Floating Partition

The Floating partition is a wall constructed of fabric and struts. The idea developed itself in coordination with the tectonic system of a stadium project I’ve been developing. Interested in new ways and scales of implantation, I’ve taken this system out of the the context of a stadium to explore it further.  

 

In my initial investigations into this system I developed ways in which I can simulate these structures. Simply using Kangaroo & Grasshopper, plug-ins for rhino, I was able to create a base mesh with stiff members embedded within the fabric. By scaling these members and allowing physical properties between them to take place a three dimensional structure would emerge; one in which the struts are suspended within the fabric.

Intuitively, this is what I wanted to do physically on a smaller, one to one scale. So using an Arduino and some knowledge of linear actuation, my goal was to create a condition where the struts could  expand and contract. 

 

This required the following Materials:

NEMA 14 – Round Stepper 17oz-in Stall torque

Acme Threaded rod @ 24″ – 8mm

Coupler 5mm to 8mm

PVC conduit .75″ dia & .5″ dia

3d printed part to stop rotation

 

 

 

 

 

 

CODE:

#include <Stepper.h>
#define SENSORPIN 2
int touchCount = 0;
int sensorState = 0, lastState=0;
const int stepsPerRevolution = 200;
int freeze = 800;

Stepper myStepper(stepsPerRevolution, 4, 5, 6, 7);

void setup() {
Serial.begin(9600);
pinMode(SENSORPIN, INPUT);
digitalWrite(SENSORPIN, HIGH);
myStepper.setSpeed(260);
}

void loop() {
Serial.println(touchCount);

sensorState = digitalRead(SENSORPIN);

if (sensorState == HIGH) {
touchCount = touchCount+1;
if ( touchCount > 400 & touchCount < freeze){
myStepper.step(10);
}
}

if (sensorState == LOW) {
touchCount = 0;
}
}

 

[vsw id=”Lwn5-W2uvUI” source=”youtube” width=”525″ height=”444″ autoplay=”no”]

My goal was to linearly actuate one strut within a fabric frame to examine its behavior. However my intentions are focus on a network of struts that create a partition that can be interacted with. This partition would sculpt space as well as create visual permeability within the frame work of “floating” suspended struts.