SAVAGE CONCEPTS
Products & Objects
Concepts
From the information I have gathered during my research, I have developed concepts from which I will be looking to develop one of them.
What are my considerations?
To start developing concepts for this project, I have defined what it is that I will be considering. these are in line with my values within design and the ambition that i have for Industry 5.0
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Looking at a process to enhance and adapt the pot throwing process.
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Where does the creativity within the process lie?
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What are the inputs?
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How can you tell if you are successful within the process?
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What are the drawbacks—what do you lose with the actual process?
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What is possible within the
given time frame
Designer or Maker?
...or does it matter?
My Opinion
Designers create products with the making process in mind but tend to work with the theoretical side of the process. (I believe)
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As a designer, I would say that the focus of the work can tend to be just on the outcome (as a generalisation). The focus of the admiration and perhaps the joy in the whole job would be in how the part looks or the renders appear.
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Makers tend to start with a process and design for that process (I believe)
Makers have their hands on the kit—it is their decisions that influence the piece as it is being made.
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Makers would have more opportunities within the making of their pieces to respond intuitively to the material or the work in progress.
Does it matter…..?
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I don’t think that it matters beyond the categorisation of people. I think understanding if someone is or wants to be a designer or maker, speaks a little about their personality and maybe the way that they approach a task or situation. To be a designer or a maker is to say that there is a part in the process you may enjoy more than another part, and a chance for people to understand what approach you may have.
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For this project I am approaching it from the maker's viewpoint, where the final aesthetic isn't a pre-defined outcome, but a thing that can evolve with the maker.
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When starting to explore ways that I could design a mechanical thing to interact, I wanted to start by looking at the mechanics behind the process. Here I was thinking about a 2-person option – to encourage team work amongst people to succeed in a common goal. This was instrumental as I was looking at what the limitations were in this sort of control. On the left the option to have a basket/pulley system and two strings either side. I could see this as a lifting arrangement, but couldn’t see the benefits within it.
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On the right, was a thought process, deconstructing how an etch-a-sketch or 3d printer works. Through an x and y axis you can control the movement across the board. This could enable 2 people to work together in creating an object.
Concept 1
A hand to hand opportunity to use the hand as a sculpting tool but not in the conventional manner. This would allow for aspects such as collaborative work, whereby there could be different elements taken from people and then fed into a single hand—so that a thing that couldn’t be imagined by 1 person could be created.
As a first idea, I could use motion capture as a way to impact the hand - using cameras to sense and capture the data of movement, similar to the suit that is in the immersive media Lab or the sensor bar that is in the youtube video below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=M6_KCCSH9wvQnswq&v=mV3eoSesqSI&feature=youtu.be
Another option could be to use a glove with sensors on to capture the information, and then feed it into the robot hand using the Arduino to power it.
https://projecthub.arduino.cc/EnrikENG/robotic-hand-7f6ad1
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In addressing my considerations:
1-This process should allow the maker the ability to create items that have the sensibility of the touch in the process, and it could be a manner to mass create items, if a series of mechanical hands were each set up by a wheel.
2- It allows the creative process to be literally at the hand of the maker, rather then as an input by a machine, and would allow for the maker to change the form easily rather then through the use of a new jig, mould or template. It would give the ability for the maker to agile in the iterations of their design
3- The inputs for this design would be from the hand within the glove, and the movement of the flex sensor. There would be an aspect that the twist in the wrist wouldn’t be captured (this would have to be a fixed point at this stage of design, pre-set up for the mechanical hand.
4- To assess if you are successful in what you are making you will have to see it visually, since there is no feedback through the hand.
5- This WILL remove the Tacit feedback from the making of the project—the mechanical hand has no way to gather the feedback and the glove (at this point) doesn’t have pressure regulators to feedback to the hand. Therefore, the person has no concept of how hard or soft they are putting pressure on to the clay.
6- There could be an option to make a mock up of the hand in the time available, however with my experience with Arduino there is a chance that for the complexity of this concept that the time frame for this design would be too small.
From assessing the concept against the considerations, the drawback of the tacit feedback not being in the project makes it feel to me as if the project is still to far removed from what I would like to see as industry 5.0. There is a possibility of making it have that feedback but it would definitely be for a much longer project.
Concept 2 – from Concept 1 I realised that I was aiming to produce something that was maybe overcomplicated in its nature.
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Looking at the theory behind human centered design, the quote I looked at earlier said:
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'The goal is to keep users’ wants, pain points, and preferences front of mind during every phase of the process.'
What is human-centered design?: HBS Online (2020) Business Insights Blog. Available at: https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/what-is-human-centered-design (Accessed: 09 January 2024).
