Pneumatic Recipe | Dani Castleberg

1. Recreating an example – aeroMorph hinge

I chose to recreate one of the hinges from aeroMorph because I liked how simple the design was and wanted to see how well it would actually work. It was very simple to make and was very impressed with how well it worked.

2. Extending on an example – muscle type actuator

I chose to extend the muscle type of actuator from open soft machines. I chose this one because I wanted to see what would happen if I changed the orientation of the internal cross-lines. I ended up just making the lines angled instead of perpendicular to the sides. The motion when inflated was very similar to the original design.

3. Creating my own – ab muscles

I was inspired by the name of the muscle actuator and wanted to create something that could possibly be used in a wearable and performance piece. I wanted to make something that when inflated imitated abs. I thought it could be interesting to inflate muscles into someone as a performance piece.

Recipe for the ab muscles:

1. Cut plastic to size
2. Mark the plastic with the general shape you want

3. Heat seal one side and the vertical lines in the middle. Use cardboard to ensure the middle lines are only heat sealed where you want them to be

4. Begin heat sealing the horizontal lines on the side that is already heat sealed vertically. Use paper to prevent heat sealing undesired spaces. Make sure you still have one side free to attach the pneumatic tube

5. Add the pneumatic attachment to the bag

6. Heat seal the remaining side and horizontal lines

7. Cut the excess plastic and try inflating