Week 01 - Jan 18th 2012 - Principles and Practices
Weekly Assignment - Final Project Proposal
Hello! My name is Joel and I'm excited to be participating in the Fab Academy this year. I've posted a short about page to give some more details on my background and interests. Throughout the course I will also be compiling a links page with pointers to things I've found useful and interesting.
The aim this week is to design a project to incorporate as many fablab techniques as possible. This is tricky when you don't know the full capabilities of all the available resources. With that in mind, the initial project ideas must come from our current expertise, interests, knowledge of existing fabrication work, potential solutions to everyday problems, and more than likely solutions to potential problems. Below are a selection of project ideas (please excuse the quality of the sketches!) with outlines of how they might work...
Suggestion 1 - Post-it Plotter
A combination of twitter, an answerphone machine and writing messages on post-it notes. This device will connect to a twitter account, and detect incoming messages. The number of new messages will be displayed on a counter on the front, and individual messages will be viewable on a small LCD screen. The user will then have the choice to move on to the next new message, or to print the current message at which point the machine will plot the text of the message using a CNC controlled pen onto a post-it note, to be stuck somewhere useful!
Suggestion 2 - Cot Rocker
A few friends have babies, and are developing quite impressive forearms from rocking pushchairs and cribs back and forth. This device would consist of four leg units and a central control unit. The leg units would sit beneath each leg of a cot, and be able to move the leg smoothly up and down. The control unit would synchronise the four leg units to provide user-selectable motion patterns (side-to-side, round-and-round etc), and allow the speed to be altered and a timer to be set.
Suggestion 3 - Personal Workstation
We all have different needs when we are working at a desk; this desk would be built as a custom piece of furniture to suit a specific end-user. Features would include in-built moulded speakers, shelving for monitors and storage, charging stations and stands for mobile devices and an in-built tablet PC that can be set up to work as a second monitor for a main computer, or a stand-alone device. The desk height will be adjustable by controlling pistons on either side. Cable routing and power provision will be discretely located to keep cables hidden.
Suggestion 4 - Bicycle Navigation
Bicycle touring is as much about getting lost as it is about reaching your destination. Currently available routing solutions, for instance GPS-enabled Garmin devices or smartphones, give very precise directional information but sometimes this is too much, and gets in the way of enjoying the ride. This device would provide a low level of directional information, without overwhelming the user. Route information, in the form of GPS waypoint markers, would be loaded into the device via usb (also providing power to recharge the internal power source) before a trip. In use, the device will be affixed to the handlebars and will point in the general direction of travel. If the user goes too far off-route, the device will indicate this, and will point back to the last successfully reached waypoint, thus providing a more subtle form of navigation aid.
Of course, these ideas are entirely subject to change, and may well be replaced entirely in the coming weeks once we become more accustomed with the fablab facilities.