the mechanized unknown

Again, it's been too long since I've posted. Mid-term break put work on a bit of a hiatus, and since then I have been drawing - proper scans to come.

The installation for Point Douglas has changed in nature. I'm now proposing to create a mechanized collage, by building my impressions of the mechanisms that are seen through the viewports on the site.

Acting as a sort of corps esquisse exercise, the visible planes of the mechanisms will serve as one layer of the drawing. The rest will be filled in without knowing the actual physical nature of the machine.

The following two images show the beginning phases of this process. The drafted image is a composition that was determined from the geometry of the one visible side (the yellow machine in the following photograph).

The geometries will then begin to inform new functions for the mechanized collage. For example, a round grate that was found on the site could be used (at a smaller scale) to create sound, to project directional light, to move and actuate another machine, etc.

arduino + H-Bridge for DC motor control

Kyle and I worked out the above schematic to control a DC motor with Arduino, and an H-Bridge chip. The schematic is a little sketchy, as are the images in the tutorial. The photos are missing two key wires; I assume they have been omitted to make the photo easier to read. Hovering one's cursor over the image brings a pop up that describes the missing wires.

Once we discovered this, the process was relatively easy. The motors can be programmed to control a variety of the mechanical devices that will become a part of my mechanized collage/site analysis/mapping exercise.

Labels: drawings, technical work

posted by chelsea @ 2:08 PM