August Volden Skara

[augustskara]

Final brief - my final post

I have made an interactive bathtub toy. It is meant for children in all ages.

It is strange that the selection of bathroom toys is so limited. The bathroom is one of the most robust rooms in the entire house, still the most popular toy is the silly toy ducks. They have been there forever!

  I wanted to make a more interesting toy. I landed on the courier dragon. It is an interactive water dragon, that turns grumpy and spits water when you give him more cargo (in the shape of  water).  To make him more animal-like, I added a hinge to the back of his head, so you can variate the water beam. I wanted it to be a toy that doesn’t become boring at once, so I made it asymmetrical (in a symmetrical way). The same I did with the coloring. It looks more real now. Because of the realism is not embarrassing to play with it at all, even if you are a grown man.

The courier dragon is powered by a water sensor and a water pump. The water you give the dragon, is not the water that is shot however.

[augustskara]

Final brief 15/12

Today I placed the dragon and ducks inside the environment. I made the final posters, and mounted them up on the side of the installation. 

I don't know if you are familiar with the tale of Akersberget. It is one of the oldest silver mines ever used in Norway (said to be discovered in the 1100's). Today Akersberget is only marked by the 250 year old red restaurant just outside school. And the silver mine has been a source of myths and tales.

It is a myth said that a great dragon made the caves and carved them out. The dragon rests below surface and guard a great treasure, built below Gamle Aker kirke. The church is said to be resting on four golden pillars and between this pillars there is said to be a pond where golden ducks swim around. The treasure is hidden inside the pond.

(because I am said to be a liar, I post the link as well)

This is just an anecdote from my installation.

My final post will come tomorrow, when my presentation is all done. 

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Final brief 13 13/12 - 14/12

This is my final video. I wanted to make it enjoyable, and that it shows how you use the project together with the target group.

The film is available on Youtube AND Vimeo!

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Final brief 14/12

Now everything is rigged in order. 

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Final brief 13/12

Today I recorded my movie. Fortunately I got a lot of help from my best friends.

I bought a smoke machine last week, and during the recording, it filled the whole house with steam. 

I wanted my movie to be parted up in two pieces. One mysterious one, with all the fog and the scare of the sea monster. This setting was supposed to be a bit frightening. The second piece on the other hand, was going to be almost opposite. The setting should be overfilled with joy in an maybe ironic way. The music should lighten up when we discovered that all of the scare was just an imagination. The smiles are cheese, so is the music.

I wanted to step on the iconic toy ducks with my sea dragon. It is strange that the kids toy for the bathroom are so limited. That is the reason why I wanted the dragon to spit water on them.

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Final brief 12/12

I painted the dragon in a matte style, and added paint on details like the teeth, the cargo and eyes.

I feel that I am done with the model.

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Final brief 11/12

The hinge didn't work as planned. I will work on the mouth, and try to make open when the water is pumped out.

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Final brief 11/12

Today I troweled the whole figure, I sandpapered it and painted it in primer, green color and gloss varnish. I added a hinge to the mouth, so the "spitting" would be more dynamic and animal-like.

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Final brief 10/12

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Final brief 9/12 - 10/12

I still use the green foam, and I use epoxy putty as well to seal gaps, and make details like teeth and eyes. 

I want to make the sea monster as an iconic sea monster, like Nessie in Lock Ness.

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Final Brief 7/12 - 8/12

I sketched up different ideas on how to make the cannon. But I didn't feel comfortable with the pouring reasons. I decided to sketch up some other ideas that I though was interesting. I chose the fire boat and the sea monster. 

It would be cool if the fire boat cannon was hand held by a fireman, and the hose was connected to a water barrel. But the water didn't go through the hose, but into the water barrel and through the fireman.

The sea monster idea was the one that I thought was most exciting. The water pump is angled straight along the x-axis of the boat, and the water blast will go straight in front of the boat. If I placed a head in the very front, I could make the water come out from the mouth.

And the reasons why the water comes out of the mouth is rather a lot. I have landed on the cargo-solution. That the sea monster is a courier with a lot of cargo. If there comes any more weight, the sea monster turns edgy and spits water ahead of itself. 

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Final brief 6/12

After I hooked my wires wrong, my laptop went black. When I started it up again the USB reader didn't read the arduino.

But as you can see, the water canon shoots really well. I am pleased to see that the beam fits so well to the bath tub.

Hopefully my USB reader will be back to normal tomorrow, so I can test it with the water sensor as well.

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Final brief 4/12

I fastened the pump and the sensor to my model, using glue gun and epoxy putty. But when I placed the model in the water, the pump's weight made the boat bend forward, so the fire beam would go straight down in the water. I attached some weight in the very back to even it up. I used stainless steel. 

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Final brief 3/12

Making my final model.

I though it would be a good idea to make the whole construction out of populus. I tried to make it float and it was of course no problem.

But of course it is stupid as well. My model is meant to be used by children, and therefore tree is too heavy, static and serious. Plastic is way more easy to use. Double curvature bending wouldn't be an issue, and it would be easier to shape. It wouldn't be that time consuming. 

I made a model out of green foam. 

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Final brief 2/11

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Final brief 2/12

Since the boat was filled with water (and sunk) when the pump was running, I made an opening in the bottom. The same opening the water you spill in (to activate the canon), will disappear through. I mounted the water sensor to a coffee cup, and it is the coffee cup I want you to pour the water into.

The hole in the bottom and the coffee cup draft worked better than expected. 

I feel I am ready to go ahead and work on my final model. 

[augustskara]

Final brief 1/12