#Designbox serial serial
#Designbox serial series

Reminiscent of composite mold-making from Week 9, I started with blue foam. Vacuum Form plastic is rapidly shaped, and translucent to match the outer shell. I do not trust press fit acrylic to be completely water tight, even with cement, so I've chosen a process which can fabricate uniform solid forms. Vaccuum Form plastic is rapidly shaped, and translucent to match the outer shell. It's actually *BETTER* than driving water into the air with an electronic humidifier because it does not over-humidify and cause condensation - WHICH WOULD BE HORRIBLE FOR THE VIEWING EXPERIENCE!! :O Thus, a design constrain of the secondary containment is that it have a completely water tight base. The combination of the incubator's heat and the large surface area, creates consistent humidity. Through experimentation, I can achieve near-100% humidity, passively, by making the base of the box a tray for water. It doubles as a humidity control chamber. Second, I must fabricate an inner, secondary containment unit. Rough and finishing toolpath for the shop bot included, using PartsWorks for 3D forms. Here, it is cut to insulated the heating elements, and provide a self for a circulating fan a few inches from the heating element. First up, I use the blue foam directly to insulate the base of the incubator. This shopbot is finally my best friend - both the desktop and large-scale mills were good fabrication fits for many components of the incubator. Since they are small, independent pieces, they can easily be replaced if broken. A user can squeeze them to release the top lid, but this is not meant to be done relatively often since it's primarily a display case. I've included four barbed 'snaps' to fasten the lid shut. Spot-light: A press-fit strategy is used for the primary function of the external containment, the lock. Try Laser Cutting Settings: Speed 1.5, Power 100%, PPI: 1500 to quickly etch a 'preview' into the sacrificial film, in order to make minor changes to the material's position in the print bed. To do this, keep the paper/plastic protective film on the acrylic. > Acrylic sheets can be $30 a pop! If you are a cheap student like me, you will want to cut as close to the edge of your material as possible. I have minimized the number of finger joints to one, single jag near the foot of the base. Gluing flat cuts of acrylic is do-able, but is a risky sacrifice of alignment. > Design Form: A plinth fit for the Louvre! Non-trivial, this is how I present bacteria to the world and I want it to be viewed as both beautiful and valuable.ДЄs a museum case, I'm aiming for smooth and monolithic. > Physical Form: An isolated unit with two levels of containment, fit for transport outside of a biological lab. > Function: DIY Incubator, with thermostat and humidistat environmental control (electronics). In my plans for Living Display Case - I want a way for *living* microbes to be displayed, observable through their dynamic growth or lifecycles, and maybe even adored.

I realized that it is indeed no small feat to get bacterially 'processed' objects into a museum. While our world and bodies are swathed in microbial life, and many ancient processes like fermenting are very comfortable with the idea of culturing and connecting with microbes, modern society is very squeemish of the idea. Our masks were completely inert: dried, UV-cured and covered in varnish, and yet it was a logistical victory to achieve.

#Designbox serial series

I hope to push the bounds of what interactions people are currently comfortable with, with bacteria.Д«ACKSTORY: In the last month, I worked with my research team to release a series of microbial pigmented masks to the London Design Museum. The Inhabitable Exhibit is a vehicle by which to push microbial tools, processes and designs into public 'spaces' to give the necessary public presence to the organisms behind the salient technological advances in microbiology. Interface Programming: temperature converter, display, and thermistat feedback loop control. Molding Casting: heating element plates. Electronic Output Power Supply: home-made heating element and fan.

#Designbox serial serial

Electronic Inputs Networking: serial boards for temperature sensing gradient.

CNC Machining Vacuum Forming: custom insulation, inner humidity chamber. Laser Cutting Press Fit: outer containment housing and lock. Computer Aided Design: box exterior and interior plans.