HAND-MADE | HIGH-TECH

Design Museum Research...Old Faithful

When Graeme Obree initially claimed the hour record he did so as an almost unknown amateur, using a bicycle he designed and built from a variety of scavenged components, including parts from an old washing machine. Watching a washing machine spin at 1,200rpm led him to take the bearings, which he assumed must be of superior quality, and fit them to his bike.The bicycle, nicknamed ‘Old Faithful’, was unlike anything else used at the time. Noteable innovations included a new crouched riding position, with the hands tucked in under the rider’s chest, and a narrow bottom bracket that brought the riders legs very close together, making it more aerodynamic.

Old Faithful banned

The world governing body, the Union Cycliste Internationale grew concerned that changes to bicycles were making a disproportionate improvement to track records. Among other measures, it banned his riding position, judges disqualified him when he refused to comply. The magazine Cycling Weekly blamed “petty-minded officialdom.”Obree developed another riding position, the “Superman” style, his arms fully extended in front, and he won the individual pursuit at the world championships with this and Old Faithful in 1995. That position was also banned.

Mongoose MMi3

While the Mongoose MMi3 is made from traditional willow wood, the innovation lies in the unusual shape. The blade is 33% shorter than a conventional bat and the handle is 43% longer. The increased handle gives players greater leverage and therefore a higher bat speed when contact is made with the ball. Scientists call it the bat’s MMi, or ‘mass and moment of inertia’. It determines the amount of effort required by the batsman not only to swing, but also control the bat during the swing. This makes the Mongoose a lighter, harder-hitting bat. And while it looks different to a conventional long-blade bat, when you pick it up its weight and handling feel pretty much the same.The splice, usually located in the blade of the bat, is incorporated into the handle, which ensures there is no dead spot in the hitting area of the bat.

The Mongoose also reconfigures the shoulders by dropping them down nine inches. The weight taken from the shoulders – about 20 per cent of the blade weight – is redistributed to the back of the new, shorter blade. This allows the sweet spot to double in size, including in the previously defensive toe area, and for the profile of the bat to be increased throughout, with a redistribution of weight across a greater area of the bat.

Some people argued against the design of the bat and said the added momentum that comes from the huge mass of wood in the hitting area and the whippy cane handle makes the ball go a long way, but it makes controlling shots far tougher.

APL Concept 2

The vast majority of athletic footwear companies focus their research and development efforts on shock absorption and cushioning. While this is clearly important in the manufacture of athletic footwear, it does little to help increase the vertical leap of an athlete. In fact, most technologies in the athletic footwear market are in the heel area of the shoe, though jumping occurs in the forefoot just in front of the ball of the foot through the toes. The forefoot is the most critical part of the basketball shoe for vertical leaping and this is where the Athletic Propulsion Labs Load ‘N Launch system is located.

Implanted in the sole of the shoe under the balls of the feet, the Load ‘N’ Launch device uses an intricate spring-based propulsion system. Eight coiled springs per shoe, held in place with specially designed plates, store energy from downwards pressure, which is released on takeoff to increase lift.During testing, 11 of the 12 participants jumped higher instantly in Athletic Propulsion Labs shoes compared to the leading brands most expensive high performance basketball shoe. In addition, some participants saw an increase of up to 3.5 inches instantly in their vertical leap.

After tests showed that Athletic Propulsion Lab’s new technology can help athletes gain upto 9 centimetres on a vertical jump, the National Basketball Association (NBA) took the unusual step of banning the shoes from professional competitions, ruling them to provide “an undue competitive advantage”.

Materials&Processes...Polystyrene:

Polystyrene is an aromatic polymer made from the monomer styrene, a liquid petrochemical. Polystyrene is one of the most widely used plastics, the scale of its production being several billion kilograms per year. It is a colorless solid that is used, for example, in disposable cutlery, plastic models, CD and DVD cases, and smoke detector housings. Products made from foamed polystyrene are ubiquitous, for example packing materials, insulation, and foam drink cups. It’s very slow biodegradation is a focus of controversy, and it is often abundant as a form of litter in the outdoor environment, particularly along shores and waterways especially in its low density cellular form.

Properties:As a thermoplastic polymer, polystyrene is in a solid (glassy) state at room temperature but flows if heated above about 100 °C, its glass transition temperature. It becomes rigid again when cooled. This temperature behavior is exploited for molding and extrusion, since it can be cast into molds with fine detail. Polystyrene can be transparent, white, or, upon dying, various colors.

Manufacture:Polystyrene foams are produced using blowing agents that form bubbles and expand the foam. In expanded polystyrene, these are usually hydrocarbons such as pentane, which may pose a flammability hazard in manufacturing or storage of newly manufactured material, but have relatively mild environmental impact. Extruded polystyrene is usually made with hydrofluorocarbons, which have global warming potentials of approximately 1000–1300 times that of carbon dioxide.

Cardboard/Corrugated Fibreboard:

Cardboard is a generic term for a heavy-duty paper of various strengths, ranging from a simple arrangement of a single thick sheet of paper to complex configurations featuring multiple corrugated and uncorrugated layers.The type of cardboard I have chosen to look into and work with is corrugated fibreboard.

CarbonFibre:

Carbon-fiber is an extremely strong and light fiber-reinforced polymer, which contains carbon fibers. The polymer is most often epoxy, but other polymers, such as polyester, vinyl ester or nylon, are sometimes used. The composite may contain other fibers, such as Kevlar, aluminum, or glass fibers, as well as carbon fiber. The strongest and most expensive of these additives, carbon nanotubes, are contained in some primarily polymer baseball bats, car parts and even golf clubs where economically viable.

