Click for Passive Folder Process Images
Click for Passive Folder Videos
The Passive Folder is a recent development in the line of programmable matter, 1D folding chain, systems. The Passive Folder maintains the full functionality of its previous ancestors i.e. 3 locking positions of rotation, full programmability/functionality at every node, the ability to construct any given 1D, 2D or 3D geometry from a single 1D input string. However, the Passive Folder aimes at scalability for large-scale assembly and thus attempts to save construction time and cost while eliminating its reliance on electromechanical systems. The Passive Folder relies on human constructability and on-site physical programming (pull & rotate mechanism) to transform between any given geometries. This removes the cost for electronics and high torque motors that struggle to fight excessive moment forces that can lead to unit failure at any point along the chain. The simple pull & rotate mechanism allows anyone to simply program each unit by separating each female-to-female unit, then rotating to any of the 3 locking positions and releasing. Any desired geometry can be written as a string of angles or instructions for the user. By starting at one end and walking along the chain, programming each node, angle sequences are locked in-place, resulting in the overall desired geometry.
The Passive Folder was constructed using:
-Waterjet cut (30) 2′x3′ sheets of white powder coated aluminum
-1800 black rivets
-Each connected with a 4″x4″ black turntable bearing
The Passive Folder was built under the Milli-Biology project in Neil Gershenfeld’s Center for Bits and Atoms, MIT.
Project Team: Neil Gershenfeld, Skylar Tibbits, Erik Demaine, Kenny Cheung, Max Lobovsky, Veronica Emig
n/Edg
THEVERYMANY | Marc Fornes, Skylar Tibbits, Mathew Staudt, Jared Laucks
Lyon, France – 14 September – 27 November
n|Edge looks at tessellation beyond triangle and quadrilateral arrays. Is it possible to generate parts going from three sides to n sides?
Many thanks to:
Anne Vialle, Simon Feydieu, Lou Lucat, Tamara Maes, Sophie Roset, Charlotte Marrel, Benedetto Bufalino,…
Marie Bassano
Eric Deboos & Laurent Lucas @ Gallerie Roger Tator (Lyon, France)
Jared Laucks @ Continental Signs (Philadelphia, US)
22 Nested 4′x8′ Sheets.
Many thanks to TDM Solutions & RhinoNest!
The Decibot is part of the larger *bot family of programmable matter 1D folding chains. The *bot family contains electromechanical folding @ nm, mm, cm, dm part lengths. The decibot is the largest of the family with overall dimensions of 144″x18″x18″ unfolded and 36″x36″x36″ folded into a cube.
Decibot was built under the Milli-Biology project in Neil Gershenfeld’s Center for Bits and Atoms, MIT. Decibot was presented with the rest of the *bot family at DARPA’s InfoChemistry conference under the topic of Programmable Matter.
Project Team: Neil Gershenfeld, Ara Knaian, Peter Schmidt-Nielsen, Skylar Tibbits, Kenny Cheung, Max Lobovsky, Asa Oines, Erik Demaine, Jonathan Bachrach, Scott Greenwald, Forrest Green, David Dalrymple, Steffen Reichert, Jonathan Ward
Process Images @ DeciBot Process
Decibot Video @ DeciBot Videos
THEVERYMANY (Marc Fornes, Skylar Tibbits, Mat Staudt, Jared Laucks, Brandon Kruysman, Jon Proto) present “Modoid” as part of the larger show, OVERLAP.
Opening September 9th, 2009 from 6-9pm, Elga Wimmer Gallery, NY.
THEVERYMANY (Marc Fornes, Skylar Tibbits, Mat Staudt) present “Aloblums” – Valparaiso, Chile, August 2009
Many thanks to the collective BANGS for the invitation – especially Marcela Godoy for making that workshop happen…
Students:
Eduardo Hirose, Daniel Concha, Diego Moreno, Juan Pablo Klempau, Felipe Valdebenito, Pablo Banda, Francisco Quitral, Hermann Zbindenn, José Luis Guzmán, Victor Bunster M., Drago Vodanovic, Claudio Troncoso, Tomas Jacobsen, Miguel Aravena, Pablo Silva
Francisco Calvo, Camila Rock De Luigi, Francisco Lara, Oscar Terrazas , Gabriel Santander, Oscar Ignacio Contreras, Hernán Castro, Natalija Boljsakov, Brian Miller, Manuel Díaz, Rodrigo Ramírez, Gonzalo Andrade, Andre Geoffroy, Matias Carrera…
BANGS:
Pablo Barría, Begoña Arellano, Claudio Astudillo, José Narea,, Marcela Godoy, Linda Schilling
Extras:
Pablo C. Herrera, Tristan Al Haddad…
Fabrication Sponsor: Continental Signs & Jared Laucks
Final photos from the installed sliding door. Developed based on CNC tool path responsive surface milling – cut paths respond to local curvature and allow for surface milling with overlayed surface patterning.
