Author: dszhu@andrew.cmu.edu

Progress Update: This week I attempted to make a 2-part mold version of the heart I made previously. As you can see, the right half of the mold had a bunch of bubbles, but this ended up not being an issue at all for that half of the mold as almost all the bubbles popped
Continue reading Weekly Report

This mold was designed to test a technique where the channels are achieved by dipping a texture in the mold by resting it on the top as it cures. Unfortunately, the second half of the mold misprinted and the replacement didn’t come through in time so I was only able to test one side. The
Continue reading Daniel Zhu Mold 3

Sketches: Silicone heart sketches. Deciding between having two chambers, 4 chambers, etc. Could be made with a two part mode or with an open mode. Materials + Equipment: Near clear Ecoflex Silicone Low pressure hydraulic pump Water Reservoir/tank Syringe/hand pump Dyes (Red/Blue) Valves Tubes Joint Bibliography: Paper | Design and Characterization of a Miniature Hydraulic
Continue reading Daniel Zhu

Revised Project Statement | Pneumatic Heart/Lungs This project would be a pneumatic heart and lungs linked to a participants heartbeat/breathing. would be collected in real time through This could create an interesting out of body-like experience where the movement of an external object is linked to one of your core subconscious functions. The goal would
Continue reading Daniel Zhu | Research Study B

Brainstorming Sketches Description: Pneumatic hand powered umbrella. Umbrella with sacs underneath the hinges for the canvas connected to a pump in the handle. Squeezing the handle inflates the sacs and opens the umbrella. Alternatively, the whole cover could inflate. The goal would be to redefine the core interaction of opening an umbrella, not so much
Continue reading Daniel Zhu | Research Study

Art Project | Cypher Sculptural installation that combines a soft robotic body with a VR interface. The sculpture detects the proximity of the audience and change its shape accordingly. The VR headset allows the user to change the shape of the simulation through natural hand gestures. As the user changes the shape of the VR
Continue reading Daniel Zhu | Infusing Art with Technology

Formal Resource | The Breathing Wall I found this article through the EBSCOhost database through a ‘soft robotics’ search. This particular paper was interesting to me because of the focus on creating a sensory experience that focused on touch in particular. Because touch is often neglected in art, the idea of using soft robotics to
Continue reading Daniel Zhu | Art & Design Inspo

Conference Paper | Driving Soft Robots with Low-Boiling Point Fluids This paper describes an new method of providing pressure for pneumatic soft robots through heating low-boiling point fluids with a compliant heating mechanism. It also discusses some potential applications of this method as well as the benefits and limitations of this method. Garrad, Martin, Gabor
Continue reading Daniel Zhu | Peer Review