We went to visit the new Stapelbäddsparken cultural space in Malmo - and to see 1scale1's new diggs there! http://www.stapelbaddsparken.se/
The place is fantastic with a huge upstairs dedicated to hosting events such as parties, performance, exhibition, or the like. Then downstairs is the mecca of geekhappiness, with a giant yet undecided room (although rumours of botwars have surfaced), a living room / cosy area, a projection space, a bike kitchen where people can fix, hack, or play with bikes which are either their own or some of the ones brought in by apartment owners when bikes are discarded; a workspace with tools, an office and a 'wet room'. It's a great space and we can't wait to see what happens with it!
Congrats to 1scale1 and STPLN! Looking forward to bring Everybody Knows Frank there to play!
Apr 9, 2011
Visiting STPLN in Malmo
Mar 13, 2011
Everybody Knows Frank
GeekPhysical, with Majken Overgaard, has created a network - a place for creative people who are inventors, thinkers, engineers, geeks, tinkerers, modders, conceptualists, designers, hackers, makers, artists, and all those creating experiences for others.
This network aims at bringing together all the people in the Öresund Region who work with technology in creative, innovative ways. We invite both creators and possible partners to participate.
The goal is to create discussions between creative, innovative people who can help each other, collaborate, form possible partnerships, introduce networks, and be introduced to the people they possibly want to partner up with.
We've had two events so far, our premier on the illutron barge, and our follow up event at Labitat, a great hackerspace with really fantastic people, thanks Labitat for a great time!
See a video of our first event here (also below):http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ouo3yw6oIoY
Photos of both events here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/geekphysical/sets/72157626259337478/with/5524297722/
Read more at: www.everybodyknowsfrank.com/
Frank is on PODIO - Podio is really what we need to connect all these amazing creative people and get them collaborating on projects together. Check it out here: http://www.podio.com
Video from the last "Everybody Knows Frank":
Feb 17, 2011
Blow Tree by Fraser Ross
Okay, admittedly, I don't know if the name of the installation is blow-tree, I'm pretty sure it's not. (As it turns out, Breath of Life is the name, which is much nicer). But I found Fraser Ross' site (http://www.fraser-ross.com/) from another site about Icelandic design and a museum called Biologiska http://blog.icelanddesign.is/?p=581. Ross has made a tree that reminds me very much of our own Arbromorphic project, here, but his is fascinating in a beautiful way - you blow to activate the lights. Simple but charming, and we love it! Nice work Mr. Ross!
Feb 3, 2011
The Giant Printer
The Giant Printer was originally made in Komponent/LAB, a venue for electronic music and activity (http://komponent.dk/about.php) that Dzl was part of for 10 years. It was made for the Public Service Festival in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 2006. (http://gallery.komponent.dk/albums/PUBLICSERVICE2004/DSCN2476.jpg). At the time, Komponent needed to print some large canvasses, 5 x 2.5 meters and had a limited budget. They needed a cheap printer with cheap ink. When they started to build the printer, their first idea was to build a giant X Y plotter (horizontal and vertical moving bar) but since there was very little time available they wanted to make the printer as simple as possible with as few mechanical parts as possible. They started to experiment and while measuring the length of the belts for the printer, realized they could raise and lower the print head by pulling on the belts. The hardware was simple, but the software proved to be a bit more difficult, they needed to solve the equation for the varying length of each belt as it moved.
After they made it, they were notified that it was similar to the Hektor printer which had been developed during the same time period. (http://www.hektor.ch/) They thought it was great that a common design solution was discovered by both parties, validating their own design choices.
Cue 2010 and 2011. We dug out the printer from storage to make the logo on the side of the illutron barge and then re-imagined it in 2011 for Venture Cup Software Final. Some of the updates included:
- Motors mounted on tripods so it's a portable system
- Machined wooden frame for motor and belt mounts on CNC
- Fresh wires
- Minor software updates
The software takes HPGL plotter file and allows you to scale the image so it fits on the printed area. The software also allows you to pause while printing, in case, for example, you need to refill the paint container. Finally, it also gives you the opportunity to start from where you left in case of fail, such was the case at Venture Cup where our compressor knocked off the USB port each time it started up. Luckily, the software remembered it's last point and was able to continue from there.
The original idea for the printer was a land art printer which could paint buildings, dams, or bridges, painting areas up to 100m x 50m large and the print head would be large enough to accommodate two people and barrels of paint (to fill up the paint container whenever it emptied). Perhaps we'll still pursue that - anyone have buildings that need funky designs?
The next upgrade is to update software so it is less 'wobbly' using acceleration and deceleration rather than abrupt stop and go which is currently employed.
Check out the video of the printer here:http://www.youtube.com/user/GeekPhysical#p/u/3/6C-wn3oKQr0 and the photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/29889578@N05/sets/72157625827981787/
The equation describing the lengths of the belts as a function of print head position. A and B are where the belts are anchored and P is the printer head. R0 and R1 indicate length of belts and can be determined by equations given. The length of the belt can be translated into how many steps a stepper motor has to turn by multiplying by a factor of Z.
After they made it, they were notified that it was similar to the Hektor printer which had been developed during the same time period. (http://www.hektor.ch/) They thought it was great that a common design solution was discovered by both parties, validating their own design choices.
