Wooden Bike Frame

Haven't been on here in ages! But here's an update with what I'm working on at the moment in uni. The brief was to find a product made of steel, plastic or concrete and redesign it with a lower impact material. Hence redesigning a steel frame to be made of wood.

Still a lot of work to do before I'm ready to prototype. Firstly I'll CNC a scaled down foam model, just to make sure the CAD model is all good. The second prototype will be another scaled down model, this time out of ply. This way I can test the joints. The final model will be constructed out of my chosen wood and plans to be half size, however if feasible I will construct a full size frame.

I'm back.

Back from the Easter Holiday's and ready to crack on with my next uni project... or two. Basically we've been given a choice of two briefs, one being a competition with a deadline in 3 weeks. So I thought, why not try and bang out two projects? I'll put pictures etc up as I begin working on ideas, peace out dudes and dudettes.

Beer Can Sofa

This is a side project me and a friend at uni are working on, the aim is to construct a sofa out of empty drinks cans (mainly beer as you can probably see). So far we've glued around 100 cans, give or take a few. We're not working to any drawings, we're basing it on the sofa in the studio next door. By the time it's completed we estimate we'll have used approximately 1000 cans. We're still working on the seating aspect of it, as you can probably tell sitting on a load of cans isn't going to be too comfortable. More pics/info as it comes :)

KONY2012

I haven't been on here in a while, but to all the people who find themselves here, please watch this and share it if you haven't already done so, this needs to end.

I've donated and ordered an action pack, but just sharing the video and signing the pledge will help the cause.

Sandcasting

Source:http://www.efunda.com/processes/metal_processing/sand_casting_intro.cfm

Sandcasting is a form of casting in which a molten metal is poured into a cast made from natural or synthetic sand.

http://dtzone.com/resmat/m_ind_sand_casting_step_by_step.htm

Shape Memory Alloys

A shape-memory alloy (SMA, smart metal, memory metal, memory alloy, muscle wire, smart alloy) is an alloy that "remembers" its original, cold-forged shape: returning the pre-deformed shape by heating. This material is a lightweight, solid-state alternative to conventional actuators such as hydraulic, pneumatic, and motor-based systems. Shape-memory alloys have applications in industries including medical and aerospace.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shape-memory_alloy

Basically, if you heat an SMA above its transition temperature, it will form into a certain shape. This has to be 'trained' so that it can remember the shape. After it cools it will return back to its original shape.

Self Healing Materials

Self Healing Materials are materials that have the build in capabillity to repair (early stage) damage, that would finally lead to material failure, autonomously, or with minor external stimulus. Evidently nature is a major source of inpiration for his type of research: living organisms already possess the property of autonomous repair of damage (wound healing, recovery of broken limbs).
Source: http://www.selfhealingmaterials.nl/index_eng.htm

Completely automatic means of Self Healing can be achieved by placing microcapsules within an epoxy system. If a crack occurs, the capsules (filled with a monomer) burst and the contents will fill the crack. This will cause the monomer to polymerise, creating polymers chains to heal the crack.
Sounds complicated, but it works and could be used on a large variety of products.

Piezoelectric Materials

Piezoelectric materials converts mechanical stress/movement into an electrical current. There are a lot of applications for this technology, which I will be exploring in my sketchbook.
Source:http://www.buypiezo.com/piezo-eco-nightclub-in-britain/

Flexible LCD Screens

Flexible LCD screens have a lot of potential for a large variety of products. The screens use  plastic films rather than a glass base, so it can be bent. However, the positioning of the layers is difficult, the screens are made up of multiple colour filtering layers. The production method is said to use fewer processes, so the construction would be easier for manufacturers. The technology is still very new, and a few more years of testing are required to ensure the display quality does not deteriorate over time.

Office in a box

This design is brilliant at saving space and providing a room will multiple uses. All the furniture needed for an office fold out of the wall unit, and includes drawers, a desk, a chair built into the unit and various shaped cupboards.
Source:http://dornob.com/office-in-a-box-wall-furniture-unit-desk-shelves-system/