Demonstration of the sync disc that partially controls the motors. One node of the motor is connect to the switch and the other node is connected to a (+) power supply -- in this case I'm just using the power pack that came with the toy Pony. As the key revolves over the disc it completes the circuit and the motor fires. The motor stops when the key revolves past the patch and disconnects the circuit.
Simple circuit. A speaker has been added to the mix to amplify the sound of the motor. The speaker stops and starts in sync with the firing of the motor.
The Brain:
In order to give this puppet a story and create the uncanny illusion of “living unpredictability” I’ve started to fabricate my own sync discs. Each disc acts much like a sequencer turning motors connected to the “body” on and off. By etching my own circuit boards I can control how the electrical current moves throughout the board and therefore how the motors will react individually and to each other. The overall idea for the discs is that they begin to form a visual collection of behavior-- or drawings, which embodies behavior. The process for etching the discs requires that a trace pattern be applied to the double copper plated substrate. The copper plates are then placed in a Ferric Chloride copper etchant solution. The trace pattern must be drawn with a material that will resist the ferric chloride and preserve the copper underneath. This resist material can be something as simple as sharpie marker. However, I’m attempting to transfer the plastic micro-particles found in photocopy toner to the copper board. This is done through significant heat (an iron) and pressure. The transfer paper also makes a difference. In my first attempt I used regular copy paper and found the transfer to be awful. My next attempt will use Staples brand copy paper*. The trace patterns themselves are still in an experimental stage. I’m currently exploring the beautiful biological drawings of German biologist Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919) as one avenue of inspiration. I’m also interested in the idea of using scripting as a means of generating related patterns. One approach is to explore scriptographer—a scripting plug-in for Adobe Illustrator. A drawing produced with a script that has been executed 10 times shares a similar geometry but looks entirely different that a script that has been executed 100 times. In this way, the discs would have a systematic relationship to each other but might function in very different ways.
Etching Tank: acrylic panels, silicone seams, suspended clips, air pump and airline tubing, wood base and metal supports.
The Body:
Using the existing mechanics of the Pony as a point of departure, I’ve begun to examine how I might begin to use gears and cam techniques to amplify or transform the rotary movements of the existing DC toy motors. The Pony’s eyes are particularly interesting. When she was intact she could blink her eyes and twist her head from side to side. I’ve taken a closer look at this mechanism and discovered it’s both ingenious and simple. Plastic components are perfect because they are lightweight, strong and completely customizable. So far my major challenge has been in controlling the motors (which revolve so quickly that they require a series of gears to transform the size and speed of rotation. Supporting the gears is tricky and has had required me to re-purpose much of the pony’s “chassis’. Also, I would love to be able to manufacture a few more eyeballs and sockets through a vacuum forming technique, but that will require the assistance of professionals. I’m hoping the crew at Winnipeg Patterns and Model Works will help me out. To date, I've simply cloaked the motors with a flexible skin to see what might happen as they stop and start.
Flexible skin covering the motors. The skin bulges and pulses as the spring attached to the motor makes contact.
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