Week3

New Shape

I realized that the original Chinese Knot shape is better to be individual rather than assembled together, as there will be large holes between the pieces: So they are not compact enough.

I decided to cut off the ears of the knot to make a more compact structure and the new version really work better than the former ones.

Innovate

Now the pieces can be assembled into different structures but for me they’re still simple and basic. Then I recalled that we’re asked to use PHA instead of PLA as PHA is biodegradable and more sustainable. So why not do something more environmentally friendly?

I looked into the structure of the new piece and found a part of it could be removed. It occurred to me that I could take that part out and print some sub-components to decorate the whole pattern. Thus the pattern would be customizable as well as more environmentally friendly as less materials would be used to print it. I just designed a new sub-pattern as an eye, and more new patterns would come later.

Assemble

I printed more basic components and tried to assemble them and it went well. The body is flat, foldable and parametric. Also the sub-pattern is a plus for the design.

Future Work

• Design more sub-patterns
• Improve the connections between the pieces
• Print more components to assemble a complete object