Ashley D Goodenough: "Lyretail" Prosthetic Accessory

Concept:

My focus for Digital Fabrication this semester is the study, design, and fabrication of various prosthetic accessories for specific uses. My first project, which is for a below-knee accessory, will be a prosthetic accessory for scuba diving. I’m calling it Lyretail (or alternately, Scalefin), because my main inspiration for the form comes from a family of gorgeous saltwater fish called Lyretails, also sometimes known as Scalefins. It’s also a fun play on words, and I’ve become endeared to it. There are many variations of the lyretail, but they all have exaggerated and slightly asymmetrical tail fins, and their coloring tends to be dramatic. My goal for this design is to make a diving prosthetic that echoes the streamlined and elegant forms of oceanic fish. The flipper will be similar to a split-fin in that the paddle will not be a solid piece - it will be for diving in conditions where the tide is less strong and unpredictable and you want a little more fine control of your movement. The lower leg portion of my concept draws from the shape of the wings of a manta ray.

From my research, I’ve gathered that a single-axis foot is what most people want from a scuba prosthetic - this way, the foot/fin only moves in one plane and has a predictable path of motion. Another need is ease of attachment and detachment of the flipper to the prosthetic foot, which in most cases is a Sach foot. Given the limited availability of dive prosthetics out there, it’s fair to say that another desire is more customization of the shell to suit your personal style. With these main ideas, I started concepting the Lyretail. When the model is finished, I plan on the ankle joint being a single-axis of my own design. It will ideally be able to lock in 2 or 3 positions, using some sort of manual dial. Additionally, the flipper will either be modeled in a way that means it can be easily slid onto a foot underwater and tightened around the heel, or it will be modeled so that if it were printed in a flexible and water-safe material, it would be simple to slip on the Sach foot and over the heel. The top leg portion will be completely separate from the flipper, but will be connected to the joint and the Sach foot design that fits into the flipper. 

In addition to my online research of scuba prosthetics out there currently, I also interviewed a family friend who is a recent amputee and a dive master. We met and talked about how his dive prosthetic works, and how I could go about making my final design effective but still appealing. He agreed with the need for a single-axis rotation in the ankle, and liked the idea of a locking mechanism - he’s actually been designing something similar recently for his own use, since he’s an engineer by trade - and the need for the flipper to be easy and fast to put on and adjust. I learned that I either need to create a leg design that is a completely functional underwater prosthetic that can use a vacuum and pressurization to stay attached, or my design must be purely a surrounding shell that can fit around an existing prosthetic. I haven’t decided which direction I’m going to go with that yet. He emphasized as well something I need to generally keep in mind in this business: every single prosthetic or prosthetic accessory is designed for a particular person, because everyone’s situation is going to be a little different - height, weight, amputation level, etc. I’m going to keep meeting with him when I have questions about ways to make my design more useful, or if I’m uncertain about my design interfering with its overall effectiveness.

Modeling (so far): 

My modeling deliverable at the end of the first four weeks of the semester was to have a clean, preliminary model of my prosthetic last; I would have the main form ready to go, and have very little detail. I got a little further than that, but may have to backpedal after talking with my friend and learning about how his personal diving leg works. I started scaling my concept drawings to each other in Photoshop and setting up some visual guides so that I could bring some orthographic views into Rhino and use them as a reference. I used PictureFrame to set up my front, side, and top views. I used Control Point Curves to first build the side silhouette of the leg and flipper together, then the front silhouette, creating only vertical curves for now. I also used my top view concept of the flipper to curve out the shape of the sole. Then, using Interpolate Points Curves, I drew horizontal curves to basically act as defining curves for the shape of the leg and flipper. I needed quite a few, since the flipper was more complex than a normal foot last would be. I used Rebuild to reduce the complexity of my curves, and made sure I still had intersection where I needed it. Using CurvatureGraph, I tested the continuity of my curves to make sure I was going to build a surface that was relatively smooth with curves that were continuous after I had been splitting and joining them. Before I used NetworkSrf to create my last, I split my vertical curves at the ankle, so that I could have separate surfaces for the leg and flipper, given that the leg could be a much simpler surface if I rebuilt it separately. Then, I selected all my curves and used NetworkSrf to build a loose surface. The flipper turned out to not be incredibly smooth, no matter how much I refined my curves (with RecordHistory turned on), so I turned on control points and sculpted it for a while just by manually moving points around (MoveUVN). I also used SetPt to align my loops to get a smoother surface, and Zebra to test my UV stretching. In the end, I also ended up using ExtractIsocurve to pull some new curves from the surface, and then rebuilt again using those slightly better shapes. Now that I had two surfaces, I could start refining. I used Interpolate Point Curves and Interpolate on Surface Curves to mirror my concept art from the side view, then projected my curves onto the surface. I used Trim to remove the parts of the surface I didn’t need anymore, but kept a copy of the original surface in case I paint myself into a corner later and need it back. Once the top of the flipper and the leg were trimmed, I used OffsetSrf (with Solid checked) on the leg to make it a closed polysurface with a width of a little over 1/8 inch. I FilletEdged every edge to almost the same radius. I attached the pole to the open leg design using some fancy cylinders and DupEdge to mimic my current shapes and a BooleanUnion/Boolean2Objects combination. For the flipper, I used my own foot last design to build an inner hole, then used BlendSrf to connect the two at the top. I used Patch to close up the bottom of the flipper, but had some cross sections to assist it in being smoother. Since that patch wasn’t quite lining up with my flipper and I needed to clothe my naked edges, I used JoinEdge to close the tiny gap.

