A “wallflower” is someone who is shy, and who no one really knows. But that person can be some of the most interesting people we have ever met. This project is a tribute to those seemingly shy, yet extraordinarily interesting people. The materials I used to make this installation include felt, 2-ply paper, heat-bound paper, about 8 […]
I wanted to make something that would bloom. I used some folding patterns developed by Ron Resch and simplified them into a unit. Below is the diagram. Folding lamp Matrix I used did a series of tests to determine what the best stitch pattern for a shrinking flexinol wire. These are the diagrams: Folding lamp […]
trained nitinol into spring form with the threads of a screw as the mold: nitinol un-sprung: nitinol sprung: diamond pleat folded structure: nitinol spring inside: after applying heat: wiring to lilypad: mosfet setup: switch: setup in progress: So far it works with a heat gun…. d
Flexinol wire can exhibit an astonishing grace when it lifts up with current and then relaxes without. I find this movement particularly elegant when the piece of fabric (with flexinol stitched in) is suspended. Then, the action of lifting up with current then slowly releasing without is most balletic.
Easter is right around the corner! Bunny Ears bring a paper bunny to life as it wiggles and moves its ears. 1. Cut out the bunny shaped template pictured below. You can download the pdf version at the bottom of this post. 2. Use conductive tape, flexinol, mosfet to outline the circuitry depicted below. Use […]
Nonwoven: An assembly of textile fibers held together by mechanical interlocking
Our assignment this week was to “create a soft, flexible, textile-based sensor and embed it in an Arduino project. Design a textile construction that changes shape using flexinol (nitinol) wire.“
For my shape changing textile assignment I wanted to play with not only shape but also exposing layers/color and programmed movement. I created two blocks of color overlayed on top of two additional pieces of felt so that when they would lift up, they would expose a new color. They also seemed to resemble kites […]
For the shape changing textile assignment I wanted to make a walking caterpillar. I used 4 Flexinol wires and made 4 flexible arcs. The idea is to mimic the caterpillar walk by shrinking each arc at a time. I designed the shape in Solidworks in sheetmatal format so I will be able to flatten in […]
I decided to call this project “paper lungs” since the way piece of origami contracts and expands with the motion of the nitinol wire reminds me of lungs. To amplify the subtle motion of nitinol wire, I folded a chevron patterned origami piece that cooperatively expands or contracts in both the horizontal and vertical directions […]