Final project
The idea
I live in a small town in the east of Iceland, Neskaupstaður. The town is in a fjord called Norðfjörður. We are surrounded by tall mountains and the sea is so close. Sometimes whales, small and big, appear above the surface and I am so faccinated by the thought about everything that is hidden under the surface.
I find the Humpback whale very interesting. It is beautiful and playful animal. It is a large whale and i don't think it has visited our ford but it can be found all around Iceland. Fortunately, this is not an endangered species. It is common for the Humpback whale to travel all the way to the Caribbean ocean and back to Iceland. You can read about a research on it here.
Map of Humpback's traveling routes. Mackay, 2015.
What will the final project look like?
In Week 02 I developed the idea and here you can see what it could possibly look like:
As you can see, the idea is to 3D print a model of a whale and make it hover over a map. To be able to let it float in the air I wanted to use a levitation module that uses magnetic force to let a float hover in the air. Then I would design the model in a way that the float would stay inside the model. I would rasterize the map on to a plexiglass plate and maybe mould and cast a small replica of Iceland, where I live. Then I would use LED that would light up one by one to show the traveling route of the whale.
This project would be made for people who want to visualize, and in a certain way connect themselves to an animal or species. It should also be an reminder that we, the human kind, should respect and care for our nature and the living beings that share it with us. This could also be used by teachers in STEM education.
Levitation
As I mentioned in Week 01, I saw a levitation model used in the final project called Cloudio in Fab Academy by Wim Lance and it made me want to use levitation.
My instructor, Svavar Konráðsson sent me a link to this video. Here it is explained how the levitation module works, where it can be bought (Bambu Lab) and how to make 3D printed models levitate. it also has links to other information on using a levitation module with different types of 3D models. In the video it is also shown how a 3D module can be balanced with steel balls that Bambu Lab suggests using when it is difficult to balance models.
This video gave me important information because in the beginning I was worried that it might be hard to find the right balancing point. I bought the levitation module before Fab Academy began and tested it. When trying it out I found that when I didn't find the right balance everything collapsed. Since I want to 3D print a whale, which is very irregular in shape, I might have problems with balancing it right. Maybe it might be a good idea to make room for steel balls to be able to balance it if necessary.
Here you can see information about the levitation model and how it works. I bought my levitation model Here.
Tracking of whales
I contacted the Marine and freshwater research institute in Iceland and they were so kind to send me GPS information on the travels of Humpback whale and a Mink whale. I was surprised to see that the paths didn't show their travels further south, but I was told that the batteries run out. After the batteries run out the whales can be identified by taking photos of their tail and over 1000 individual Humpback whales have been identified, as you can read about here. I find that very interesting.
When I looked at information on Mink whales, I started to think about changing from Humpback whale to Mink whale, because I like the too, but I have to make a decision soon.
Travels of Humpback whales, Marine and freshwater research institute, 2025.
Travels of a Mink whale, Marine and freshwater research institute, 2025.