final project schedule

Here is a tentative schedule for my final project

Checkpoints:

April 2nd - have knitting machine ordered and hopefully delivered, along with other parts (motors, etc)

April 9th -  have motor turning the knitting machine and knitting succesfully

April 16th -  have motors that move dye pots set up and working, connected to buttons
 
April 23rd - have everything done!!!

concept for final project

final project

Okay, so knitting machines (even non computerized ones) are a-okay for this project.  I did some googling, and ebay turned up with a few around 100 bucks.  I might be able to find a non-functioning (i.e. motor or computer parts are broken) one for less if I'm lucky.  Either way this cost isn't TOO prohibitive for me.  I also found this video of another wind powered one.





This shows how it works much better than the other one.  I still need to think of exactly how it will be powered, but I do know that I want it interactive.  Perhaps I'll just have it powered by the number of people who walk by (every person is a row) or something like that.  I need to brainstorm really bad for this, but my other class has kind of taken over my life :(.

Motors!

For this project we have to have use two motors.  Last week I was really inspired (I guess inspired sounds a little hokey, maybe amused?  Intrigued?  Interested?) by Laura's project (the evil hallway).  I thought it sounded like a lot of fun to go down, actually.  So, for this project I'm taking the idea of an environment that doesn't like you and translating it to a blonde's worst enemy.  Stairs.  Specifically, stairs that trip you as you're going up.  Finally!!  Everyone will understand what it's like to be me!!

*Ahem*

So yea, there will be a motor connected to each step in a staircase that slides it up and down randomly.  In addition, there will be a motor attached to the handrail that moves it and makes it wiggle.

Final project ideas

For my final project I want to create a knitting machine that knits as a person does something.  This is a wind powered knitting machine, which I think is kind of beautiful, but unfortunately it doesn't use any computers, so something like that would be a no go for this class.

There  have also been people who have "hacked" knitting machines to knit 8-bit patterns and pictures.  I don't find that all too interesting and do not own a knitting machine anyway so there wouldn't be much point in trying to do that.

A third thing that people have done is have knitting machines that work based on the mechanical process of something else, such as a clock or rocking chair.  The clock is interesting, but the idea has both been done before and who wants to wait a year for a scarf?  The rocking chair, like the wind powered machine doesn't involve computers so it too is a no go.

I think I need to find something to say about time and the passage of it if I want to think of something to make involving a knitting machine.