When I started this project

When I started this project, I initially found myself drawn to abstract styled installations with kinetic movements. That was the general direction anyway, so although my presentation movie was shot in a home environment, the Corolla motion flower was designed to be an installation piece for public space where people are in transit from one space to another. Not a train station, that would be too busy, but a walkway in a gallery, or towards a reception area, generally in a space where you wouldn't especially expect to activate a response in a seemingly at first inactive object.

They would not be displayed in isolation, but hung in various sizes on walls in clusters, or at regular intervals along a walkway, corridor, bridge or wall. 

A spectrum of colours could be used along with altering the timing of the closing and opening of the flower to change the mood and reaction from subtle to vivid. 

The language of the fan, the coquet set of movements that would in times past speak secret messages to the onlooker, is now re-presented through the technology of the arduino, I liked the link between the message and the arduino, but a future adaptation could include the text printed on the poetry fan also changing with context.

I have enjoyed this project, I think the process as a whole has definitely improved my research techniques.

There were also a few ideas/avenues I could not peruse but have put on the 'back burner' for future explorations... Working with the heat sensitive paper, and the possibilities that thermo chromic inks/pigments can bring to name two.

The corolla motion flower presentation v2

OK so heres a revised version of the presentation, the lesson I have learned is to not to do something completely new to you with software you have never used before late at night when you should be sleeping,
as the result is that the music is too weird and the timing too slow. 

So Pete fixed the corolla in a few mins...

I had inserted the wire into port 8 instead of 9!

It does actually have the code printed on the back of the poetry wheel so I should have been a bit more methodical and stop the blind panic that I found myself in though I'm sure I did that too in desperation after recutting the wires as I could see that some of the ends had broken off whilst twisting them around, I thought maybe the thread bare state of the wired was effecting the power travelling to the servo motor because it did start up when I inserted the wire in the whole but then stopped....

anyway, it works very well and I'm pleased with it.

heres my presentation movie

the storyboard

heres a rough story board of the stop motion film

First time for everything, but time is not on my side. 

The final shots are not the same as I intended, 

but you get the idea of what the corolla motion flower can do.

Good fun.

the movie is ready to shoot

The table is polished, the scene is set and ready to shoot, camera is all set up, the kids are playing in their bedroom out of the way until their acting skills are required. Power lead all in and every thing is ready to go......
but the blooming thing is 
not working!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Ive pent the rest of the day trying to solve problem, no luck I'm afraid...I want to swear, (A LOT)  but now other family members and their lovely babies are here for the night, (I really can't remember agreeing to that) so I am putting it all away until tomorrow.


Im really very unhappy about this.

Back in with Pete today for the final minor tweaks...or so I thought..

I want all of the components to fit in with the box that I have made. 

To do this I need to get rid of the bread board and rewire the servo motor directly to the arduino, solder the red wire from the motion detector to arduino (5v) and the sensor motor via a nice pink wire directly to the arduino.

I will make the wiring a bit tidier so it doesnt get tangled up with the arm of the servo motor, securing the wires down with gafffer tape for extra security and 

re-make the extension arm with a more acute angle at the end (a bit like the joint of a finger), in order to to get the flower to close more completly as I really don't want to have to remake it with a thinner paper to get the full effect of the opening and closing petals.

I also need to cut a few holes in the box to accomodate the power lead 

and the the wires from the motion sensor that will be attached 

to the from front of the box.

PHEW!

with bread board

without breadboard

pic of wiring just incase things go wrong!

The code below connects the servo to a specific pin on the arduino board. In this case pin 9.
instruction is given to the servo via the write section of the code.
The position of the torque goes from 0 to 160 degrees.
it will take 1000ms to reach position in variable pos.

