I apologize for the pictures, for some reason they get flipped every time I import them...

Anyway... I decided to use plastic vacuum molding and polymer casting to make a copy of my digital camera.  This turned out pretty well, except that I didn't realize I was supposed to spray mold release into the plastic mold before pouring the polymer...  I ended up having to cut around the plastic.  It turned out alright and I had a snazzy plastic case on my camera for protection…

Figure 1: Lego Man 3D Model in Google Sketchup.

We originally wanted to create a dinosaur 3D model to print on the MakerBot, however, the stegosaurus that we modeled in Google Sketchup didn't have full support for printing. When we tried printing on the MakerBot, we…

Mo and I collaborated on our 3D-Printing project.  We had an amazing experience using Google Sketchup and the 3D printer.  There truly was a lot to learn during the process, and here are a few pictures of our process:

First Draft:  The first drafts (four versions) mocked up on sketchup, I honestly had doubts, because it seemed like it took us a long time to create something so simple.  None the less, we developed something that we put time in, and that we were proud of.  When…

I wanted to create an addition to the Stress Cow that I received earlier from a workshop that I attended earlier in the week.  I realized, what was starting to stress me out was the inconsistency of the weather.  I would dress inappropriately, and I wish I had more insight to the weather... So here we are with…

It was difficult coming up with a concept for our 'robot'.  At times, the possibilities seemed endless, while at other times, the possibilities seemed constricted.  Our resources and materials were limited, but our group handled well and went to a shop to explore more options for materials.  We hoped to find inspiration through materials we would see at the shop.  Eventually we found something that caught our attention, and seemed feasible to construct with the limited time we had.  We had…

For this assignment, I wanted to make a simple toy, in a shape of an egg. So when you hold it, your hand  will warm it up and a little embryo in the egg will feel the warmth.

The real challenge was perhaps, making a mold of an egg without breaking it...

So instead, I decided to…

I wanted create a drum pad that performs a melody as the drum stick strikes. Typically, when practicing with snare drum sticks, one creates percussive sounds not melodies and I thought this could spice up the experience of practicing. First I tried to create drum sticks that achieved the task but realized that since I was relying on a sensor and gogo board (and scratch), I'd be better off if the sticks were wireless and the electrical components were attached to the drum pad. I took…

Are math tests getting you down? Do you freeze up when you are asked to factor? Welcome to the De-Stress-Pen.  The stress pen is a biofeedback device that measures signs of stress such as clammy or cold hands.  Embedded within the device are humidity and temperature sensors (strategically placed for both left and…

Bored, lonely parrots become destructive and depressed.  So during my lovebird's waking hours, I keep on a light and the radio to make her feel like her environment is active and safe.  However, sometimes I turn off the radio for a phone call or to watch TV, and forget to turn it on later.  Or it's such a sunny day that I forget to turn on the light, and in the evening it grows dark.…

For this weeks project I decided to create a ping pong racket with a pressure sensor on the middle of the paddle that will send a signal to beep the Go-Go board if the sensor is hit by a ping pong ball. The idea is that when you play you want to consistently hit shots, where the ball hits the middle of the racket. This ping pong trainer is only for forehand shoots.…

I had a Newton-esque moment of inspiration this week. Instead of an apple hitting me on the head, I burned my tongue on my morning coffee.  I said to myself, if big 3 beer companies can make cans change color based on temperature, then there's no reason coffee lids can't change color when the coffee is too hot to drink!  Mission defined.

So, I went to CoHo and ... ahem... borrowed some coffee lids to vacuum-form.  My intent was to vacuum form a lid upside down, to mold the…

Exploration #1:

I looked at the segregation model first. I was interested in this model because it was inspired by writings about social systems like housing patterns in cities. The model shows the patterns that develop when an individual turtle from one of two groups…

I had some trouble thinking about what object I wanted to change.  After awhile, I finally decided I wanted to make something for kids.  These are my friend's kids that I babysit.  They're playing Wii with my husband.

The first time I babysat them a few years ago, the little one was just finishing up…

As this blog post is being written, my product for the current project is sitting in a corner of the lab, letting the polymer mold it into a finished bike light. I did want to make sure that I could post about my project before the class in which it will be presented. As I discover the successes and failures with my final project, I will edit and refine this blog post!

That being said --

Ever get your bike light stolen because, in your nightly rush, you forgot…

With this project, I hoped to recreate something creative, funky, and with a cartoon vibe; something that echoed the Disney-filled, colorful, 2-dimensional animated worlds of my childhood: a clock that represented a not-so hidden part of my personality :)

The picture of the It's a Small World display is below, and what I loved most about it is the clear definition of color and shape. I wanted to be able to specifically replicate that nature in my piece. …

For this week's assignment, I wanted to make a copy of a cup and add sensors and LEDs that would detect and tell someone how hot or cold a beverage was. I got a couple paper cups from Coupa and wanted to vacuum form them to create a mold but was reminded by the fact that because of its shape, if I were to vacuum form the cup with the wider mouth on top, it would be very difficult to take out of the mold. I then decided to use the actual vacuum-formed mold as the cup.

My first…

The Concept

Ever find yourself trying to tweeze something out of a dark crevice? Ever need to get a splinter out while camping at night? Ever find yourself partying at the club only discover a rogue eyebrow hair? 

Well, here is your solution: LightTweeze! LightTweeze lights up whenever it gets too dark.

The Creation Process 

I first made a vacuum plastic mold of tweezers. I added more volume to the…

THE PLAN

For this week’s project, I really wanted to cast a hammer. I had two competing ideas for the sensors: to use a pressure sensor to light up different LEDs depending on the striking force, or to use a magnetic sensor to light up a single LED every time it touches a magnet. I liked both designs due to their potential to teach kids how to use tools.…

My goal was to build a two part mold using the vacuum former.  My strategy was to vacuum form each half using some cardboard to offset the vacuumed form.

Here is the second pass where I include the cutout of the vacuumed form from the first pass:

 …