ARCH 4050/6306 Connective Environments Fall 2019

Urban Synergetics Lab - University of North Carolina at Charlotte

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Welcome

Welcome to the Connective-Environments Fall 2020 blog. We will be using this blog in addition to the Instagram accounts as the main repository to document the awesome things you will be designing and to document your progress.

In order to post in this blog, you will need to join the group through the invitation you received, and create your account if you don’t have one yet. Couple rules of good practice:

1. Keep the blog’s wall neat.

To keep the wall neat, it is a good practice to add a “Read More” break in your text after the first few sentences that will direct a reader to the full extended post. If you don’t do that, the blog’s wall will soon be crowded with lengthy posts. You can add a “read more” break either in Rich Text format or in HTML format.

To add a “read more” break in Rich Text format, press Enter so that you create a new line and the following four icons will appear:

Click on the last of the four (the one with the three dots).

You can read more about this here.

Keep in mind that the “read more” breaks work only in text-based posts (like this one); they do not work in photo-based posts. Use a concise descriptive sentence before you add the “read more” break so that readers can understand the topic of the post.

2. Use consistent tags.

Use the following tags when you write:

#assignments, #assignment_1, #assignment_2, #assignment_3, #assignment_4, #final_paper, #links, #your_current_team_name, etc., and generally any other tag that others can use too.

Since you will be switching teams throughout the semester, use a tag with your current team’s name in order to group posts according to each team.

3. Document your work for others

Post photos documenting in detail your work and your process. Others should be reading your posts and learn from you. Focus on what works and what does not work. Explain why. Don’t just post a photo with a one-liner. I will show more examples of what it means to document work. Until then, you can have a look at my own class webpage when I took How to Make (Almost) Anything class (not necessarily the best example) at MIT. Also make sure you have a look and explore the websites of other students, in more recent years, in that class, in how they document their work here, or more specifically:2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, …..Web documentation is graded.

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The first team’s toy car uses a windup motor with a coil made out of Delrin. The axles were implemented using steel square-section hollow bars.

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Reviews, Uploads, Website, and Readings

Read carefully the following (also uploaded in Google Drive here):

1. Reviews for Tuesday and deliverables for assignment 2

Each team will have 20 minutes of time (buzzer will sound at 10 minutes to give time for discussion). Presentation instructions: 

1. Up to 10 slides documenting: 

Design concept and inspirations 

Drawings and axonometrics: front/top/back/side views and axonometric (isometric view – not perspective) 

Axonometric exploded view showing all parts (see example) 

Analysis/explanation of how the motor works including gear ration and, if possible, kinetic energy and torque 

Fabrication and assembly process 

Challenges faced and solutions 

Assembly analysis including: liaison graph, adjacency matrix, assembly sequence. 

Flexure joint details 

A conclusion with what you learned from this experiment

Use a consistent color pallet for your drawings and presentation. Diagrams and line drawings should be monotone: only one color allowed; any number of shades. Use a consistent line weight and no more than two line types. Do not present screenshots from your Rhino screen. You will be judged not only on content but also on quality of your presentation. 

2. A working prototype of your car demonstrating rigidity and robustness of your design 

3. Live demonstration of how your car works. Your car will need to be able to independently move for at least two feet.

2. Google Drive Uploads (due Wednesday 12pm)

Slideshow (Powerpoint or PDF) 

High-resolution, high-quality photos of the final prototype (white background) 

High-resolution, high-quality photos of the the assembly process (white background) 

All photos must be taken using white background. You can use the table in the Urban Synergetics Lab as a proper background for photos. 

A high quality video on white background video demonstrating your car moving. The camera should be still (e.g. in a tripod – not using your hands) and the entire background should be white 

High resolution photorealistic renderings 

The laser cut sheet files in an appropriate replicate-able format (DXF, dwg, AI, Rhino, etc) 

Rhino 3D model and Grasshopper file (if used) of your final car 

PDFs of drawings and axonometrics 

Photos of sketches, diagrams 

3. Reviewers 

Confirmed reviewers include: Greg Snyder, Mark Manack, Catty Dan Zhang. Full list of reviewers will be announced on Monday.

4. Website/Blog

Each week you are required to upload and document your work in the website. Web documentation is a requirement of the class – not an optional feature and you are being graded on that. Upload your documentations in the website by the end of the day tomorrow. I expect to see a narrative of your work. See instructions posted in the blog/website here.

5. Readings and homework for next Thursday

Come prepared to discuss in class the following (all readings have been uploaded in Google Drive week 3): 

Required 

Read chapters 1-10 (PDF) from Petzold, Charles. Code : The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software. Book, Whole. Redmond, Wash., 2000. 

Read chapters 2-5 (PDF) from Pierce, John R. Introduction to Information Theory: Symbols, Signals and Noise. Book, Whole, 2012. 

Optional 

Read chapters 1-2 (jpg files) from Stone, James V. Information Theory : A Tutorial Introduction. First Edition. Book, Whole. Sheffield, United Kingdom], 2015. 

In teams of 3, discuss the following: 

In your own words, what is Information Theory, what it allows us to know/do, and how? What is information entropy and why is it important in communication? 

Discuss how Information Theory can be applied in designing/creating a communication system that is tangible (e.g. not relying on electricity or sound)? Can you imagine one? Bring examples or sketches.

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Assignment 3

DESCRIPTION

Is it possible to design a physical mechanism such that it tells us “yes” for some input configurations while “no” for others?

Suppose that input configurations are framed as combinations of simple questions that can have a “yes” or “no” state. If such mechanism existed and there was a way to have inputs controlled by stimuli from the environment while outputs to control actuators, then the system would be able to make decisions based on environmental inputs, and interact logically with the environment, by utilizing natural energy and design.