Developed in Aug. ‘08 in collaboration with Point b design. Many thanks to Jon Proto and Brandon Krusyman.
THEVERYMANY (Marc Fornes, Skylar Tibbits, Mat Staudt) present “Echinoids” – Bridge Gallery NYC, part of the larger show Wild Child, by Peter Macapia. More information: www.theverymany.net
530 Veneer modules hand stiched with elastic bra strap and connected with 1/4″ black screws.
Overall dimensions: 13-1/2′ x 5′ x 7-1/2′
Many thanks for the generous support from Pratt Institute, Anyline Lasercutting and those who made this installation possible:
Brandt Graves, Carrie Mckelly, Elliot White, Troy Zezula, Biayna Bogosian, Christine Rogiaman, Jared Laucks, Scott Savage, Al Attari, Brian Doyle, Claire Davenport, Claudia Corcilius, Courtney Song, Gary Mellon, Heidi Bullinga, Kamyar Rahimi, Majda Muhic, Marcelo Ertorteguy, Matthew DeLuca, Melissa Funkey, Otilia Pupezeanu, Sara Valente, Simon Kristav, Shadi Arani, Veronica Emig
A schematic proposal for an installation and window display at Selfridges & Co. London, October 2008.
THEVERYMANY (Marc Fornes + Skylar Tibbits) propose to investigate and test the materialization of forces in field and aggregation. The relationship between individual parts produces a physical assembly of components, viewed at a moment of tension, creating energy and a phenomenological affect within its physical surroundings. Attraction and repulsion are utilized throughout the installations in order to invoke the senses of the user and the notion of colliding elements, one that juxtaposes climates, forces and bodies.
Invitation by Melissa Woolford & Nous Gallery, London.
THEVERYMANY @ BRIDGE GALLERY (NYC)
98 Ochard Street New York NY 10002
Opening: Thursday July 9th, 6pm
(as part of the collective show “Wild child” curated by Peter Macapia)
Fabrication Sponsor:
Anyline laser cutting (www.anyline-ny.com)
“Approximation of the Mind”, by THEVERYMANY (Marc Fornes + Skylar Tibbits) was commissioned by Seed Media Group and The Council on Competitiveness as a gift to Sheryl Handler, CEO of Ab Initio, at The State of Innovation Summit in Washington D.C..
Rapid Prototyping from Harbec Plastics
Videos @ MacroBot – Videos
More process images @ MacroBot – Process
The MacroBot project is part of the MilliBiology team research at MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms, under Neil Gershenfeld.
Project Team: Kenny Cheung, Ara Knaian, Scott Greenwald, Forest Green, Keywon Chung, David Dalrymple, Taro Narahara
Many Thanks : Steffen Reichert, Jonathan Ward, Max Lobovsky, Veronica Emig, Ilan Moyer
Images from a gear assembly mock-up. A DC motor is mounted to one side of a bearing while a pinion gear rotates and turns an internal gear attached to the other side of the bearing. The bearing attaches to each unit and provides the rotational axis.
Images from a working small-scale mockup by Kenny Cheung, showing the transition from a line to a box. Each unit size is approximately 6″ x 12″ x 6″
Collaboration with Kenny Cheung and the MIT MilliBiology team. Many thanks to Max Lobovsky .
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“Protein folding is the physical process by which a polypeptide folds into its characteristic and functional three-dimensional structure from a random coil.” – Wikipedia
A progress report on the quest for coded assembly. A first mock-up of chain assembly (only 3 units of thousands) and one that is finally alive (although barely breathing!). A number of earlier studies below and more to come in the following weeks. Many thanks to Kenny Cheung, Jonathan Ward, Max Lobovsky, Steffen Reichert and many others.
The movement, although slow, shows potential for a full range of motion in only 2 units. Stronger stepper motors are needed to provide more torque for lifting motion.
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Earlier studies on tensioning systems for self-organization. Single strands are wound within each module and snap into place with male/female connections. Danzer modules force accurate angles and internal motors act as the winding force. 1. Additive friction 2. a necessity for deterministic structures and 3. a static final form led us away from tensioning systems toward protein folding. Many thanks to Veronica Emig and Steffen Reichert.
Aperiodic Vertebrae [Frankfurt : NODE08] has recently been published in Pasajes Arquitectura y Critica.
Aperiodic Vertebrae [Frankfurt : NODE08] has recently been published in the AD Journal : Theoretical Meltdown, Jan/Feb 2009.
Non-orthogonal responsive tool paths.
Rough pass – door handle mill.
A few images from Point b and the installation of the custom milled cabinets and wall surface. (Many thanks to Brandon Kruysman and Jon Proto for the photos) Collaboration with Point b Design.
