KINETIC ARCHITECTUREK.U. LEUVEN 2013prof. Andrew Vande Moeredr. Marc LambaertsNiels WoutersThomas LaureyssensDanny Leen Charlotte Dhollander

LOCATION

Staircase in Arenberg Kasteel in Heverlee, Belgium.

A kinetic installation needs space. For the action to be properly experienced, there should be a certain distance between the installation, the user and the surrounding objects.Therefore this space is suitable since only the basic and relevant elements are visible while the fillings are white.

The primary function of a staircase is to give a person the possibility to move comfortably to another story. It is a tool to make the vertical transportation of people possible. Thus, a staircase is directly connected to the concept of kinetic archictecture, as it naturally implies a movement.

When the kinetic installation reacts to movement, using the stairs will cause a PASSIVE INTERACTION.

STAIRCASE: LOCATION IMPLIES MOVEMENT

ORIGAMI TESSELLATIONS

“Origami (ori meaning folding and kami meaning paper) is the art or process, originating in Japan, of folding paper into a variety of forms.“ - www.dictionary.com

“Origami tessellations is a branch of origami. A tessellation is a collection of figures filling a plane with no gaps or overlaps.“ - origamiusa.org

Following these definitions, origami tessellations have “movement“ and “flexibility“ as a natural property. Folding the paper in a certain way will transform regular paper into a three dimensional form which can change its shape when a movement in applied. It is a very clean and simple way to make a kinetic surface.

MATERIAL -> FLEXIBILITY, MOVEMENT = NATURAL PROPERTY

INTERACTION

The passive interaction will attract the attention of the passer-by. The user will be curious to understand what just happened and will take a closer look at the installation. In this way, ACTIVE INTERACTION is induced.

By giving the user the choice to make a movement to make the installation react, a game of interactions will occur. This relationship between the user and the origami will create a certain personification of the origami as if it would have a human character.

The tactile aspect of the paper and its shape enhances this consequence of wanting to touch the installation.

INTERACTION, TACTILITY -> HUMAN CHARACTER, PERSONIFICATION

PROJECT: MOTORISED ORIGAMI TESSELLATIONS ON CENTRAL CORE

MOTORISED UNITS AND LED'S INTERACT WITH MOVEMENT

SCENARIO

Storyline

Someone wants to use the stairs. The movement is registered by the installation.

PASSIVE INTERACTIONWhen that person takes a step, the motorised units of the origami will close. When he passed by, the origami opens up again.

ACTIVE INTERACTIONThis movement is noticed by the user and it triggers his curiosity. He turns around and looks at the wall. It was moving before, but now it is standing still... Trying to understand what happened, he tries to touch the wall. Suddenly the origami closes when his hand comes closer. Caught by surprise, he pulls back his hand and he sees the origami opening again as he moves further away. He starts to understand the relationship between him and the origami wall and starts to play. A game of interactions arises.

When he decides to continue his trip, the moving origami will follow him until he has reached the end of the staircase.

Is somebody standing on a step?

YES NO

Close all the units Is somebody trying to touch one unit?

YES NO

Close this unit according to the distance to the sensor

Open this unit

SCENARIO

NOBODY IN THE HALL USER ON A STEP USER TRIES TO TOUCH

All units open and LED's on All units closed and LED's off Unit closes and LED fades ragarding distance

CODE

Notes

This code is written in Arduino.

The code is built upon the scenario shown above using if structures for the yes/no questions.

The values chosen for “minDist1“ and “minDist2“ are dependant on the general sensor and the Sharp sensor, respectively. “minDist1“ should be chosen regarding the location of the installation since it detects the nearest object. In this case, it is the opposite wall of the staircase, so this value should be reduced to the chosen one in the code. “minDist2“ is chosen to reduce noise when no movement is detected in the sensor.The extreme value for “starClosed“ should be 180, but to correct some imperfections in the servo, it is reduced to 170.A serial monitor is activated when there is a need to check the measured or transformed values.For the individual units, the range of the measured values is adapted to reduce noise by the map command.