#include <Servo.h> 

Servo myservo;


const int pingPin = 7;
int pos = 160;
boolean extended = false;
int timer = 0;


int mySpeed = 200;

void setup() {
  // initialize serial communication:
  Serial.begin(9600);
  myservo.attach(9); 
  myservo.write(pos);
  delay(1000);
}

void loop(){
  timer = timer + 1;
  if (timer > 10000 && extended == false){
    while(pos > 1){
       myservo.write(pos);
       delay (mySpeed);
       pos --;
       int  duration = analogRead(0);
        if (duration > 300){
            pos = 160;
             myservo.write(pos);
            timer = 0; 
            extended = false; 
            break ; 
        }
    }
    extended = true;
    timer = 0;
  }
  



  int  duration = analogRead(0);
  if (duration > 300){
    pos = 160;
     myservo.write(pos);
      timer = 0; extended = false;     
  }




}

The construction on the back of the flower is turning out to be just that 

a bit construction job.

Thankfully the trip to the Fan museum has paid off 

(thanks for the direction Pete).

The effect this side of the final object gives is the complete opposite to the flowery abstract form you see once the flower opens up. 

It is the technical side of the abstract form.

RESPONSIVE 

NUMERICAL 

DATA 

REVEALS 

REACTIVE 

ENVIRONMENTAL 

CHANGE

Heres some of the folding and tweaking I did before I went to the fan museum.

.

Finally made it to the fan museum. I am in search of inspiration on how to disguise the mechanism at the back of the flower. 

A bit more paper folding and cutting and I'm done.

http://www.thefanmuseum.org.uk

Theres even instructions on how to make a basic fan.

Heres the dummy fleurrr. 

It is attached to the server motor with a bit of tape for now.

As the arm of the servo rotates left, the flower will open and then close as the lever arm moves through approximately 180 degrees.

Now I need the flower to respond to a change in its environment. That is I want it to close up, retract, shy away from the world in a protective manner. Then when safe, open up once more.

mmmm.

Pete has suggested I use an ultrasonic motion detector...sounds very sci-fi, but to me looks like  a miniature ghetto blaster.

the ultra sonic motion detector

On the left, is the servo motor, on the right is the motion sector, arduino (below) and bread board on the right.

There are three wires coming from the servo, red, yellow and black. 

Red is + charge, the black is -  and I think the yellow is the data wire that controls the servo.

Wiring and basic coding done, you will have to take it from me that the ultra sonic motion detector was a bit of a beast, it turned mon fleur into a bit of a venus flytrap..ie too powerful for the job in hand, so Pete found something with a bit less wellie, and I have to say it now works beautifully.

less wellie

Thank God I wore Primani not Armani today!

After a few false starts, (three to be precise) I finally completed the box that is going to operate the flower. My school of errors included cutting the wrong size board, drilling in the wrong place with the pillar drill, and my inability to cut a straight enough line with the Scroll saw. (On that one I have to say thug the machine I was using was much faster than the one the guy to my left was using...he was cruising along as apposed to my dirt bike rider of a saw), but I got there in the end though. Even made a handy brace to hold the servo motor in place.

A good couple of days. Now for the programming.

Modifying the design

Now I have to modify the design. 

The type of material used makes a big difference.

Silver card.

Silver foil.

This is pretty but too floppy.

Paper ?

Combination of foil and metallic card.

This is the working model. I can use this one to set up the arduino.

Angles and toggles

Checking out Robert Sabuda's pop up book now. 

Everything seems to be set at an angle and there are lots of toggles.

Im going to have to try and replicate this.

Looks crude. Is there another way, or do i have to disguise the back with something. Maybe a concertina or foliage? 

So, ive now extended the lever arm that I am going to attach the petal of the flower to(its under all of the masking tape), and am now trying to figure out how they're going to work together.
It is kind of working, but not. As the paper goes nearer to 180 degrees it moves up. It needs the tolerance to be increased some how so the bottom half of the flower can be fixed to the box and the top half isn't ripped.... It can not be attached directly as I first thought....Not so easy after all. think I will look at some pop up books to look at the angle thing.