For my final project for Digital Fabrication for the Arts I used the 6-axis ABB IRB 140 robot in the dFAb lab.  The goal of the project was to create a tool head that focused light onto photosensitive paper allowing various images and patterns to be programmed into the robot.

tool head

The tool design consisted of several elements.  A 3D printed head was made to align an LED with a lens shield to control the amount of light that was focused to the paper.  The printed part also holds a 12in cardboard tube straight out from the end of the robot.  At the end of the tube in a lens that creates the focused beam.  The final focal length of the tool was 10in out from the lens.  After calculating this measurement I programed the robot to move in and out of focus on the paper so that an image of varying texture, contrast, and light intensity could be programmed.

For my final project I used black and white photographs of figures behind tracing paper, translated them into height maps in rhino, printed them with the CNC and then sanded and painted their surface. The process created a primitive kind of 3D imaging by  treating the original photograph like a distance map and then translating that to 3D data. The resulting reliefs are a reflection on the computer’s desire to separate the figure from the surrounding noise.

Monodontidae (or, the importance of stretching and breathing) from Justin Lin on Vimeo.

Justin Lin, May 2012

CNC Milled Baltic Birch, Pine Studs

Cotton Rope, Elastic, Bolts

Installed in The Great Hall of the College of Fine Arts, Carnegie Mellon University

Made for the final project of 60-436, Digital Fabrication for the Arts, taught by Prof. Ali Momeni. This project was produced with kind assistance from School of Art Sculpture Shop Technician Terry Hritz.

For my final project, I wanted to create a mobile transportation system that many people could use, kind of like a bike. It turned out that people were right, it was a pretty ambitious project and unrealistic for the short amount of time we had. I realized people were right very late in my project and I had to carry through. I ended up making a very quirky and quite useless human skate after several other failed attempts. It actually broke before I was able to get some documentation of it. Despite the failure of it in many senses, this project was important to me because of its side effects. It got me to meet people, it was emotionally rich and rewarding (despite its frustrating parts) and it introduced me to a ton of new skills. Below, some documentation taken by Ali of my project being used and also a photo and video taken by me.

skate video