … bad 🙁 
• Marcela told us to have something at the back so that the inflatable silicon won’t inflate on that side. Taking inspiration from that, I tried to get the holes from the mushroom cap, make airways, and make an inflatable using plastics. However, it didn’t really work. I thought about football patterns – potentially they might work. However, I don’t have time to try that out yet. 
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• I always want to know how to keep the air in the inflatable for a longer time, finally figured it out during class! (That’s my understanding, didn’t have the chance to try it out
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• mushroom

Prototype 2: Moving Plate

• • Movement: with stepper motor 
  • Idea inspiration: Instagram Artist & Marcela’s chain
  • This is based on the chain units we made for the mask project. I added some channels to each unit so that it can move more smoothly. The problem with the chain units is that they might bend too much (completely forgot about this while modeling!!), but Korrina came up with the idea to use cardboard to hold the chain. 
• I modeled the plate. However, because I got the measures wrong, the hole is too big for the actuator stick, and the upper stick is too big. Korrina explained to me why we need a stepper motor but not a servo motor to me: the servo motor is too weak to support the movement of the whole structure. I also accidentally set the inner filling of the plate too thin. The plate is too light and fragile. 
• Improvement:
  • plate needs to be heavier to hold the whole structure;
  • the chains should be horizontal in the original place — I would love to experiment with the soft plastic string!
  • I wonder how I can improve the plate model and add more texture to it (like channels for the string). On the other hand, I do doubt whether the 3D printer can print out the texture LOL.
  • Change the code to make it move slower. (here is the reference code: link)
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  • plate

Prototype 3: Butterfly

• Movement: with actuator 
• The butterfly wings flip with the actuator. It is based on the butterfly wings Yelena made for our wing project. Korrina made the hold for the actuator and support for the butterflies. We discovered that since the actuator is relatively weak, it is impossible to make it pull the wings directly.

Research

• Some mushrooms glow at night: Fungi glow because of a natural reaction between enzymes and chemicals called luciferins, including a type called caffeic acid that is found in all plants. Introducing four key fungal genes into the plants’ DNA caused them to glow 10 times more brightly than those engineered using bacteria, The Guardian reports. (link)
• In Chinese, 菌(fungi) shares the same sound with 君(beautiful, well-educated, good-mannered people). And there is a saying that goes: 君子之交淡如水, it can mean friendship and mutual trust.
• Mushrooms grow very fast, they can symbolize liveliness and strength.
• Mushrooms send out signals to each other. Andrew Adamatzy did a research on mushrooms. He integrated circuits into mushrooms and it worked.
• Books: Humongous Fungus | link
• Texture inspiration: 
  • Canadian Smocking – link