REDESIGN FOR THE FINAL PROTOTYPE
In this second week of the third sprint, I had to work on refining items that i discovered weren't doing the work I wanted them to do in Sprint 3 / Week 1. The time is getting really tight and it's a typical case of deadline rush. Still there is opportunity to make things look and perform nicely, so a lot of attention was put on detailing the top design, embroidery and the PCB.
INSPIRATION
This week I'm inspired by digital/analog mixes in design, illustration, embroidery and fashion containing the voronoi. A hectic mixture of colorful influences that bring the final design to life.
OBJECTIVES & PLAN
The focus of this week is on assembly. Here is what I'm going to execute
- REDESIGN THE TOP
- Adjust shape of the top for smaller shoulder straps
- Make the voronoi a bit smaller
- Add the smaller heart voronoi
- MAKE THE DESIGN FOR THE EMBROIDERY
- Design the illustration for the embroidery
- Redesign the top so the embroidery fits the garment elegantly
- Give to the embroiderer to make it
- DESIGN & MAKE THE CIRCUIT FOR THE NEW PCB
- Design the circuit for the PCB in Eagle
- Make it with the Milling Machine
REDESIGN THE TOP
INGREDIENTS
- Rhinoceros
- Grasshopper
- Laser cutter
- Pink and Black techno fabric
- Black and Cream Lace
PROCEDURE
In order to be able to create my desired voronoi heart shape inside the bigger voronoi shape of my top, I decided to understand WHAT VORONOI IS exactly, so I could find a way to better control it. I found this and this video which were helpful in explaining the concept of voronoi from a construction point of view.
This allowed me to better work around the control points in Rhinoceros, so I could move them in a way that could get as close as possible to the voronoi heart I wanted. However, the main difference between the Delaunay and the Vonoroi mesh is that the Delaunay can be moved easily in a very predictable configuration by moving the control points, while the voronoi cannot. I was not able to find a tutorial that could help me accommodate the variation between a wider, more random voronoi and a smaller more intricate one for the heart in a way that seamlessly merged into one another.
So I made two separate voronoi, one for the top design and one for the heart design. In Grasshopper I right clicked and baked both the voronoi and manually made them merge into one another by using the commands control points ON and trim.
After the design was ready in Rhino I exported it by choosing File > Export Selection > dxf, so I could laser cut it.
I decided to laser cut it in two color variants to picture which one would work better:
- black voronoi and cream lace
- fuchsia voronoi and black lace
I laser cut the fuchsia techno fabric first as well as the black with the following settings
- Power 30
- Speed 12
Once the fuchsia voronoi pattern was ready, I cut out the black lace and assembled them together. Option 1 is ready for evaluation.
I then laser cut the voronoi pattern on the black techno fabric using the same parameters
- Power 30
- Speed 12
I made the first version making the pattern open also for the heart. Then I thought about the fact that I will be placing the PCB and all the cables going the the sensors + actuators under the embroidery which will overlay the voronoi fabric, so I decided to make a version where the heart shape was closed, so it would be easier to place the electronics (right image).
RESULTS & REFLECTIONS
I am still wondering how to fully master the voronoi command in Grasshopper, and although I achieved my desired results, I feel like there should be a way of doing in through computational design. Overall I am satisfied with the way the voronoi design looks.
Regarding the color, I will be using the black + cream version, so the embroidery can be made in shades of red/pink and stand out more. The full heart is definitely a more efficient solution to sew the PCB and electronics and then overlay the embroidery on top.
MAKE THE DESIGN FOR THE EMBROIDERY
INGREDIENTS
- Rhinoceros
- Illustrator
- Thread color codes
PROCEDURE
Now it was time to make the design for the embroidery, that my friend Demetrio would take to the embroiderers so they could make it with the machine technique learned in Sprint 3 / Week 1. The embroidery would be made in polyester thread on black cotton fabric with an embroidery machine, using an embroidery technique called bordardo macizo.
I took the Rhinoceros file I had made the voronoi heart in and exported it for Illustrator, using File > Export Selection > .ai.
Then, I opened the file in Illustrator and joined all the lines to make them into polygons that I could fill, using the command Join, shortcut on Mac command+J. Once I joined together all the polygons, I started filling them with the colors from the thread palette Demetrio gave me, which is the one the embroiderer would use.
I made two versions, as you can see in the image above with two different types of lighter pink. Since the color looks different on the screen vs the real thread, I asked Demetrio to choose with the embroiderer which one they would prefer. Because of the time constraints on the project timeline, I could not visit the embroiderers again in person, which was a pity but very needed.
RESULTS & REFLECTIONS
Designing the embroidery digitally was a fun experience and a pretty easy one. Because I had visited the embroiderers, I was aware of the techniques they used and could imagine what the final result for my embroidery would be. Because I didn't see the threads in real person though, I could make educated guesses based on the digital image of the yarn on how they would end up looking. I would receive the final piece on the last week :)
DESIGN & MAKE THE NEW CIRCUIT FOR THE PCB
INGREDIENTS
- Protheus
- Roland Monofab CNC Machine
- Copper circuit board
PROCEDURE
Jesús helped me design the PCB on Protheus, a program used to make PCB board designs. Before the design the circuit was sketched and then translated to Fab Modules, an MIT program that converts a PCB design in a file that can be milled on a PCB board.
We had quite a few issues milling the PCB, and you can find more details on the process in S3 / W3.
RESULTS & REFLECTIONS
I'm definitely keen on learning more about making PCBs, especially soft ones. This experience was a good start, yet I feel like I'm only scratching the surface :)