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October 29, 2017, Filed Under: class resources, featured, progress report, Raptor 2017, student experience

Failing Better – Part 2

Well, I am continuing to fail successfully at this project. Here are some updates.

Through a rough series of failures, Xindi and I are learning more and more that the CNC is not the best tool for this specific project. This week, we finally got access to a laser cutter! It is so satisfying to watch this machine cut out our fingers the way they were meant to be. Plus, way less sanding or drilling. We implemented cut outs in the fingers to improve the weight. Bonus, it gives us more access to the inside of the joints for the spring adjustment. Although we plan on painting them with a metallic finish, the burnt wood aesthetic is really lovely. We still have a long way to go, though. Our file needs a lot of cleaning and better precision with dimensions.

Laser cut parts with plastic, lightweight hardware.

Another huge challenge we face is the attachment of a human hand to this thing. Rings slip out. Gloves slip out We struggle with stabilizing the actor’s palm.

We tried to implement an adjustable system to attach any sized hand using little chains and hooks at the end of the fingers. Didn’t work out. This week, we’re attempting a hybrid with rings and a glove to see if we can get more dexterity. I think next week we’ll try thimbles.

What I would like to specifically point out in this post is the value of having a space like we do to fail. The raptor lab is a mess; there are mechanical body part failures everywhere. But we have a place, a safe place to mess up. It’s ok to make something that doesn’t work. When you present a prototype each week, there are a flurry of constructive criticism and helpful suggestions. This kind of feedback is circulating constantly.

We also have a plethora of resources to learn off of. We have access to maker spaces with laser cutters and 3D printers, and an entire scene shop equipped with tools and resources. Additionally, we have professionals to vet ideas off of. This includes all of the faculty and staff of the theatre department, plus some amazing guest artists,

We also have time to fail. Don’t get me wrong, we are definitely working in a crunched timeline, but Karen and J.E. have blocked out so much time to fail and make mistakes. That’s the point of prototyping. I know its crazy, but I had never thought to give myself that time while working on a project. I just calculated how long it would take me to build a thing. That’s it.

Obviously from my last post, failure is an important, albeit sometimes painful, part of the creating process. What is equally important though, is giving yourself plenty of room, and time, to fail.

October 22, 2017, Filed Under: featured, Raptor 2017, student experience

Remembering the Performer

wireframe — Raptor with Performer Placement

You have done it!

You have built a raptor. The frame and head are solid. The tail magnificent. The lights and skin stunning. Now all you have to do is put it on a human body and….

it doesn’t fit the performer….

the irony!

So, where did we mess up? During our prototype stages we relied on the use of life size renderings and our own bodies to build our puppets to scale. This worked well to help us create a sense of proportion and balance that we were comfortable with, and was necessary due to the fact that no performer had been cast yet. Another factor may be that our first prototype was built on an older, shorter harness which is no longer sold in stores, and the harnesses that are available, which our second and third prototype was built on, are longer and built more for a taller male frame.

This week we were able to get one of our performers in our prototype, and we discovered that these factors had led us to a major problem that we had not yet anticipated: the harness was about 4″ too long. This difference in length put major pressure on the lower back of the performer and hindered their ability to move. It also presented us with a challenge to address in the future: How do we shorten the harness and still keep the proportions?

The harness is the foundation for the entire lower half of the puppet, so the idea of having to chop off 4″ from our frame and proportion seemed like a daunting idea at first. However, after talking with the performer and the team a solution was found in relatively short order.

We would use several things moving forward:

One of our performers graciously volunteered to spend time with us in the lab to help us at every step to make sure the fit was comfortable.
We now have the measurements for two of the performers with a third on the way. With the Center back to neck measurement, we will be able to closely estimate the size of the harness before we begin building on it.
We will cut the harness in the middle and create a telescoping feature on the pipes so it will be easy to adjust the harnesses to fit not just these performers, but maybe future ones as well.
We can add grommets to the straps to bring them in and control length.

With this experience, moving forward we will now be thinking of the performer, just as much as we will think of the raptor.

October 18, 2017, Filed Under: featured, Raptor 2017, student experience

Leg Day, Leg Week, Leg Month

Hi readers! I’m Nat, a third year Arts and Entertainment Technologies and Psychology major from Houston. I have been working on the Enron velociraptor structure team so far and have outlines our three basic prototype phases below. Before the first prototypes, however, I made these tiny leg simulators. I wanted to make something that could move so I could better see how to connect a forward bending knee to a backward bending one.

Prototype 1. The harness and torso were made from rattan (that we didn’t know we were supposed to soak!) and foam on a backpack frame. That part was relatively easy, but the tail proved to be a bigger challenge. We went through two (proto)prototypes before landing on the rattan /aluminum wire connection surrounded by flat green plastic. A leg, still in the early stage before it became THE leg, was foam and bolts with a tibia/fibula construction.

Our second raptor was a bit more flushed out. The leg at this point, has become difficult. I had ordered some ½ in. hollow aluminum rods and used them in place of the foam. I made a video of highly advanced materials tests that I thought proved the aluminum’s resiliency, but alas, the leg did not hold. I had drilled ¼ in. holes in the aluminum to thread ABS rod through and create rings that emulated the thickness of a live raptor thigh that the aluminum just could not hold. I had to put braces in three split beams. From this experience, I gained a box of materials I had destroyed which I still use as reference to past techniques that may be worth revisiting.

proto 2

The third and most recent raptor was outfitted with sturdier material that could hold the weight of the tail upright. We also used a slew of materials from PVC to plywood. At this point, we chose to make the leg out of solid aluminum and J.E. found us some mechanical ball and socket joints to use for the hip and connections. I took a raptor toy we had been referencing for dimensions and with some help from J.E. we made a 3D map of the toy. From there I made a scale model in Vectorworks to find the exact dimensions of the toy translated up to human size. This was perfect reference when it came to measuring out the new leg, which is now hinge joint pieces and 3/8 in. ABS rod, which was much better connected to a solid aluminum rod with zip ties. Every connection on the legs is reinforced with zip ties. I did some math on the number of connections and zip ties allotted per connection type and I think used about 350 zip ties. And I stopped at the knee. It’s looking good!

Charlie WIireframeTop

proto 3