Idea generation & original sketches
TESTING AND EXPERIMENTATION
Test & experiment with initial ideas
take conclusions drawn from tests & apply to designs
IN THIS SECTION: A series of tests have been carried out to determine the most suitable materials, tools and techniques. This section includes final decisions made, and future steps to apply those conclusions to the designs.
HINGES AND JOINING MECHANISMS: Part of the design includes an arrangement of small pot plants that are attached to a bike wheel. As the bike wheel is rotated (as an interactive component of the design), the plants rotate with it. For this to work, the base of the plants must remain horizontal to the ground, in an upright position, as to ensure the plants do not fall out. To allow for this, a gimbal pivot has been investigated to keep the pot plants upright during the rotation. A gimbal is a pivoted support that allows the rotation of an object about a single axis.
AIM: • •
To determine an appropriate joining mechanism between the bicycle wheel and the pot, and to ensure that it does the following things: Attaches the pot (plant) to the wheel at a 90-degree angle Is able to hold the weight of the plant, pot, and soil
•
Allows the wheel to rotate, whilst keeping the plants horizontal to the ground and doesn't tip over icrke-15
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METHOD: A mock-up-gimbal was created out of a piece of dowel and an old plastic water 'bottle. The bottle is free to rotate around the axis created by the dowel. The plastic sits comfortably in a little 'nook'/'dent' in the dowel, meaning it can't move forward or back/slide off all together. To keep it at a horizontal angle, another piece of dowel was added to the original piece, and stuck on at a perpendicular angle. This will prevent the bottle from tilting forward.
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The ring gimbal is similar in concept to the standard gimbal, however, it has a different point of pivot. For instance, using the above experiment as an example, the standard gimbal is made of a fixed piece of dowel, upon which the plastic bottle is able to rotate (or 'pivot'). Whereas, the ring gimbal is made of a ring that the pots (or in the above example, the plastic bottles) can fit within. In this instance both the ring, dowel and bottle would rotate around a pivot on the end of the bike wheel.
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CONCLUSION: I In all, this experiment probably wasn't the most effective in showing the ACTUAL type, shape and size of the real gimbal pivots that will be used in the final design. However, the experiment was successful in demonstrating how the gimbal pivot works, and what measures need to be put in place to ensure the pots remain parallel to the ground, and attached with ease. Future .; will be required to fully determine the final details included in the gimbal pivot mechanism.
CONCLUSION: The ring pivot is more suitable to this MDP, as it will enable the pots to be taken on and off the rotation cycle with ease. With the standard gimbal, the pots must be fixed to the wheel, and cannot be changed or taken off at all.
EVALUATION:
The outcomes of this experiment are in actual fact, extremely important to the success of the final design. If the pots cannot turn and remain upright, they cannot sufficiently house the plant, and therefore will hinder the interactive process supplied by the rotation of the wheel. Idea 2, the ring pivot gimbal, was the most successful and suitable for this design, as it facilitated easy usage and ticked all the required criteria. Further experimentation is necessary to decide on shapes and sizes of the 'ring' element, however this must be determined after the decision on the types of s ots.