Materials: Given that the model is not complete and separated into its component pieces yet, I'm holding off on deciding on materials. My favorite idea right now is to mimic the coloring and patterns of the batfish, and use a rubber-like material for the flipper and a hard plastic for the leg (the hard molded part of most prosthetic legs is made of carbon fiber):

References:
https://www.media.mit.edu/videos/ceb-2016-05-06/
http://biomech.media.mit.edu/#/

https://www.northeastern.edu/rise/presentations/triton-scuba-diving-prosthetic/

http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/blog/in_private/2012/11/meet-the-scuba-leg.html

http://www.scubadiving.com/article/news/what-its-dive-double-amputee

http://www.palmbeachprosthetics.com/Stories-dive-buddies-part-iii-14.html

Alec McKay: Pepakura

Concept: I was inspired by some of the other figures I've seen in the ATEC building, so I decided that I wanted to do a figure. However, to do a full figure the way I would want to would end up well over 300 polygons, so I decided to do one that is just the torso, as I have seen done in a few different Greek marble statues and other sculptural work. I also wanted my figure to have a more dynamic pose than just standing straight up and down, so I adjusted the torso after modeling it to give it more of a pose.

Technique: I modeled the torso in Maya, beginning with a cube and a few reference images of a male torso. I added more edge loops and moved points around gradually until the torso began to take shape. Initially I modeled a figure with arms, legs, and a basic, featureless head, until I decided to stop trying to lower the density of my model further and just remove those extra parts. Once that was done, I used bend and twist deformers to pose the figure. From there, I converted the model to an .obj and went about the process of unwrapping it, placing the seams in rings around the torso, and then moved the 2D images to rhino to be cut. Once I got my pieces back, I started from the top and worked my way down, since the legs were where I would have a base with a hole. I also covered all of my edges with white tape.

Materials: For the physical sculpture, I decided to go with Professor Scott's suggestion of the E-Flute cardboard, because it is a thin cardboard that is sturdy enough to hold its shape but thin enough to fold well. The bottom plane of the sculpture is cut from 2-ply cardboard, for a sturdier base. I also used a white tape to cover my edges for a more finished looking product. There are also weights placed in the legs so that his leaning pose doesn't cause him to fall over. In my KeyShot renderings, I decided to make my model out of stone, to see what it would look like as a stone statue.

One of my favorite parts of this project was the physical work of putting the pieces together. I actually tried a small scale pepakura work once before when I was in high school, with less success. The larger scale made it easier to put together. This was one of my favorite projects, and I look forward to doing more projects with the laser cutter while I'm still at school.

Victoria Mayfield & Jonathan Gloria: Purple Rain Pepakura

Concept: When we first began trying to come up with ideas for a successful pepakura project, we knew we wanted to do something from nature. We researched different possibilities like trees, mountains, even rainbows. We ended up deciding on a raincloud. We then decided to model a lightning bolt as well as raindrops to be suspended by fishing line.

Modeling: The modeling was pretty basic. We used Maya for most of our modeling, and Rhino for scaling. For the cloud, we created a sphere, extruded it and pulled it into the general shape we wanted. Then we used the sculpt geometry tool to pull out the bumps of the cloud. We used rhino to create the lightning bolt. For that, we simply created the main body shape using the curve tool, I then extruded that curve, and capped off the open faces. The rain drops were created in Maya by simply extruding a box multiple times, and merging the vertices on each side to one point. We then used Rhino to scale three different sizes of the raindrops to create some interest using size.

Materials: For the materials, we used eflute cardboard, as it is best for pepakura. We then went over the seams of the cloud with white duct tape to give the cloud a more uniform shape and feel. For the raindrops, we decided to coat them in purple glitter to commemorate Prince after his tragic passing. From there, I used an exacto knife to cut organic lightning shapes into the lightning bolt, and lined the inside of the bolt with LED lights. This created a really nice effect when the LEDs would reflect off the purple glitter on the raindrops. I then used a thing white masking tape around the edges of the lightning bolt to hold everything together. We attached the rain drops and the lightning bolt to the bottom of the cloud with fishing line and super glue. Then used fishing line and a metal ring attached to the top of the cloud to create an apparatus to hang the cloud from. Overall, we are very pleased with how the project turned out and think it’s a beautiful homage to one of the greatest and most influential musical artists of our time.