#include <TinkerKit.h>#include <Servo.h>

TKLed led1(O0); //LED Output0TKLed led2(O1); //LED Output1

TKAnalog sharpGen(I0); //Distance Sensor Input0TKAnalog sharp1(I1); //Distance Sensor Input1TKAnalog sharp2(I2); //Distance Sensor Input2 Servo stepper1; //Define the first Servo stepperServo stepper2; //Define the second Servo stepper

int starClosed = 170; //Define extremaint starOpen = 0;int ledOff = 0;int ledOn = 1023;

int previousReadingGen = 0; //Value general sensorint currentReadingGen = 0;int previousReading1 = 0; //Value individual sharp 1int currentReading1 = 0;int previousReading2 = 0; //Value individual sharp 2int currentReading2 = 0;

int ledBrightness1 = ledOn; //Startvalue LED 1int ledBrightness2 = ledOn; //Startvalue LED 2

int minDist1 = 50; //Define minimum distance general sensorint minDist2 = 100; //Define minimum distance individual sharp sensor

int sensor1a = 0; //Define startvaluesint sensor1b = 0;int sensor2a = 0;int sensor2b = 0;

int stepMax = 600; //Define range Stepperint stepMin = 30;int ledMax = 600; //Define range LEDint ledMin = 400;

int dataGen = 0; //Variables general sensor

void setup() { Serial.begin(9600); //Start serial monitor pinMode(A0, INPUT); //General sensor in input A0 stepper1.attach(O3); //Start stepper in Output3stepper1.write(starOpen); stepper2.attach(O4); //Start stepper in Output4stepper2.write(starOpen);

}

void loop() { if (analogRead(A0) <= minDist1) { //When somebody is in front of the general sensor //ALL UNITS

//Serial.print(“algSensor: “); //Serial.println(analogRead(A0)); //delay(100);

currentReadingGen = starClosed; stepper1.write(currentReadingGen); //Close all stars stepper2.write(currentReadingGen); led1.brightness(ledOff); //All LED's off led2.brightness(ledOff); delay(500); }

else if (analogRead(A0) > minDist1){ //When nobody is in front of the general sharp sensor //UNIT 1 if (sharp1.read() < minDist2){ //When nobody is in front of the individual sharp sensor 1 //Serial.print(“sharp1: “); //Serial.println(sharp1.read()); //delay(200); stepper1.write(starOpen); //Open the star led1.brightness(ledOn); //LED on } else if (sharp1.read() > minDist2){ //When somebody is in front of the individual sharp sensor 1 sensor1a = sharp1.read(); //Adapt stepper range sensor1a = min(stepMax, sensor1a); sensor1a = max (stepMin, sensor1a); currentReading1 = map(sensor1a, stepMin, stepMax, starOpen, starClosed); stepper1.write(currentReading1); //Open the star according to the distance sensor1b = sharp1.read(); //Adapt LED range sensor1b = min(ledMax, sensor1b); sensor1b = max(ledMin, sensor1b); ledBrightness1 = map(sensor1b, ledMax, ledMin, ledOff, ledOn); led1.brightness(ledBrightness1); //Fade the LED opposite to the distance //Serial.print(“sensor 1b: “); //Serial.print(sensor1b); //Serial.print(“ ledbrightness 1: “); //Serial.print(ledBrightness1); //delay(50); } //UNIT 2 if (sharp2.read() < minDist2){ //When nobody is in front of the individual sharp sensor 2 stepper2.write(starOpen); //Open the star led2.brightness(ledOn); //LED on } else if (sharp2.read() > minDist2){ //When somebody is in front of the individual sharp sensor 2 sensor2a = sharp2.read(); //Adapt stepper range sensor2a = min(stepMax, sensor2a); sensor2a = max (stepMin, sensor2a); currentReading2 = map(sensor2a, stepMin, stepMax, starOpen, starClosed); stepper2.write(currentReading2);} //Open the star according to the distance sensor2b = sharp2.read(); //Adapt LED range sensor2b = min(ledMax, sensor2b); sensor2b = max(ledMin, sensor2b); ledBrightness2 = map(sensor2b, ledMax, ledMin, ledOff, ledOn); led2.brightness(ledBrightness2); //Fade the LED opposite to the distance //Serial.print(“ sensor 2b: “); //Serial.print(sensor2b); //Serial.print(“ ledbrightness 2: “); //Serial.print(ledBrightness2); //delay(50); }} else if (sharp3.read() > minDist2){ //When somebody is in front of the individual sharp sensor 3 sensor3a = sharp3.read(); //Adapt stepper range sensor3a = min(stepMax, sensor3a);

The rotation of the servo makes two railings slide over a central plate. This horizontal movement is connected to two vertical frames which are connected in a joint. These frames rotate around this joint and are connected to the origami by “pin and hole“ connections between the plexi and the paper.

