Ben Light
Tornado Alley
A kinetic sculpture of small wooden houses and a windmill, when you blow on the windmill all of the houses spin as if in a tornado.
Classes
Constructing Generative Systems
Constructing Generative Systems
Little wooden houses are placed in a row with an old fashioned windmill in front of them. When the user blows on the windmill the houses begin to spin. All of the houses spin at different speeds and one needs to blow pretty hard to get the last house in the line to spin.
This interaction is created using a series of DC motors for each house and an arduino reading the signal from the spinning fan to control the speeds of the motors.
Warning: Using this sculpture can cause sever light headed-ness.
Background
I have been working with 3D printed windmills in another class (sculpting data) and have grown to love the shape. I like the idea of getting the piece to move by blowing on it.
Audience
People of all ages. I think people will blow on it till they get very light headed.
User Scenario
A user approaches the piece and sees 5 non-spinning wooden houses. The user blows on the windmill and one by one the houses start to spin. The windmill needs to spin very fast to get the last house to spin. I see many people giving up before they get all of the houses to spin (or pass out from hyper ventilating).
Implementation
Almost all of the materials came from the junk shelf or previous projects - nothing bought specifically for this piece.
Conclusion
I've burned out a few motors and gone through many iterations on my circuit. But I am much more confident with building circuits and programming Arduino. To quote Todd, "this stuff is easy".
This interaction is created using a series of DC motors for each house and an arduino reading the signal from the spinning fan to control the speeds of the motors.
Warning: Using this sculpture can cause sever light headed-ness.
Background
I have been working with 3D printed windmills in another class (sculpting data) and have grown to love the shape. I like the idea of getting the piece to move by blowing on it.
Audience
People of all ages. I think people will blow on it till they get very light headed.
User Scenario
A user approaches the piece and sees 5 non-spinning wooden houses. The user blows on the windmill and one by one the houses start to spin. The windmill needs to spin very fast to get the last house to spin. I see many people giving up before they get all of the houses to spin (or pass out from hyper ventilating).
Implementation
Almost all of the materials came from the junk shelf or previous projects - nothing bought specifically for this piece.
Conclusion
I've burned out a few motors and gone through many iterations on my circuit. But I am much more confident with building circuits and programming Arduino. To quote Todd, "this stuff is easy".