PRACTICAL 3

 🔧 What did we do for this practical?

💬 Before the practical

For this practical, we were introduced to the use of this material called corrugated fiberboard AKA "carton box cardboard".

Before the practical, we did an intensive research on the material itself and recorded a short paragraph of around 150 words for it, as shown below.

📢 Briefing before the practical

Before we actually started on the hands on stuff, Dr. Noel & the coaches from the Fablab gave us an introduction on the material as well.

We learnt that cardboard is very useful for prototypes as the material is easy to handle, very sturdy due to its corrugated structure and a very accessible material. We can literally go to the nearby supermarket and ask for free cardboards! Lastly, Dr. Noel specified that "This is not child's play but it is also adult's play". So, we must put in our fullest efforts to learn and fully utilize cardboards to our very own advantages!

Next, we were introduced to different joineries that we can do for carboards. Examples being flanges, slot, tabs, brass fasteners and score.

An example board was given to us in the lab that showed various joineries.

🔨 During the practical

Now, it is time for the group to create our very own cardboard joineries display board! We were tasked to create at least 8 different models that utilize different types of joineries and we were to present the board at the end.

An example is shown below:

At the start, we went into the practical head first without any planning whatsoever, thinking that ideas will magically appear out of nowhere halfway through the session. Mr. Walter came to stop us and reminded us that we should always plan first before executing any actions.

From his comment, we started to reflect and learnt that we should actually have a detailed plan first. Thus, we spent the first 10 minutes brainstorm, sketch and plan out all the models we are creating. Then, everyone was assigned to a different role. Darius was piecing and gluing everything together onto the board, Zhi Yao was mainly sketching and cutting the figures out, and Albie was facilitating and tracking their progress while helping Zhi Yao with the cutting of the models.

We kinda did everything without taking any pictures so... This are the only photos our dear technical executive took for us. 😥

After a quick 1.5 hours or so, we are done with our product!

📋 End of the practical

From this practical, we learnt that ideation and planning are very important before the group actually starts on executing a task. Ideas and plans must be discussed among the group, well thought of and planned out specifically in order for it to be carried out and work. Thus, in the future, before the group actually starts on any work, we must make sure we have a well detailed plan first.

Secondly, halfway through the practical, we were met with a problem as we accidentally glued the model onto the board, facing the opposite direction. Luckily, we managed to improvise and thought of an idea on the spot, which is to add a boarder and division on the model board to make our models pop out and appear more aesthetically pleasing as compared to the original 2D board. Thus, we also learnt that we should have the ability to adapt to changes and improvise on the spot in events when there are errors or mistakes made.

Lastly and the most important takeaway from this session, we learnt the different joineries one can do to connect pieces of cardboard in order for us to create our very own prototype and this will be especially useful for us once we fully step into prototyping of our chemical devices and also the cardboard game design for practical 4.

🦄 Post practical assignment

For this post practical assignment, we were tasked to assemble a winged unicorn from the cardboard template that we were given individually. We need to also find a way to automate the wing flapping for the winged unicorn.

The stuff that the group have done are all recorded below.

Darius's Winged Unicorn

Assembling Process:

Joineries Involved:

Slots

L-brace and slots

Holes were made for eyes of the horse

Mechanism used to return the wings:

Rubber bands were attached to the wings core and was put through a hole in the horse's underhead.

Mechanism to automate the wing flapping:

A motor powered by a battery can be used to operate the wings flapping mechanism. The core of the wings are attached to the motor which moves left to right and right to left continuously allowing for the visual of the horse moving when turned on. This causes the wings to move back and forth giving a visual of wings flapping. Thus, when the motor is on the wings flap continuously until it is turned off.

Albie's Winged Unicorn

Assembling Process:

Joineries Involved:

For the assembly of this winged unicorn, there are many tabs and slots used to create the body of the model. Other stuff like the wings, horn, tail and mane are also put onto the body using slots. Lastly, holes are used as well for the eyes of the winged unicorn.

Mechanism used to return the wings:

As shown in the video above, a rubber was attached and tied around the wings and it enables movement of the wings due to the elasticity of the band itself.

Mechanism to automate the wing flapping:

To automate the wing flapping, we can add a motor at the rear of the winged unicorn and it will be attached to a hook that will hook onto the rubber band at a 45 degrees angle and once the motor starts, the hook will move in a downwards motion, causing the rubber band to be pulled back and forth, making the wings flap.

A sketch of the mechanism is shown below.

Zhi Yao's Winged Unicorn

Assembling Process:

Joineries Involved:

The assembling of the winged unicorn uses a few of the types of fold and joint. The most commonly used is the slots and tabs which can be seen when connecting two ends together eg. the end of the body of the winged unicorn with the other end. Slots are also used in connecting two different parts together such as the head and the body together.

Mechanism used to return the wings:

As shown in the video, the rubber band tied the two wings together in the center. The wings will move backwards when pulled and return back to its original position when released. This continuous movement will create a effect of the wings flapping.

Mechanism to automate the wing flapping:

The motor will be connected to the middle of the wheel and the motor will rotate the wheel. A solid non-flexible rod will be connected from the edge of the wheel to the two wings. When the wheel rotates, it will exert a push and pull motion on the wings depending on the position of the rod on the wheel when it is rotating. the continuous motion will create an effect of the wings flapping.

AND THAT IS IT FOR PRACTICAL 3!