Fundamentals for Future Makers¶
Measure Twice, Cut Once
During the (Fun)damentals for Future Makers course we explored various production techniques and basic electronics. Played and experimented with Barduino, inputs & outputs, laser cutting, 3D printing, CNC milling, casting and molding, biomaterials and touch designer! My background in design made me already interacted with some of the technologies such as laser cutting and 3D printing however other technologies were the first time i have got the chance to work with. This is a quick reflection of what i have learned, but first the most important take away from the course; measure twice, cut once.
Inputs & Outputs¶
In the pre-courses we have already worked with FabLab to unlock basic electronics understandings and built quick prototypes. This course was a brief repeat to remember what we’ve learned throughout the pre-course. I worked on my project where i tried to combine barduino and a LED strip; when the touch sensor senses a proximity LEDs turns from cold colors (blue, green) to warm colors (red, orange). If there’s a touch, the buzzer on the bardunio creates a sound (and buzz). Although i couldn’t achieve this outcome fully, i experimented with the combination of different elements and figuring out the code.
Laser Cutting¶
Laser Cutting course had several steps where we prepared our rhino files and send them to cut. We used a premade rhino file of 2D shapes and added more details into the file. These details strated off as random shapes, then quickly turned into intentional decisions where we considered margins, layers, and the space between lines. Cutting the material first hand, and learning small but highly important points ,such as turning the ventilation before starting anything, were the key learning points for me.
3D Printing¶
I used 3D printing technologies before (6 years ago), however; i haven’t realized how much I forgot! This course was a valuable refresher for me to revisit my previous learnings and the machines we have at IAAC. My main take away was learning how to use bamboo lab, and the important details of the interface. For this course we printed a small maze, next i would like to try a more organic or non linear structure to test supports and smoothness of the layers.
CNC Milling¶
This was the first time i used CNC milling, and honestly the most scary one! We created a bed for our printed maze. While preparing the rhino file, we stumbled on several problems, and fails. Some really important points; - think about the technology you are using and design according to its limitations and possibilities, or pick another technology - consider the size of the bit and your working area, decide on the space between cutting lines accordingly - know your material and how it might behave during milling - always check the cutting depth and your bit (50% rule) to avoid damaging the machine This is the course i failed the most, and learned the most.
Casting and Molding¶
I have never worked with casting materials and had no prior knowledge about the ratios and materials. Therefore, this course was full of learning for me. We didn’t realize that we would be using the box we made with laser cutting, so we were concered that the mold might not come out. We did the casting anyways and used oil to help removing part. In the end, it was came out smooth and even the small details were visible!
Touch Designer¶
Touch designer is a program that I’ve been curious about. This course was a quick introduction of what we can achieve by using touch designer, how we can use in our projects and its possibilities in general. Also we made a basic animation for fundamentals of the program. I’d like to experiment more to expand my knowledge and my toolset.
Biomaterials¶
In my projects, i mostly use metals or wood but never tried to create my own material! During this course i realized the potential of creating my own material to use and tailoring it to projects. We have used different recipes with wooden molds and also with the mold we made in the casting course! Our mold was soft and there was only one recipe that would be suitable for that (since the mold is soft, the material had to be hard). We initially thought that the biomaterial might not be able to come out because the material is not hard enough, however; after curing it shrinked a bit and was easy to take it out. At the end, the material was messy because of the additional coloring we added at the end. After this course I got more interested in the biomaterials and we did a little workshop with Agnes at the Valldaura Labs where we cooked different recipes, included some materials we collected (berries for color, acorns) and tried to do a bioprinting on a shirt. The shirt didn’t turn out great since there was no sun :’)