HARDWARE: UNIT

Pins provided on top of the squares to connect it to the holes in the paper.

This drawing is cut out of 2mm plexi with a lasercutter. The pieces are glued together and the joints are fixed with screws.The rotating frames are designed in order to easily attach the sensors and LED's to it. The two railings are fixed by the central piece which is pushing them apart and the slits in the box around it.

HARDWARE: FRAME

Because “het Arenbergkasteel“ is a monument, it is not allowed to make any changes to the existing structure. This means that the project can not hang on the wall or the ceiling. For this, the whole structure should fit in a specified box which has the dimensions of one step of the stairs, so that it can simply stand on it. This drawing is cut out of 5mm plexi with a lasercutter.

HARDWARE: TECHNICAL INSTALLATION

Sharp distance sensor 2Y0A21 F 34MaxBotix Inc. distance sensor Max Sonar

Connected with 5V, GND, A0

Tinkerkit Micro Servo

Tinkerkit LED yellow 5mm

Connection adaptor 12V

Connection USB

ORIGAMI

CUTTING LIN

E

VALLEY FOL

D

MOUNTAIN FOLD

lasercutter: A3 paper 200g/m2

By folding the paper, the perforated squares pop upwards, creating a three dimensional flexible surface. This pattern shows a flat surface when it is completely closed. The squares move outward when the unit opens up. The holes are designed to provide proper fixation to the hardware unit by “pin and hole“ connections and it allows the Sharp sensor to be placed behind the origami paper and still receive a good signal.The paper is cut out in this way to build a prototype of eight blocks next to eich other with the motorised units connected to the outermost squares. The idea is to have the wall completely covered by origami, which means that the paper would be a certain repitition of this example.

FINAL RESULT

MOVIE

MOVIE END NOTES & REFERENCES

INSPIRATIONTomohiro Tachi and “The science of origami“: http://www.tsg.ne.jp/TT/origami/Eric Gjerde and “Origami Tessellations“: http://www.origamitessellations.com/ Kevin N. Andersen and “Kinetic Folds“: http://www.kevinandersen.dk/portfolio/#essense

DESIGN PROCESSThe challenge lies in finding the extrema of origami and its opportunities. Starting from a simple folded paper and connecting this to Arduino and Tinkerkit exposes a lot of interesting difficulties and possibilities which were explored and tested throughout the process. Combining this with the obtained concept, an intensive combination of programming and fabbing took place, resulting in a variety of testmodels, all with its own failures and successes until the final result was reached.

FINAL THOUGHTSIt was the initial concept to have the whole wall covered with one piece of origami. When one unit is activated, the other units will follow the movement. In the end it seems that this way of folding the paper makes the origami a bit too stiff to really have a significant movement in the whole “wall“. Therefore, I suggest to make smaller clusters of units separated from the other clusters and secure these to the wall (or frame) separately. In this way the movement will be better perceived. The most practical case would be to have these clusters in the same dimensions as the steps of the stairs, as they can then simply be put on the floor. The general sensor should be located about 1.50m above the floor and few centimeters in front of the origami to prevent it from interfering with the surrounding surfaces. The “pin and hole“ connections are a bit too small. The lasercutter has some inperfections since a bit of the surrounding plexi melts, so most of the pins that were cut out, were too deformed to be attached to the other plexi.

REFERENCESPage 2 map: http://studioroma.be/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Arenberg-13.jpgPage 5 image: http://likethenoondaysun.blogspot.be/2012/10/origami-paper-tessellations.htmlPage 15 image: http://www.tinkerkit.com/modules-2/