Daniel Cardoso, Kenfield Griffith and Skylar Tibbits will be co-teaching a Rhinoscript workshop in collaboration with McNeel Latinoamérica at the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia from Jan 28th - Feb. 5th.
http://arquitectura.uniandes.edu.co/scripts/0_docs/noticias/2008/12-19/
Images from the final prototype.
Successes:
-Working continuous servo motor, controlled through potentiometers
-Working electromagnets for latching mechanism per edge
-Working, soldered and printed circuit board
-Programmed AVR microcontroller with PWM output for servos
-Fabricated and functioning gears & bearings per edge
Problems/Potentials:
-Electromagnets fail to maintain the edge axis when the gears engage and rotate
-Possibly a solenoid connection rather than electromagnets
-Possibly two motors or latches per edge in order to stabilize during rotation
-Electromagnets require approximately 20v, where circuit & servos only need 9v
-Potential for sensors on each face which dictate the on/off state for the electromagnets & servos
Again, many thanks to Sajid Sadi, Mark Feldmeier, Marcelo Coelho, Peter Schmidt and everyone else for your help!
http://ambient.media.mit.edu/courses/2008-MAS962/
Progress images…more to come.
Many thanks to Sajid, Mark and everyone that has helped thus far.
First images from a current project on self-aggregation modules.
Each component includes a servo & electromagnet per edge. A servo rotates an electromagnet on edge 1 of unit A which is connected to unit B’s electromagnet & edge 1 which then rotates the entire unit B. As unit B locks into position unit A’s electromagnet is negatively charged on edge 1 while A’s electromagnet on edge 2 is positively charged to lock unit B into place. Unit A’s servo then rotates on edge 2 which rotates the entire unit B and iterates through the previous steps…. (Lock magA, rotate servoA, lock magB, unlock magA, rotate servoB, lock magC, unlock magB, rotate servoC, loop)
Each unit has the capability of climbing neighboring units and self-assembling based on levels of attraction, repulsion, stabilization/destabilization, spatial constraint etc etc…
An aggregate is a collection of items that are gathered together to form a total quantity.
Self-assembly is a term used to describe processes in which a disordered system of pre-existing components forms an organized structure or pattern as a consequence of specific, local interactions among the components themselves, without external direction.
Self-organization is a process of attraction and repulsion in which the internal organization of a system, normally an open system, increases in complexity without being guided or managed by an outside source.
-wikipedia
Only scratching the surface of a field lead by people like:
ViktorZykov ( http://ccsl.mae.cornell.edu/research/selfrep/ ) and the team at Cornell University.
Hod Lipson ( http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/hod_lipson_builds_self_aware_robots.html )
Robert Kemp & Michael Fox ( http://www.robotecture.com/ )
This investigation in self-assembly units similarly pushes to aggregate autonomously through evolved behavior and responsiveness, however, a more direct link can hopefully be drawn between spatial possibilities and the benefits of automated full-scale self-construction mechanisms.
More images, mock-ups, electronics etc. to come….
Waterjet copper bracelets made from “path responsive surface curves”.
Skylar Tibbits will be presenting at Pecha Kucha Boston on Wednesday, November 12th at 630pm.
Many thanks to Zenovia Toloudi & Dimitris Papanikolao for the invitation.
www.pecha-kucha.org
http://pechakuchaboston.org
SEED Magazine and MOMA’s collaboration, MIND08, has been published online, including all video presentations.
http://seedmagazine.com/mind08
View Marc Fornes and Skylar Tibbits’ presentation along with:
Bradley Samuels, Erik Demaine, Chuck Hoberman, Chris Lasch, Neri Oxman and many others…
http://revminds.seedmagazine.com/
http://mind08.com/
CNC milled incision and/or surface cut path patterns, in collaboration with Point b design (www.pointbdesign.com).
More images from the surface milling utility code. Panels 2-1/2 axis milled from bamboo, cherry & MDF wood.
Code:
-Get tool dimension, step-over, max depth & direction for cut (x,y)
-Extract isocurves of a surface @ the percentage of step-over multiplied by the tool dimension
-For every point along each isocurve check the z depth
-Move each point along the surface based on its z-depth
-Calculate the largest depth & divide by the maximum depth for the tool
-Create stepped isocurves vertically based on the calculated max depth
This will output cut paths for any specified surface while also defining patterning based on surface conditions.
All studies were done in collaboration with Point b design (www.pointbdesign.com).
A number of studies which define a tool path for milling curved surfaces. The tool path is extracted from isocurves and undulates in response to surface depth creating interlocking patterns on top of a given 3D surface. This utility was created to control the tool as it describes a cut path across any surface. This attempts to push CAM software capabilities by specifying tool patterning, estimating machining time, controlling step-over and bit depth, while still milling a desired 3D surface. All studies were done in collaboration with Point b design.