Victoria Mayfield: Elephant Engraving

Concept: When I first began brainstorming ideas for my laser engraving I wanted to do something that incorporated my love for modern art. After brainstorming and looking at reference ideas for modern art, I decided I also wanted to incorporate my favorite animal, the elephant! I also decided I wanted there to be contrast in each line stroke within the elephant shape, and with the shapes I wanted to surround my modern elephant. 

Modeling: I used a few modeling techniques to create this design, but mostly it was the curve tool. I was able to use the PictureFrame command to bring in my reference drawing of the elephant with geometric lines all across it. Then use the curve tool to outline the elephant body and the lines inside. I decided I wanted to create contrast within the body by having the interior geometric lines be different depths. This didn’t really pay off because the different depths are not as apparent as I had initially wanted. 

Materials: I used a .25 thick MDF plywood to engrave on. I wanted the piece to have some weight to it, which is why I chose the thicker cut. However, I also liked how the MDF reacts to the laser and leaves a somewhat burnt edge, but not black residue like with lower quality wood. Overall, I am pleased with the outcome. From here, I would like to use water colors to add a pop of color and to emphasize the elephant and the bubbles. I would like to leave the area around my elements bare, and put a lacquer on it to emphasize the wood grain.  

Tara Intyrath: Waffle

Concept: For this project I wanted to go back to the oriental theme as it is my favorite art genre. I also always wanted to make a bust out of something so I decided to go for a geisha design. Geishas are really elegant and beautiful to me with profound features so I thought it was perfect.

Technique: For this model, I used the same techniques for the wolf bust from the previous project. I started by using references from google images to create the curves for half of the bust, created a surface using those curves, copy and mirror that surface, joined the surfaces together, and patched the bottom and created a solid with the surfaces. This was only for the head and the shoulder part of the model though. I wanted the hair to be a whole separate entity that could be removed so didn't have that joined with the head. For the hair it was a much simpler process. I created curves that moved a long the shape of the head how I think the hair would fit and flow and used pipe to make a solid. I even used the torus tool to make the bun on top and then boolean joined all the hair parts together. To make the hair a separate entity and removable I made a boolean difference from the hair using the head without deleting the solid used (the head) and thats how its able to fit so nicely on top. I made the waffle slices using the contour command and used the rib command that was provided for us on blackboard. I originally was going to make the hair the same angle as the head and shoulders but I decided it would look better if the waffles slices were angled instead of flat to show contrast between the two elements.

Materials: For the actual real life model, I used plywood for the head and shoulders and the hair is MDF. In the keyshot renderings I decided to use simple translucent plastics for the hair and head/shoulders but differing colors to again show contrast and differentiate the two.

Tara Intyrath: Serial Slice

Concept: For this projects concept I wanted to focus on my favorite animal, wolves. I have been in love with wolves since I was a child after reading a book about them for a school project. They fascinate me and I have yet to design anything using a wolf so I thought to take this chance. A full wolf would have taken me far too long to model so I decided to go with the neck up of the animal.

Technique: I had a lot of difficulty working with this model as I haven't modeled something so organic before. I first took the approach of trying to edit a sphere or a box and shape it into that of a wolf head but all the vertices were very confusing. My second approach was to create curves of the wolf using google images as references and to create surfaces off those curves. I found that much easier to do and divided the head into four parts; the nose, main face area, the neck, and then the ears. I had lots trouble getting sweep or surface network to work properly or have an outcome I was satisfied with. It turned out a lot of my curves were not intersecting properly so I learned to make the curves into segments to get a better fit and then joining those segments together to make things work properly. I ended up using sweep2 for the whole process to create the surfaces. To make the swirls and detail of the eyes I made a flat curve and used project to get the curves to wrap around the model, offset them, made them into surfaces then solids, and boolean differenced them. I used various other commands such as join, to join my curves and surfaces once I created them, cap planar holes, and boolean join. Creating the contour lines, unrolling them, and making a spread sheet was the easy part of this project.

Materials: For the laser cut material I decided to stick with the .25 cardboard available at the Fab Lab as it was a cheaper solution and I also wanted to see how the ridges or the insides of the cardboard would look once cut out, hoping it would give an interesting outcome. Gratefully, it came out very well done. My model due to its shape and size has a lot of shapes and parts that aren't in one piece though in the same layer slice which is why I had to go with four rods. I decided to use threaded rods so I could tighten the slices together and ended up liking the "Frankenstein" look of it so left them in. I am very happy with the results of the real model. For my keyshots, I decided to choose a clear acrylic/plastic material and a metal material. I chose these two materials because I wanted to see what it would look like in various materials and hope to maybe make a serious out of these wolf heads.