Consider each input as a ‘switch’ that can take two states. On one hand, the state of a switch can control flow or transfer of energy. On the other hand, flow of energy can control the state of a switch. By using the flow of energy that is controlled by one switch to control another switch, cascades of switches can be created that work as relays. Depending on the configuration of the states of two linked switches, a relay can be forward, meaning that a change in the state of the input switch causes a similar change in the state of the output switch, or reverse, meaning that a change in the state of the input switch causes an opposite change in the state of the output switch. By combining forward and backward relays logic gates can be created, which are the fundamental blocks for building logic circuits. Logic gates take two inputs and produce an output.

In this assignment, working in teams of 2-3 persons, you have to design a mechanically computing device that can interact with a user, by a physical medium (material) of your choice. You will start by exploring how to design a switch, a relay, and the three basic logic gates (AND, OR, and NOT) and you will then combine these components to design a more complex device. You must focus on what your device does, how it interacts with a user, and how it uses/stores energy to perform computation. You can see examples of logic gates made out of train sets in the following link: http://www.cr31.co.uk/stagecast/trains/tt2_func_gates.html

STEPS

Step 1:

Read chapters 10, 11, 12, and 13 from The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software, on logic circuits. You will find the book as a PDF in the readings subfolder in our Google Drive folder. Then go through the slideshow presentation that was presented in class on Monday (you will find this in the Lectures subfolder).

Step 2:

Go to http://www.cr31.co.uk/stagecast/trains/index.html. Read sections “Intro” and “Functions” and subsections “Mechanical Logic,” “Add/subtract,” “Multiply,” and “Divide” in the menu on your right hand. Then go to https://channel9.msdn.com/Shows/themakershow/The-Maker-Show-Mini-GraviComp-Mechanical-Computer and https://www.turingtumble.com/, Turing Tumble Simulator, and Dr Nim marble computer, and go through the presentations. These give you examples of different ways of how to create relays, logic gates, flip-flops (another component of computer logic), and functional logic circuits with simple physical/mechanical means.

Step 3:

Design a switch and a relay, that you will develop by any physical means you want. Energy flow examples are mechanical movement, fluid movement, wind flow, vehicle traffic, electrical current, sound, pressure, etc. Think creatively. When designing your relay, you must ask yourself “how does my relay harvest, store, and release energy in order to change another relay?” and “how can multiple relays connect in a cascade such that when one relay changes its state, it triggers its connecting relay to change its state as well?”

Step 4:

Design the three basic logic gates (AND, OR, NOT) with the relay you developed in step 3. Create a functional prototype for each one of the three gates in the woodshop/fablab. You can use any material of fabrication method.

Step 5: Create a mechanically computing machine. For example, you can create a binary adding or subtracting machine (see chapters 12 and 13 from Petzold) or a machine that compares, divides, multiplies numbers or does logic, using marbles.

ASSIGNMENT OVERVIEW

We will spend 3rd and 4th weeks covering topics on information and computation from a mechanical/physical perspective. We will also have a tutorial on mechanical computation using the Turing Tumble game. You are expected to explore online resources on your own and combine the skills that you learned in assignments 1 and 2 in creating your computing device. Like in assignment 2, you plan ahead and order any materials you will need for your project.

Software

We will be using Rhino (either v5 or v4) and Grasshopper. If you haven't installed the software, please do so. If you don't have a licensed copy of Rhino, you can download a free, fully operational, evaluation version from McNeel's website (http://www.rhino3d.com/download) that can save up to 30 times. We will also be using two plugins for designing gears in Rhino: the GearGen RVB script (http://www.rayflectar.com/Rhino/RhinoScripts-Gallery.htm) and the GearGenerator Grasshopper plugin component (http://lmnts.lmnarchitects.com/wp-content/plugins/download-monitor/download.php?id=33). GearGenerator works only on Rhino 5. Install both of them as well, and try to familiarize yourselves as much as possible with them. Additional links for Gear Generating scripts may be provided later.

Laser cutter

Plan ahead to reserve spots in the SOA laser cutter. If you want to move this reserved time window earlier or later than our class time, please let me know so that I can arrange that. You will need to be trained to use the laser cutter. Contact SOA Fab Lab for training.

MATERIALS

The SOA fab lab will have a limited stock. You should plan ahead to get the materials you need from other vendors by third or fourth class, the latest, to start working on your prototypes. When buying materials from other vendors, please make sure that anything you intend to cut on the laser is an approved material (acrylic or PETG are OK), some plastics are absolutely not OK to cut with the laser (copolyester, vinyl). By far, the best plastic to use for mechanical parts is Delrin

Contact Alex Cabral ([email protected]) and Robby Sachs ([email protected]) for materials

Also:

Tadd Walters ([email protected]), Sales Representative, Piedmont Plastics, 5010 West W.T. Harris Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28269

ALTEC plastics (http://www.altecplastics.com/)

McMaster-Carr (http://www.mcmaster.com/)

RELEVANT READINGS

Petzold, Charles. Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software. Redmond, Wash.: 2000.

Stewart, Ian. "Commuters and Computers: The Intelligent Subway."Mathematics Institute University of Warwick, Coventry, UK.

Hayes, Brian. "Trains of Thought." American Scientist 95, no. 2 (2007): 108.

Chalcraft, Adam and Michael Greene. "Train Sets." Eureka 53, no. 5 (1994): 12.

LINKS

Dr. Nim

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/kbz5ay/the-computer-made-of-nothing-but-plastic-and-marbles

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KABcmczPdg

Turing Tumble

Educator Guide PDF (contains useful information about the mechanics of computation)

Practice guide PDF

Turing Tumble Simulator by Jesse Crossen

JSTumble by Lode Vandevenne.

Computing Trains

http://www.cr31.co.uk/stagecast/trains/index.html

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