User:Tjaw94/ENES 100/project 3

Project Preference

 * Useless Box
 * Makerbot
 * escher

Problem Statement
The project we will be working on is designing a Useless Box. The Useless Box is to complete various tasks which do nothing for anyone. It is a box that that completes random tasks that are programmed in the Arduino.

Project Plan
The project plan is to design a project based off of the drawings of M.C. Eshcer.

Week 1
This week was a week of brainstorming ideas about what our Escher should be. Couple of ideas have come up such as continuing to work on the marble against gravity. Another idea that has come up is to try to get an Escher water fall to work. An Escher waterfall is an illusion of water flowing up a hill. In reality the water is flowing down hill because of gravity and they way the camera angle is set up it looks as if it is flowing up hill. The link below shows an animated picture of the design that might be used.

http://im-possible.info/images/art/rendered_escher/philip-patzold/waterfall.jpgl

Week 2
This week the designing of the track was done. So far the bottom track is designed. The bottom track will be flush with the ground. The second tier of the project is the part which looks like the illusion. The bottom track is about 2 inches wide and is roughly a total length of like 21 inches. Also the designing of the second tier is being started. At this point in time it is a rough sketch and has not been started to be drawn to scale with the bottom track. The angles will be at about 45 degrees when the design is completely finished. Also the design will be extruded so it looks more like a track but the picture is a birds eye view of what it will look like and those are the dimensions of the bottom track. The next step is to start on the other piece and finish that piece which should not take more than about 10 mins to do. Once these designs are done they have to be approved before they can be built.

Week 3
This week a prototype of what the track would look like was built and it is made of wood. Not sure if it will be able to contain water because it is not sealed off 100%. It is just a mock up of the final design and what it would look like in person. Also it is made of balsa wood which is very light which means it is very brittle in the sense that it could fall apart if water is added to it. Might have to find a substitute like a ball or marbles possibly for the prototype.

Week 4
This week we finished building the second tier of the track. The illusion is starting to come together more and more each day. We also started working on the holding tank for either water or marbles. Once the whole track is complete it becomes a trial ordeal. Once it is built we will test several different ways to complete the illusion. Also the lighting and background will make a difference with how well the illusion will work.