Tara Intyrath: Pepakura

Concept: For this model I wanted something really organic to challenge myself so I went back to one of my previous models, the wolf, and decided to make a pepakura out of it. The reason I wanted to use an organic model because organic models tend to be asymmetrical. All of my designs previously have been symmetric so I thought it would be a nice change of pace.

Technique: I used a previous model so there wasn't much technique to be used here to create the model itself. The process was fairly simple in that I just imported my model into a new rhino file, turned it from a nurb to a mesh, and then decreased how many faces it had. The shapes did come out a little funky at some parts and to fix that I just got rid of a few lines and shapes editing the mesh itself. The hard part of this process was figuring out where to slice the model in the pepakura program. My poly model is not symmetrical at all and has no loops to go from unlike what was suggested we should do. I liked the style that it had with no loops and the asymmetric look so I kept it. While slicing there were a lot of parts that overlapped one another that I had to re-slice and sometimes that would cause even more overlapping. After many trials of error I finally got it to work out.

Materials:  As recommended, I went with eflute cardboard for the real life model and made it to be above 3ft tall. My model has a lot of triangles so at some points it was really hard to fold and mend together but I got it to work. I can only imagine how much harder it would be if I chose a thicker material. I think if I chose maybe poster board I would of had an easier time. As for my keyshot renderings, I chose metal for my material. As I was making the model, I caught myself thinking a lot that the model would look really good if it was metal plates welded together.

Tara Intyrath: Slots

Concept: I was in the middle of a heated discussion with my parents when the idea for this project came into mind. I wanted to create an image of unity but in the middle or inside of it all there's are parts that do not follow that unity and struggle as they try to break free trying to not be conformed.

Technique: For starters I wanted to use a fairly simple shape so I decided to make my root module of that of a triangle. To me a triangle is boring but is better than a square so in my ideals it is best suited for the concept I have towards this project. I continued the idea of basic shapes and used squares this time to make the slots. I used the curve boolean tool in the end to make the four different triangle designs. Its a very simple design or four different triangles.

Model: For my materials I decided to go with the eflute cardboard because of how thin it was. It was very easy to use and get things fitted together. I really like that it came out to be like a shape of a star with objects spilling or trying to force their way out. It fits with my idea because for me I have always been told to do things a certain way by my parents and that is the only way I will be successful. The star has always been a sort of motif of success for me.

 

Ashley D Goodenough: Pepakura "On the Surface"

Concept: My Pepakura design is called “On the Surface.” I was inspired by water gardens I’ve been to in DFW and Atlanta, and wanted to recreate the feeling of serenity and peace that the koi ponds at botanical and water gardens have.  I also wanted to play with the idea that the ground could be like the surface of a pond, reflecting the objects just above it and “completing” an image. I designed a koi fish half out of water, swimming between two differently sized lily pads that create balance and visual harmony.

Modeling: I modeled my two objects (lily pad and koi fish) in Maya, then brought them into Rhino for some final editing. After making sure I definitely had a mesh object, I exported both as .objs and brought them into Pepakura Designer. Using Pepakura, I cut both models into strategic loops, then unfolded them and arranged them on the grids. I ended up with two 24x48” sheets for the koi, 2 for the large lily pad, and 1 for the small lily pad. I made sure my edge IDs were visible in Pepakura (and also assigned magenta and blue to the different cuts and folds), then saved a .eps (for edge IDs) and a .dxf (for cut and fold lines) to be combined in Illustrator. In Illustrator, I overlaid the text edges with the cutline/mountain/valley .dxf file, and then brought it all back into Rhino for final adjustments and layer assignments. I had to make some changes to the dot-dash and dash line types for mountain and valley folds to make them distinguishable from each other when laser cut. I also needed to move and resize some of my edge IDs. Since this is my first pepakura project, I kept them all just for some insurance while I was constructing the pieces.

Materials: For my Keyshot renders, I did three passes: a diffuse pass for color info, an occlusion pass for contact shadows, and a shaded wireframe pass to emulate the pepakura look that the piece has in real life. I used Axalta lime green for the lilies and leather for the koi. With the leather texture, I turned off the bump map, changed the foreground and background colors, and increased the scale to 3000. For occlusion passes, I applied the Keyshot occlusion material to all objects. For the pepakura effect, I applied the Keyshot shaded wireframe material to all objects.

White e-flute cardboard was used for my fabricated pepakura, which I then taped off with white masking tape after assembling with Loctite Pro.  I finished the pieces by coating them with a layer of polyurethane, then I painted some areas with acrylic paint, but kept some of the surface unpainted so that you can still see how the pieces were created. After that, I sealed them with a satin polyacrylic coat to give it shine and protect the paint.