The pulley/motor system for the inkvines is kind of a mess, but it did what I needed it to do for the moment. The smaller inkvines were suspended with simple wire loops drilled into the mounting board. while larger pulleys were hung (also via wire) to suspend the larger inkvines from.
The motor attachment I used for the pulley system was like this one from printables.com, though you may have to workshop the exact attachment size for your particular use. (or use a lot of hot glue), you're going to want to make sure there isn't a gap between where the attachment starts and where the motor does, otherwise the string will want to get stuck in that gap (hopefully that makes sense)!
This is the set up essentially.
The LEDs were simply stuck through drilled holes in the board.
For the sake of my first crits, I initially set up the project with the inkvines on the wall, the peepers just running around on the ground. and then I put a piece of blue felt on the ground.
I made a 'tent' with painted paper and some cheap pieces of wood that you had to duck into. I liked the idea of creating a 'space' and I felt like it invoked a 'subterranean' feeling (or of being a child making a blanket fort and playing pretend maybe...). It helped with the lighting, and I used a rented projector and a random video of a thunderstorm from YouTube for ambiance. Nothing about this feels 'done' at all.
I still like the idea of using a projector for a fake day-night cycle and 'weather events' but obviously didn't get this done in time for the project crit. For later though...
The tent however... I hate it honestly. I need to figure out some alternate ways of 'framing' the Ecosystem, and I think focusing on interaction (which there is really none of atm) is what I really need to be doing at this point.
I would not go so far to say these are the 'final form' but they are as far as I've gotten for my crits and therefore will mark the 1.0 stage. They are materially what I was aiming for, though I maybe skimped on my documentation a bit. whoops.
This post will be for the sculptural element, I will include wiring diagram + code in linked posts.
(sorry about the quality...) The final "skin" of the larger 3 ink vines (labeled a-c) were created first by sculpting the general shape out of plasteline around a basic piece of wood for structure, though whatever clay you would want to use is fine (or alternatives for making the shape).
I would try putting plastic wrap around the clay before doing the skin, it will make the removal process later on much easier and cleaner I'd hope.
I then used liquid latex, dyed black with acrylic paint and pieces of a cheap linen cloth (soaked in the latex, for strength) to start layering up the 'skins.' I also used black Plasti Dip to help strengthen the 'skin.' This was quite experimental for me, but I would suggest using thick layers of the plasti-dip as it does not tear as easily as the latex, or being very through with the fabric as I had a lot of tearing! Carefully peel the skin off of the clay once you are satisfied with the thickness!
For the small inkvines (D), I used long pieces of a nylon string with a few large cheap beads threaded along the bottom. I then dipped this in acrylic gesso to build up the shape. It was then painted with black acrylic, and to make it wet-looking I found this 'realistic water' medium.
I used more latex-dipped fabric and hot-glue to cover the hardware near the end!
As for the rigging, I used a large stepper motor attached to the bottom of the board and a pully system for the large inkvines, with simple wire loops for the small ones. I wanted the inkvines to glow a bit, so I included 5 blue LEDs, and drilled holes through the board for them to poke out. I also drilled a large hole for the motor's wiring to go through. I used some wood scraps to attach the inkvines to a wall, and later made a larger frame, but I will leave this up to your preference.
I will attach a few more details for the pulleys here. And my (most up-to-date) code here.
Here is the article I used to wire it! In-Depth: Control Stepper Motor with A4988 Driver Module & Arduino The only real alterations were the LEDS, which get attached to the digital pins (specified in code) and to whatever ground line you're using:
Materials:
Plasteline clay
Dippable Plasti-dip (you can buy for ~$10 at home depot, but you need to be an adult to buy it I believe, PLEASE USE IN VENTALATED SPACE if you do decide to use it, it's a cool material though.)
Cheap, thin fabric
Liquid Latex (if you want), find whatever suits your budget/needs, you can find quite a lot of it for cheap for prosthetics, or even at spirit Halloween!
Acrylic Paint (black)
Acrylic Gesso medium (or keep using the plasti-dip if you want, or alternative!)
Cheap beads
Nylon string (or alternative that won't fray or kink easily).
Realistic Water Medium
hot glue, wire, scrap wood, etc.
rubber gloves (for handling latex/plasti-dip)
weights of some kind (ex: rice in rubber-glove)
Hardware (same as previous post on Inkvines):
A4988 Stepper Motor Driver
1.8 Degree Nema 17 Motor Stepper Motor: NEMA 17 frame, single shaft, 61 oz-in holding torque (PN# STP-MTR-17040) | AutomationDirect with motor holder Nema 17 Mounting L Bracket for High Precision Planetary Geared Motor Alloy Steel Bracket for Hobby CNC/3D Printer - AliExpress 13
AC-DC Power Supply Mean Well LRS-100-48 | Same Day Shipping — TRC Electronics
General use chord like this one NEW General Purpose Cord 8 Ft. 16/3 Black Workshop Extension Cord Indoor Outdoor | eBay
pulleys (3 used for actual motion, the ones at the bottom were there as weights lol!)
Arduino Uno (off brand versions work) male/male wires & bread board. All of this you can get in an Arduino starter kit: Amazon.com: ELEGOO UNO Project Super Starter Kit with Tutorial and UNO R3 Board Compatible with Arduino IDE : Electronics
Blue LEDs, and resiters also found in above starter kit ^
220 Ω resistors
extra wire.
Having a wire stripper and jewelry needle-nose pliers and a flush cutter are really useful. Also a soldering set up, but I assume you have one if you're doing electronics!
I made these centipede-Esque legs as a demo for a previous project, and wanted to re-use them on one of the critters here but I haven't quite figured out how/if I will so I will just throw out this demo for now.
These were my original sketches/brainstorming for the project, I was thinking about various sensory inputs and how the various organisms might respond to those inputs and each other.
I am hoping to use a projector with a false day/night cycle + random weather events (?), a fan and audio track to enhance the weather events in particular, and some lights that the viewer can interact with.
I am thinking of it being a 'skototropic' ecosystem (which technically refers to a plant that grows away from light) which I am generally using to mean it's dark-loving.
I have a friend who made the design of the plant depicted on the bottom, I will make a post w/ proper credit and images of that later, I am just not sure yet if I'm actually going to make those parts.
I will not be making the tongue shoot out. But I’d like to try and make it scuttle around. Peepers are creatures that live in colonies, they are scavengers' complex communication systems and social behaviors, that rely on movement much like bees. The eye located on their backs are semi functional and used to scare off many of their would-be attackers. Some people have theorized that these eyes may be able to see into another world, as they have been known to exhibited certain strange behaviors in places of power.
Here are my horrendously janky first attempts at basic quadruped legs (extras to be added later) with a couple of servos.
And a latter attempt with 4 servos that makes it look like it's dancing! (also a terrible image of the early wiring):
Wiring diagram made on Cirkit Designer
Materials:
All of the electronic parts here were from this starter kit: Amazon.com: ELEGOO UNO Project Super Starter Kit with Tutorial and UNO R3 Board Compatible with Arduino IDE : Electronics
these sorts of screw spacers are good for keeping the Arduino uno elevated. Swpeet 150Pcs Nylon Round Spacer Standoff Screw Nut Assortment Kit, Nylon PA66 Plastic Standoff OD 11mm and ID 6.2mm Length 3mm 4mm 5mm 8mm 10mm 12mm 15mm 18mm 20mm 25mm for M6 Screws Prototyping: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific
