Exercise 3: Helmet of Justice

Project Description

The Helmet of Justice, modeled after the weighing scale held by Lady Justice, is meant to play with the human sense of balance. Having two sides to the weighing scale that are attached to the top of their heads with different amount of load placed on each end, participants are required do regular human tasks while attempting to maintain a balance between the two loads.

Components
  • Safety Helmet
  • Wooden Plank
  • Strings
  • Duct Tape
  • Plastic Plates
  • Cardboard
  • Load bearing different weights

Done by: Cher See & Anam

Semester Project 1: ZoeBike

The ZoeBike

The ZoeBike is a spatial device that allows the user to project a zoetrope animation onto the walls of a dark room that uses the power generated by pedaling a bicycle.

Animated Projection

Initially, we wanted to do project an animation of the growth of a plant from seedling to adult tree. However, we realized that in order to present the life cycle of a plant, we needed to work with more frames then what could be contained within the dimensions of the zoetrope. So instead, we decided to go with the projecting the walk cycle of the animal that is regarded as the guardian of the forest, the deer. The animation consists of 17 frames. Below is a video of how the movement of the deer should look like when it is projected onto the walls of the dark room:

Assembling the ZoeBike

Here are the tools and materials we have used to construct the ZoeBike:

  • Bicycle (with the back tire removed)
  • Wooden Dowels
  • Gorilla Glue
  • Silicone Glue
  • Wooden Platform
  • Bamboo Poles
  • Black Spray Paint
  • Foam Sheet
  • Strings
  • G-clamp
  • Construction Paper
  • Mounting Board
  • Glue Stick
  • Clear Tape
  • Duct Tape
  • Plastic Jar
  • LED Light Strip
  • Portable Power Bank
  • X-Acto Knife
  • Scissors
  • Saw
  • Hacksaw
  • Ruler
  • Cutting Mat

Here are some photos to show of how the bicycle component of the ZoeBike is being constructed:

Here are some photos to show how the zoetrope was constructed:

Documented Video

Below is a video to display the process of making the ZoeBike and how it works:

Improvement Points

Upon seeing the results of our ZoeBike, we realized that there were several areas of improvement that we should work on before moving on to the next step of digitalizing our project for the final submission.

  1. Plant the bicycle on a platform to ensure that it does not tremble when participants move the pedals. Relying on the bicycle stand might be somewhat hap-hazardous for the participants and the people standing of close proximity to the ZoeBike.
  2. Use a better support to substitute the bamboo pole that holds the zoetrope upright to ensure that it eases its rotation as well giving it a more balanced spin.
  3. Stabilize the zoetrope. It appears to be tilted when it is being spun which resulted in an angled projection of the animation.
  4. Use a spotlight instead of LEDs to project the animation as the light diffuses and messes up the silhouettes that were created on the walls of the dark room.
  5. Provide a division in between the frames of the animation to make sure that it plays smoother.
  6. Place the ZoeBike in a darker and preferable a smaller room to ensure that the light is projected well onto the walls.

Done by: Anam Musta’ein & Goh Cher See