Cue 2010 and 2011. We dug out the printer from storage to make the logo on the side of the illutron barge and then re-imagined it in 2011 for Venture Cup Software Final. Some of the updates included:
- Motors mounted on tripods so it's a portable system
- Machined wooden frame for motor and belt mounts on CNC
- Fresh wires
- Minor software updates
The software takes HPGL plotter file and allows you to scale the image so it fits on the printed area. The software also allows you to pause while printing, in case, for example, you need to refill the paint container. Finally, it also gives you the opportunity to start from where you left in case of fail, such was the case at Venture Cup where our compressor knocked off the USB port each time it started up. Luckily, the software remembered it's last point and was able to continue from there.
The original idea for the printer was a land art printer which could paint buildings, dams, or bridges, painting areas up to 100m x 50m large and the print head would be large enough to accommodate two people and barrels of paint (to fill up the paint container whenever it emptied). Perhaps we'll still pursue that - anyone have buildings that need funky designs?
The next upgrade is to update software so it is less 'wobbly' using acceleration and deceleration rather than abrupt stop and go which is currently employed.
Check out the video of the printer here:http://www.youtube.com/user/GeekPhysical#p/u/3/6C-wn3oKQr0 and the photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/29889578@N05/sets/72157625827981787/
The equation describing the lengths of the belts as a function of print head position. A and B are where the belts are anchored and P is the printer head. R0 and R1 indicate length of belts and can be determined by equations given. The length of the belt can be translated into how many steps a stepper motor has to turn by multiplying by a factor of Z.
Jan 13, 2011
Behind The Scenes - Critical Corset Las Vegas Photo Shoot
Ah memories - good times with Sparkfun!
We distinctly remember this video being shot at about the 37th hour of non-sleep after travelling on something like 4 flights to get to Vegas from Tenerife. We had slept a bit of course, 2 hours here, 2 hours there but I'm surprised we remembered our names for this interview. AMAZING time with Sparkfun though, great memories.
We distinctly remember this video being shot at about the 37th hour of non-sleep after travelling on something like 4 flights to get to Vegas from Tenerife. We had slept a bit of course, 2 hours here, 2 hours there but I'm surprised we remembered our names for this interview. AMAZING time with Sparkfun though, great memories.
Jan 12, 2011
Laser, Laser
Okay so we're getting super itchy to buy a laser cutter after visiting http://1scale1.com/ before Christmas and making some really special reindeer which sparked a debate about the new terrorism - laser cut patterns resulting in oddities that one ponders for hours and days on end. The reindeer in question is still on my dining table, mocking me with it's bizarre body. Thanks to the designer by the way who probably doesn't have a clue what he's done.
Moving on.
Dzl, after spending hours trying to convince me to spend a LOAD of money on a laser cutter, has built his own in the meantime: granted, it's miniature but hey, it's fun and full of laser goodness. Laser, attached to a CNC machine, and now we have fun laser cut objects all over the house. Granted, they're all made out of paper, or like my camera lens cap, now have my email engraved into them, but good times nonetheless. Check out our 'interlude video' here:
Moving on.
Dzl, after spending hours trying to convince me to spend a LOAD of money on a laser cutter, has built his own in the meantime: granted, it's miniature but hey, it's fun and full of laser goodness. Laser, attached to a CNC machine, and now we have fun laser cut objects all over the house. Granted, they're all made out of paper, or like my camera lens cap, now have my email engraved into them, but good times nonetheless. Check out our 'interlude video' here:
Dec 23, 2010
Cakes N Cookies Froster (CNC
The Cakes N Cookies Froster (CNC) is an extension to an existing CNC machine. We bought cake decorating supplies and modified our CNC software to squirt cake frosting at the right time to make a happy Christmas decoration. The 'froster' is made from a decorating bottle for cake frosting, this is inside of a salad dressing shaker, which encases a stepper motor. The stepper motor drives a push plate to force out frosting. To prevent drip, the stepper motor is programmed to retract slightly between strokes (drawing). During strokes the push plate is continuously advanced at a slow speed set by a potentiometer.
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5hXYrbJSrU
Overall what happens is the CNC software reads a file that we've designed, in this case the word "xmas" (we apologize for the non-use of Christmas but the cookie is simply too small!) with a circle around it. This pattern is translated to movements (strokes) by the CNC software. Stepper motors on the CNC machine executes these movements, so the machine moves into position for each part of the pattern. At the same time, an additional stepper motor in the cake froster section pushes out frosting at appropriate intervals to make the pattern. The froster head is lifted between each stroke because we found that this makes a nicer pattern.
We encountered some frosting problems with this: it is not great for small cookies, since the frosting is so runny, either a stiffer frosting or a larger cookie might be better for a more precise design. Another, and more serious problem is what to do with the many cookies that were prototypes, and are now rather ugly, sugar covered rejects that we must somehow find a way to 'dispose' of. :)
Hope you have a happy Christmas! Next up...laser etched cookies... mmm toasty!
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5hXYrbJSrU
Overall what happens is the CNC software reads a file that we've designed, in this case the word "xmas" (we apologize for the non-use of Christmas but the cookie is simply too small!) with a circle around it. This pattern is translated to movements (strokes) by the CNC software. Stepper motors on the CNC machine executes these movements, so the machine moves into position for each part of the pattern. At the same time, an additional stepper motor in the cake froster section pushes out frosting at appropriate intervals to make the pattern. The froster head is lifted between each stroke because we found that this makes a nicer pattern.
We encountered some frosting problems with this: it is not great for small cookies, since the frosting is so runny, either a stiffer frosting or a larger cookie might be better for a more precise design. Another, and more serious problem is what to do with the many cookies that were prototypes, and are now rather ugly, sugar covered rejects that we must somehow find a way to 'dispose' of. :)
Hope you have a happy Christmas! Next up...laser etched cookies... mmm toasty!
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