Final Project Journal

Kinetic Origami Shelters

Design a prefabricated shelters that can deploy from a compact state to an expanded one to provide formal flexibility and ease of transport and storage.

Deployment process could be done manually or by installing a movement mechanism with extra features such as light source

Laser Cutting:

• Exported the DXF file for laser cutting

• Adjusted the settings on RDWorks

• Settings: Speedcut:  speed 350, power 12

                     Cut:  speed 40, power 45

• Material: 3mm plywood 

Components list:

• DC motor - OUTPUT component

• Push Button - INPUT component

• Arduino Uno board to upload the C code 

• 9V adapter

• H-Bridge is connected to the Arduino via 3 pins, two pins on an input slots and one on an enable slot. Enable slot is used to allow the DC motor to run fwd and bkwd

I used 9V adapter as a power source for my circuit. DC motor is connected to an H-Bridge motor driver to perform the fwd and bkwd movement

The H-Bridge motor driver require a high voltage (5V-12V) to operate efficiently and provide sufficient torque.

The 9V is connected directly to the H-Bridge

This code was inspired by week#6 self practice videos. We learned how to control the DC motor movement direction and speed via H-Bridge and coding

Simply I needed the motor to move forward and backward to fold and unfold the tent.

The movement starts with the push button, which is translated into the "if function" in the programming code.

Started by defining an integer called state with an intial value "1".

By clicking the push button the state value is 1, which means the motor will move fwd and push the tent outwards.

By clicking the the push button again, the state value changes to "0" and the motor moves bckwd and pull the tent inwards.

• Assembling the electric components box using t-slots and 3mm screw nuts

• Secured electric components in place 

• Uploaded the C Code to Arduino

• Placed the wooden gear on the motor shaft

• Placed the wooden rack underneath the gear and within the lanes 

• Connected the power source and tested the movement 

This project went through several trials and errors.

Initial idea was to pass a thread through the Origami tent and attach the thread to the DC motor, to fold and unfold the tent with the fwd and bckwd movements. This idea wasn't very successful because the thread would tangle during  the folding and unfolding process. 

After discussion with my instructor, thankfully she suggested the Rack and Pinion mechanism. I did some research and settled for the wooden rack and pinion. 

The transition from using a thread to the rack and pinion mechanism was a smart move, especially since the thread tangling was a big issue. Plus, the visual appeal and mechanical simplicity of the rack and pinion are added bonuses.

• At the beginning I used ON/OFF switch as an input for my circuit. But after consulting with the instructors I switched to Push Button.

So the code ran smoothly and the motor operated in both direction as expected.

• It was challenging to choose which motor to use for this project. The DC motor or micro stepper motor.

Keeping in mind that I needed a motor with smooth motion and the ability to control the speed and  fwd&bckwd movement.

After trails and discussions with the instructors, I settled for the DC motor

• Create a more compact design for the electronic components box 

• Add two more tents, to have a set of three. Same as the cardboard prototype