Assignment 2 – Olaitan Adisa

1. Scorpion Space

Scorpion Space, is a mechanical symbiote that was inspired by the video shown on ‘Spider dress’ in class. The modification in this case is that a scorpion-like structure is used to keep the space and when an intruder comes too close, the tail of the scorpion is pulled with the string and the attached pin at the tail will sting the intruder. The balloon was used as an illustration to prove this.

The scorpion was made using four-bar linkage for the legs and the curling flexures for the tail of the scorpion. The curling flexure gave a perfect tail movement I wanted. Also, the scorpion was tied to the upper arm using an elastic.

2. Flower

Flower, was designed to be a stand alone flower that grows on my head. The stamen, petal and sepal of the flower were created with paper. The paper was folded to form the petal shape while the sepal was created using the curly flexure construction technique taught in class. Two ropes were attached to the sepal in order to create a movement to illustrate the flower as a living flower. The dowel was used as the stem and was tucked into my hair which served as the soil. When the strings are pulled, the sepal moves in a linear motion and when I tilt my head a bit, it also causes a movement in the petal that harmonizes with the entire plant movement.

3. Baby’s Rocking Chair

At first, when I started the work, I had no idea it would result into a rocking chair. However, as a I continued, the project kept evolving and it turned out to be a rocking chair! The chair can be used by mothers to rock their babies while they are also in a relaxed and comfortable position. The chair was made with paper while the base was made with cardboard. The two arms, back of the chair and the cardboard underneath were made using the curly flexure construction. A string was attached the the curly cardboard underneath so that whenever the string is pulled, the movement from the curly cardboard affects the chair to move in a rocking manner. Also, my thigh movement aided that rocking process and it helped to control the chair movement as well. The chair was strapped to my thigh using a Velcro.