Images from the completed installation,
Tesselion: Adaptive Quadrilateral Flat Panelization.
A new era of digital technology has emerged to enable freedom of design expression. Increasing complexity in surface curvature through rapidly developing digital techniques has enhanced an age old design problem of constructability of non-standard surface geometries. Along with the software for creating this complexity, intelligent capabilities for construction can be utilized through algorithmic and parametric logic. Simultaneously, improvements in fabrication technologies are clearing the way for a fully unified design and construction process. Simultaneously, the possibilities for both design and fabrication are reinvigorating the professional role of the architect.
Tesselion is a built project which demonstrates a system of flat panel tessellation derived from complex surfaces to enable ease in constructability and a directly evolved spatial environment through lighting, programmatic adaptation and structural simplicity. Each panel’s uniqueness is afforded by the efficiency of digital fabrication while coded parametric relationships allow an emergent structural efficiency.
Recently the development of planar quadrilateral meshes has become a strong interest in the architectural community due to their potential ease for constructing complex surfaces. The project responds to this problem and proposes a method for flat panelization of free form surfaces which provides large scale, efficient and economic construction from flat sheet material.
Tesselion is located at the Philadelphia University Architecture & Design Building & will be up until October.
Address : 4201 Henry Ave. Philadelphia, PA 19144
Feel free to visit & take photos (send me any images & I will post them on the web)!
Material Sponsor: Alliance Metals ( www.alliancemetals.com)
Fabrication Sponsor: Jared Laucks & Continental Signs ( www.continentalsigns.net)
Many Thanks: Jared Laucks, Marc Fornes, Adrienne Yancone & everyone else for the generous support!
Phase 2 has begun including (12) 4′x8′ sheets of aluminum. The ground condition has been poured and assembly started.
CNC fabrication Jared Laucks and Continental Signs (http://www.continentalsigns.net/)
More @ www.tesselion.wordpress.com
A few images from the early stages of Tesselion construction. Very sustainable…
More images @ www.tesselion.wordpress.com
Many thanks for all of the collaboration and Alliance Metals for material sponorship. (www.alliancemetals.com)
Images from the NODE08 conference in Frankfurt and the completed installation! A collaboration between Marc Fornes ( www.theverymany.net ) and Skylar Tibbits.
Many thanks to:
- Jared Laucks and Continental Signs for fabrication and material help (http://www.continentalsigns.net/)
-Dick Dunlop for laser cutting, 320 unique connections from 3/16″ acryclic
-Quadrant EPP USA, Inc. (www.quadrantepp.com) for providing sheets of polyethylene plastic at 3/16″ thickness
-Eno Henze (http://www.enohenze.de/) & the VVVV guys (http://vvvv.org) for their invitation to NODE08 & sponsorship
-Marius Watz for giving us the opportunity to do Aperiodic Vertebrae v.1 !! (http://www.generatorx.no/)
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SJET was initiated by Skylar Tibbits, as a catalogue and source of inspiration for work in experimental computation + design. SJET remains open to growing opportunities that provide for investigation in architecture & design, fabrication, computer science, robotics, media, art, electronics, fashion...
SJET is a direct result of an endless search for more.
Education:
BArch : Philadelphia University
Current : Design + Computation, MIT
Work Experience:
Point b design
Asymptote Architecture
Zaha Hadid Architects
SKIII Space Variations
Email: SJET [at] sjet.us www1.flickr.com/photos/13624120@N05/
SJET has been featured on/in:
SEED Magazine : Revolutionary Minds, April 2008 http:revminds.seedmagazine.com www.theverymany.net www.scriptedbypurpose.net www.dezeen.com
www.notcot.org http://blog.wired.com http://generatorx.no/ http://dataisnature.com/ http://aesthetechtonik.com/ http://node08.vvvv.org/ www.boingboing.net www.suckerpunchdaily.com www.archinect.com www.archispass.org/ www.fffound.com www.stumbleupon.com www.pinc.us http://blog.noahkalina.com http://livearchitecture.net/ http://blog.chaotic.co.uk http://andreagraziano.blogspot.com http://dimitrie.wordpress.com www.solidsmack.com www.core.form-ula.com www.rightbrainterrain.com
Many thanks for the generous support from our material/fabrication/software sponsors who have made all of this possible:
Alliance Metals Inc.
Todd Roberts & Bill Yorston
( www.alliancemetals.com )
Continental Signs :
CNC Fabrication
Mark, Andrea and Jared Laucks
( www.continentalsigns.net )
Quadrant EPP : Advanced Engineering Plastics
Kress Schwartz
( www.quadrantepp.com )
Harbec Plastics:
Rapid Protoyping
Bob Bechtold
( www.harbec.com)
Anyline Laser cutting
Jose Gonzalez
Michael Szivos
(www.anyline-ny.com)
TDM Solutions
(www.tdmsolutions.com)
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