Tutorial:

Flexinol Tutorial.pdf

Find a full version with animated videos HERE.

In-Class Presentation:

Computational Craft - Final .pdf

Find a full version with animated videos HERE.

Project Description:

To create a mask for computational craft that uses custom circuitry, shape memory alloys and conductive materials to explore the idea of persuasion, influence, and diplomacy — soft power.

To inform the mask shape, I used machine learning to help me “co-design” a look and feel of the object that I then transformed into a soft, 3D wearable. By incorporating algorithmic technologies to create digital forms and then using those forms to inspire my material work, I hoped to to explore and extend the class conversation around computation and craft, digital and physical materials, and the marriage of old technology and new.

PXL_20220428_182224813.jpg

Main Goals:

  1. To use machine learning to generate new forms of mask objects.
  2. To work with shape memory alloys to create a dynamic mask that “smiles” in real time.
  3. To combine digital and material into a 3D wearable that could speak to the essence of “soft power” in an innovative, exciting way.

Process Links:

Please find the final proposal with more information about my early ideation phase HERE.

Please find the final update with information about my creative process HERE.

Reflection:

This project was a challenging one for me. In terms of wins, I am proud of the concept and design, I think I had an exciting idea, and I was able to execute building a mask structure that could hold and hide the components I needed to add motion to the work.

Unfortunately, I entered this project naive to how exacting Flexinol can be. I now know, through my research, that I probably overstretched the samples that I had to the point where they ceased to operate. I may have also overheated them as I desperately tested their reactivity repeatedly. Obviously, I should have been more careful of Flexinol’s limitations. I would have had more on hand in an ideal world, too. It was not for lack of trying that my ultimate project didn’t work — I spent upwards of 30 hours trying to make this mask operational. Instead, it was running out of materials that finally convinced me to step away and admit defeat.

Moving forward, I’m still inspired by the potential for Flexinol and Nitinol and interested in continuing to work with them—particularly now that I know the limitations I need to keep in mind. This summer, I plan to order more types of various thicknesses and run small experiments to see if I can work more successfully with them. For my tutorial, I chose to pull together a slide deck on things to keep in mind while crafting with Flexinol. I hope that having a quick reference on hand will help my future efforts avoid some of the pitfalls that I experienced this time around.