Fractal Flyer
An art installation to commemorate the EE department's 125th anniversary
I had the pleasure of working on a multi-disciplinary project at Stanford to create a large art installation for the Electrical Engineering department to commemorate their 125th anniversary. The project's aim was to build approximately 100 programmable birds that would be installed in a stairwell. The project was to include elements of manufacturing, electrical design, and software control to have these birds flap and radiate beautiful LED patterns.
I worked on developing the vacuum formed body that would house the electrical components and the top plate that would serve as the main connection point for the rest of the bird. We developed a design that incorporated vacuum forming to create the body. This involved designing a base mold, CNC'ing this, vacuum forming the bodies, and finally trimming to size. We successfully developed a process that could be scaled to manufacture 100 bodies in house as well as 100 top plates. To inform our design process, we kept meticulous notes on our tests, designs, constraints, and cost-benefit analyses for various manufacturing processes. Upon design completion, we developed detailed, step-by-step manufacturing manuals. Here is the link to the investigation document that includes all relevant information. Processes: sketching, robust 3D modeling, CAM, CNC machining, vacuum forming, 3D printing, laser cutting, design for manufacturability, |
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