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For this I looked at a process I know well and reflected on what could happen to improve this process in any of these key areas. From my point of view, the process of throwing is quite physically demanding if done for long periods of time and after some research have found that this is a common issue.
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For example this article by south Texas college wans of the dangers of sitting at the potters wheel for long periods of time, as well as referencing generalised pottery injuries in the hands:
‘"Potter's thumb," for instance, is the term some potters have used to describe symptoms which are now associated with the early stages of carpel tunnel syndrome. Many potters have acquired carpal tunnel syndrome, a debilitating condition involving compression of the median nerve at the wrist.’
‘Hand, back, and wrist muscle injuries can also occur from sitting at the potters wheel for too long, especially if posture is incorrect.’
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In studio potter BOB MCWILLIAMS & DR. MARIDY TROY wrote in their article:
‘We potters know that ceramics is a labor-centered art, so we just work continuously, or as the clay demands. This endless labor has its effects on our bodies and our ability to continue working.’
Wheel-throwing is a major example of the intense stress potters place on their bodies. The use of isometric force is critical to centering, pulling, and shaping the clay. Holding a static position is an important part of throwing, and the most stressful. '
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Bob McWilliams & Dr. Maridy Troy (no date) Health and Sustainability, Health and Sustainability | Studio Potter. Available at: https://studiopotter.org/health-and-sustainability (Accessed: 09 January 2024).
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In their article they cite exercise and building strength as a way to ‘avoid bodily stress’ however there is no mention on ways that the pottery process can be adapted to avoid these stresses, rather condition he body so as to not succumb to injury.
This concept is around enabling people to create an item on the potters wheel but to remove the twisting, bending, hunching posture and enable it to be more openther will be an arm that comes to a suitable end, that will shape and mould the clay into a form. This concept works on the basis that as the wheel is turning, that there is an arm that could come in and be adjustable so that you can shape your clay that way. I could see that it could be use in an exhibition style scenario, in a way that people could interact but no to deal with the messy dried hands afterwards
I started by looking at the what range of motions would be useful and helpful in a product and began with an option for a pin system on the left, a way to make the arm as simple as possible. This would allow the height of the arm to be fixed in place, but to be able to fully rotate at the angle desired, and to the length that you would require for the smaller circumferences. A draw back of this would be that there is a reduced flexibility in changing the height as you go along, and would probably prove to be more of a hinderance then a help.
I then explore the option to have an adjust able height option, whereby the arm have the movement up and but not to slide in and out. With this I thought that it may be quite restrictive as both the circumference and the height would need to work in conjunction.
Addressing my considerations for Concept 2
1-So going back to what I thought was important about industry 5.0 coming in how I would like to see how it could not only ease the pain of potters but also open up the potter’s wheel to those who may not be able to try due to pre-existing conditions. This is an addition to the potter’s wheel itself, rather than an adaption of the machine, a way to enhance the throwing process, through enabling different stances, but as a way for people to future proof their throwing practice if they lose mobility or flex in their back.
2- the creative process with this concept is more distilled then concept 1 from the original process, however i see that as an interesting opportunity to be able to encroportate more people within it. The creative process is still in the hands of people, you have the powert to deicde where to change the shape how and why
3- the inputs that come from people would be in the shaping process(the creative bit) - you can decide on what height the arm is at, how you angle it and what pressure to put on it. These inputs can be adjusted as you are making, with the same level of response and reactivity as you would have with throwing.
The speed set could be another input for the process as the arm doesn’t interact with the foot pedal – some wheels like a shimpo wheel have a foot pedal that can be set at a speed and left.
4- you would be able to see if you are successful in making, but you would also have the feedback that would come with the arm. You would be able to feel is the arm is digging into the clay (and be able to do something about it) and you would be able to feel how much pressure you have put on. Between the sense of touch and vision, you would be able to assess how successful you r attempt at the process would be.
5- the draw backs within this process would be setting it up – I feel that with the centrifugal force of the wheel there would need to be a weight at the bottom to be able to hold the arm stable. This could also be addressed through the softness of the clay, with a softer clay needing less weight.
6- I think with the time available within this project that it is a viable option to make a working prototype. This would be able to be used to test the theory, and to make alterations and iterations as required
Story Board - How the product works
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A way this could have added automation is though a motor moving the arm up and down...
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...or a manual raise and lowering, whilst a motor moves the arm in
and out.
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Once satisfied with the shape, move the arm to one side, or remove if finished and use a wire to cut the piece off.
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Set up stand
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Throw the clay on the wheel and center, set the first height on the arm and start the wheel before introducing the arm to the clay.
The arm has the ability to be tilted as required.
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Use the arm to start manipulating the clay. Move the arm to a new location if needed