Dec
20
Almost Scientific
Check out www.AlmostScientific.com for the direct data.
Alan Rorie is an artist and scientist whose work focuses on the intersection between science, art and education. He founded Almost Scientific, a science and art collaborative, after someone told him his method of producing art was “very scientific.” “I know how science works,” he replied. “This isn’t scientific–it’s almost scientific.” Since then, Almost Scientific has educated scientists about art and artists about science, helping to bring forth such works as gigantic interactive treehouses, large sets of functional brass apertures, fully functional, steam-powered time machines, alien observation tanks housing 9000-volt robotic neurons, and plasma powered rocket ships.
Alan’s individual and collaborative works have been shown at venues as diverse as The Sonoma County Museum, The Exploratorium, Maker Faire, Coachella Music Festival, the Crucible’s Fire Arts Festival, The Science Gallery’s Lightwave Event, the Edwardian Ball and Burning Man. His art has been featured in the science journal Nature, the technology and culture publication Wired, and a wide array of blogs and web-pages. And, his scientific work has been published in Science, PLoS and The Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.
After graduating NYU with BS in Neuroscience, Alan became a pre-doctoral researcher at the National Institute of Mental Health. Alan completed his Ph.D in Neurobiology at Stanford University in 2008, where he studied how monkey neurons make economic decisions, and recently completed a post doctoral fellowship at The Exploratorium, the museum of science, art and human perception, located in San Francisco.
Nov
18
Rotate your owl.
Best rotate your owl video ever.
I think we can all agree this is pure internet awesome, but few will will find as much value in it as I do.
Awesome photo of The Nautilus
Here is an awesome photo of The Nautilus by, Five Ton Crane member Becca Henery.
Nov
16
Nov
15
The Nautilus Aperture Door
Well, I finally got around to processing most of the photos and video of a great project I worked on over the summer. I created a portfolio page for it here, but since I never really blogged about this piece as I was building it I figured no one really knew anything about it so I’m writing this massive post with everything in it.
When Five Ton Crane was commissioned to build an art car version of The Nautilus, the classic submarine from 2000 Leagues Under The Sea, I knew there were going to apertures involved, I could have never guessed it would be this big. As we started talking about the project a few things started to become clear.
First, this was a great opportunity to wholly revise my original aperture designs to make them more durable and more precise. I’d learned a few nifty techniques since I built my first set of apertures in 2007. Second, not only were we going to use apertures in the windows, but we also wanted to incorporate a big one into the door, which we were estimating would need to be about 4′ in diameter. Third, since incorporating a huge aperture into the door was going to be a major challenge all the other elements if the door would need to be designed around it, so it only made sense that I would build the entire door. Fourth, I would need to add some new elements to the project to keep it interesting for myself so I decided that I’d not only custom machine the hinges, but I’d also motorise the aperture in the door, and use a RFID system to control the locking mechanism. Oh, and I’d need to build two of these doors, one for each side of the sub (only one aperture though).
The four small aperture windows went together easily, and as gorgeous and cool as they are, honestly, they are so deep in the shadow of the 4′ door aperture that they are hardly noticed.
I was really amazed at how well the 4′ aperture worked, in fact, this large one is mechanical smoother then the small ones. See each of the blades needs to overlap several other blades. If you image the blades being very thin and flexible then you can see that when they are all stacked up atop each-other the stack is very thin and there is not a lot of torsion on the blades. Now since these are made of brass, the material can only get so thin before it lacks the strength to be constantly twisted without deforming. Usually I use a brass in the 0.03″ range. This thickness works well when they are small but works even better when it’s large, because the important metric is not the material thickness but the ratio between the thickness and size of the blade. I also found a new much stronger method to attach the pins to the blades (this is the hardest part of the design).
The motorization of the large aperture was surprisingly easy. I used two small DC motors with spur gears and nice torque mounted on either side of the cam ring. I then welded chain around the cam ring turning it into a giant gear. It worked the first time I tried it. I controlled the two motors with an Arduino and a motor shield, two limit switches and a few lines of code. I then modified an old positioner and inserted a set of buttons, so that when you pull the handle of the positioner it trips the buttons and turns the motors.
The RFID was super easy. I got a D12 RFID reader, hooked it up to another Arduino, and used it to flip a 40A relay attached to a 30 lbs pull automotive solenoid. The solenoid was coupled to a super beefy industrial latch. The latch keeps the door closed until is sprung by the solenoid, when to door is closed it pushes the spring latch back into its locking position. Just like the trunk on your car. I love the result. The door is rock solid closed with no visible way to open it. Then you wave your fob by the reader and the door literally pops open. When you close the door there is solid, satisfying snap as it latches in place.
The hinges are one of my favorite parts. Not only did they come out really nicely but they are so smooth and stable, and add just enough friction to give opening the door some nice tactile feedback. I modeled them on old harpoon heads and went to great lengths to hide all the welds. I love when I catch people staring at them and wondering out loud how they are put together.
Nov
13
“Resistance is Futile”: Reading Science Fiction Alongside Ubiquitous Computing
An interesting read on the relationship between science fiction and technological research and development by Paul Dourish
Read the whole paper here.
Reading research literature as in some ways “fictive” is not intended to denigrate or dismiss it; rather, we want to draw attention to the ways in which both science fiction and the research literature are founded upon acts of collective imagination, and that any imagination of a possible future is grounded in expectations, frustrations, and understandings of the present. One might go so far as to suggest that this is not simply a reading of scientific practice alongside popular culture, but rather a recognition that scientific practice cannot be entirely separated from the popular culture upon which it draws and to which it contributes.
…
So the distinction we might draw is not between research that involves social and cultural factors and research that does not, but rather between research that acknowledges these factors and research that suppresses, ignores, or denies them. Ironically, what we achieve through an engagement with science fiction is a series of reminders about scientific fact.
Oct
23
It’s Alive! Mini-Mover 5 resurrected with Arduino!
When I saw this 5DOF robotic I fell in love with it, that was in the 80s when I was just a little kid. I aways wanted one. So the other day when I saw it collecting dust and longing for the days when it was cutting edge I knew I had to resurrect it. It’s really just controlled by 6 stepper motors so I stripped out all the electronics and hooked it up to two EasyDrivers under Arduino control and wrote a simple Processing program to interface with it. I only had two drivers sitting around but I’ve got more coming, so soon I’ll have full control of this 80s wonder. Not sure what I’m going to do with it yet. But I’m toying with the idea of having it play with a mouse … a real mouse.
Oct
11
Almost Scientific and The Uira Engine on Make
You know at events like Maker Faire I’m constantly being interviewed and videoed, and then I totally forget about them. Well this afternoon during a quick lunch break I checked in on Make and while I’m scrolling along eating a chicken drum stick I suddenly relise that I’m looking at a video of myself. Yep, although it was months ago Make has just posted an interview the did with me about The Uira Engine. Thanks Make!
Sep
26
The RGR and The Rocket Stop featured in the San Francisco Chronicle
Below is scanned clipping from the San Francisco Chronicle featuring the RGR and The Rocket Stop.
Yeah, it was also posted on-line, but its still cool to see your work printed on real paper.
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