Model of a Delta Robot, 2017-2018
LEGO
For a while, I had been keeping a little notebook of design sketches and notes for various DIY concept printers and stampers. These were usually impractical devices for semi-automating the process of mark-making, with an eye toward the production of manually produced pixel-based images. During the research surrounding that effort, I read a lot about CNC machines. One design that fascinated me was the Delta robot, a three-armed, high-speed, high-precision robot originally designed to arrange many small items quickly for packaging. It has grown to have many applications including 3D printing.
To get more familiar with how such a device is built and operates, I decided to make a non-motorized working model from conveniently available materials. It was a fun challenge. MoC/my own creation, not from a preengineered LEGO set. Each of the three types of joint was its own problem to solve. Making a triangle shape from LEGO which only has studs in perpendicular arrays was enough of a problem that at first I built a square-based one with four arms. It was satisfying when I finally came up with a triangular solution. If I return to this model, I might add an “end effector” to the movable head. The end effector is the part which does the actual work of grabbing or printing.
Follow-on projects may include a redesign with LEGO motors and computer control, which would require significant reinforcement to the arms which are currently laughably fragile. If I get ambitious I might try something more serious with hobby motors, aluminum arms, and computer control. Of course, that wouldn’t satisfy the more manual side of the initial inspiration, so I may need to pursue that at some point, too.
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Draco Volans Nix, 2018
Snow, mulch, leaves, and berries
Lately when making snow sculptures, I’ve tried to choose subjects more interesting than the typical three-stacked-balls human figure. The wings were unsurprisingly tricky to manage. I wonder if using some sticks as an armature might open up some possibilities for sturdier, larger cantilevers.
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Another Mushroom Village, 2017
This is on the Northern border of 220 Brattle St in Cambridge. I enjoy these mycocosms with layer upon layer of structure, subtle color variations, and repeating, varying patterns.
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Oak Schematic, 2017
Glitter gel pen on paper
I think this one started somewhere while reading about patterns in tree branching. It’s introduced pretty well in The Secret of the Fibonacci Sequence in Trees by Aiden, a 7th grader in New York. That lead me to read about Leonardo Da Vinci’s rule about the ratio of the sum of the thickness of branches above to that of the trunk below. I had been doing some drawings of oak leaves on isometric paper. Putting that together with wanting to understand more about branching, I did some research about Oak trees. I read an article from the Annals of Botany called Analysing Branching Pattern in Plantations of Young Red Oak Trees (Quercus rubra L., Fagaceae) by Patrick Heuret, Yann Guédon, Natacha Guérard, and Daniel Barthélémy, published in 2003, which described the use of hidden semi-Markov models in branching sequence analysis. I learned about the apical meristem, axillary buds, and how auxin and cytokinin signal and govern plant growth. It became clear that branching was inextricably linked to the behavior of a tree’s root structure. Wanting to know more about that, I read Harvard Forest Paper No. 21: Development of the Root System of Northern Red Oak (Quercus Rubra L.) by Walter H. Lyford, published in 1980. I learned about the quiescent center, the root cellar, the inner root system, the outer root system, different lateral orders, and the soil horizons. During all this reading, I was taking notes and making sketches. Having developed a rudimentary understanding of a narrow shard of a very specific area of botany, I drew this simple schematic to help visualize some of what I had learned.
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Model of Marco Pagot’s Savoia S.21/Macchi M.33 Racing Flying Boat, 2015
LEGO
This is a plane from a Studio Ghibli film called 紅の豚/Kurenai no Buta or Porco Rosso. The plane’s design is a beautiful bunch of bulging ovals, sweeping curves, gentle arcs, and rounded edges all connected with spindly posts and fine wires. LEGO is perhaps not the most accurate medium of choice for this subject. Nevertheless. We work with what we have. MoC/my own creation made from a massive mix of parts from the family collection. Bonus: In one shot there’s also an ultra-simple model of the Mehve/Möwe/gull jet-glider from 風の谷のナウシカ/Kaze no Tani no Naushika/Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind with a Nausicaä minifig carrying an Ohmu eye canopy.
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