Properties:Carbon-fiber-reinforced polymers are composite materials. In this case the composite consists of two parts; a matrix and a reinforcement. In CFRP the reinforcement is carbon fiber, which provides the strength. The matrix is usually a polymer resin, such as epoxy, to bind the reinforcements together. Because CFRP consists of two distinct elements, the material properties depend on these two elements.

The reinforcement will give the CFRP its strength and rigidity; measured by Stress (mechanics) and Elastic modulus respectively. Unlike isotropic materials like steel and aluminum, CFRP has directional strength properties. The properties of CFRP depend on the layouts of the carbon fiber and the proportion of the carbon fibers relative to the polymer.Properties:

Corrugated fiberboard is a paper-based material consisting of a fluted corrugated sheet and one or two flat linerboards. It is widely used in the manufacture of corrugated boxes and shipping containers.The corrugated medium and linerboard are made of containerboard, a paper-like material usually over 0.01 inches (0.25 mm) thick. Corrugated fiberboard is sometimes called corrugated cardboard; although cardboard might be any heavy paper-pulp based board.

Manufacture:The corrugated box was initially used for packaging glass and pottery containers.

Packaging engineers design corrugated boxes to meet the particular needs of the product being shipped, the hazards of the shipping environment, (shock, vibration, compression, moisture, etc.), and the needs of retailers and consumers.The most common box style is the Regular Slotted Container (RSC). All flaps are the same length from the score to the edge. Typically, the major flaps meet in the middle and the minor flaps do not.

Manufacture:The process by which most carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer is made varies, depending on the piece being created, the finish (outside gloss) required, and how many of this particular piece are going to be produced. In addition, the choice of matrix can have a profound effect on the properties of the finished composite.

Design Development...Research

During my research I came across many different types of cardboard. Cardboard is a term given to heavy-duty paper of various strength; the type of cardboard I have chosen to look at and work with is Corrugated Fibreboard, a paper based material consisting of a fluted corrugated sheet and one or two flat linerboards, it is widely used in the manufacture of corrugated boxes and shipping containers.

During my research I came across some designers that work with cardboard to produce models and designs. I found the work of both Chris Gilmour and Will Holman very influential and inspiring because of their use of cardboard in creating lifelike models of different objects.

Chris Gilmour

Chris Gilmour is an English artist specialising in the creation of life-sized sculptures made of recycled cardboard and glue, using both plain packaging cardboard and recycled packaging material. His works replicate in painstaking detail many objects and machines out of our ordinary lives, ranging from objects from daily life, such as bicycles, motorbikes, cars, cafetieres, chairs, etc. to small models of religious architecture, in an ironic “desecration” by the graphics of the packaging, by juxtaposing these religious symbols and the “profane” icons of modern consumer life and culture, such as condoms, toothpaste, etc.

Through his career and artistic development, there has been a progression in the choice of objects portrayed by Gilmour, which go from smaller domestic items (like the moka or the typewriter) to objects which are larger and belong to a broader cultural context (the Fiat 500, the Lambretta and, more recently, James Bond’s iconic Aston Martin).Gilmour’s choice of objects has always been based on their calling up memories and emotions connected to our experience of these (everyday) things. Since this is both a visual and conceptual work, Gilmour chooses objects for their visual appeal and cultural resonance, but he also usually chooses objects which imply an action or interaction of some sort. The interaction of the viewer with the works seems to function as a kind of short circuit between an implied action and the impossibility of performing it: one immediately wants to open the car door, or turn the wheel on the bike, but of course one can’t. This immediacy is important to enter Gilmour’s work, to grab the viewer.

Will Holman

Will Holman has been working with material – corrugated cardboard. When clamped into a mold and adhered with wheat paste, cardboard can also be molded into curved shapes. These ergonomic panels are light, cheap, and recycled from alley-salvaged moving boxes. Mounted to a plywood frame, the resultant chair is an exercise in economy, utility, honesty, and simplicity.

Experimentation

I began experimenting with some techniques and processes involving corrugated cardboard, enabling me to create models and designs. I decided to start of with a technique which consists of soaking the cardboard, softening it making it easier to mold and work with. However after completing this process I learnt that the pulp did not hold together very well,making it very hard to form any shape or structure.

I also experimented with another method involving cardboard which consists of cutting, folding and sticking, this technique enabled me to gain many different structures and designs giving it more of a rigid look rather than the roundness formed from the other technique used..I would like to use this method to further develop my design ideas and create an outcome.

Design Solution...

Development Design OutcomeAs part of my further development I began sketching out ideas and concepts for the final outcome, consisting of influences from my research.

I also started applying different techniques to the cardboard creating molds using a pulp made from soaking the cardboard.

For the final outcome I wanted to produce something that tests the properties of corrugated cardboard such as the strength, lightweight and customizable factor within this material.

The method I chose to use consisted of cutting, layering, folding and sticking the cardboard together to form a strong structure which can be curved or molded into any shape or form.

I chose to create a chair using the corrugated cardboard as a design outcome, the reason for this would be because I thought it would be interesting to use this recycled material to make an object which we use everyday, and something that creates interaction.

Overall I would say that after producing a chair design it enabled me to explore and experiment the properties of corrugated cardboard further. Using cardboard to create chairs and other furniture is a process which I think is very effective, as cardboard is cheap, eco-friendly, lightwieght and sturdy which is very useful when making any type of furniture or object.

Here is a link to the final outcome for this project:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZH_Pi4eKTU8

Blog Link:

http://safzal.gdnm.org/