Final decision to use an umbrella + aluminum foil.
Aluminum foil rings with wires attached.
Dan mentioned it looked like a claw, therefore we christened it “the Claw”…
Me trying to test the nodes to see if it tried to claw-off parts of the foil. Note my finger, I sliced it open when
I was trying to clamp together the umbrella and the proposed motor for it to spin.
The base.
We had to add more wires to extend it so it would reach the sound portal.
I was really apprehensive going through the Scrapyard Challenge. Because I’m not really good with tools, I’m the clumsy type, no real luck with tools, I even have a hard time uncorking a wine bottle. So I didn’t really know what to expect and I didn’t really know what was to be expected of me.
First finding the junk would mean being strategic. I knew I needed something that had a motor. So I looked for such items. Didn’t have much luck, but I did manage to scrounge up a few things, mostly found in Goodwill and Chinatown.
Once I got there however, we were divided in groups (my security blanket disappeared) and we had to put together the items we had gathered. I was placed with Dan and Vivian. Couldn’t have asked for a better team. I was rather grateful that I wasn’t placed in an unprofessional team. No divas or bitches.
We started off looking at what we had. At first we took apart everything we thought we needed and what we wanted to use. So we took apart an umbrella, CD player, toy piano, a novelty pen with a spinning propeller, etc… So after all that hunting and gathering junk, in the end we ended up using an umbrella, tin foil, 12th Floor rug and wires.
We ended up compromising a lot of our initial ideas, from thinking of putting a motor for the umbrella to spin on the tin foil, which would carry electrical currents which prompted sound. We had wanted to make it spin, go up and down, having the lower nodes touching the foil. But we had to do it manually because we didn’t have the appropriate motor to power up the remains of the umbrella. We had tested our creation and was satisfied with the results. We realized as well that when we placed the nodes together in different foils, all together, it made a chorus, but that soon later changed during the presentation. Somehow, there were changes towards the type of sound that came out of the sound portal.
During presentation time, it was a pain to get a read on the sound because there were too many people getting trying to hook up their projects into the sound portal. Dan– bless his heart, finally painstakingly managed to attached all the wires for an actual sound output. The showcase worked and at that point that was all I could ask for.
Things I learned from this experience:
1) I am capable of using pliers and screw drivers, even though with a mishap of a finger being pinched.
2) I learned to be felxible, because sometimes you’ll just have to compromise your initial concept and make do with what is readily available to you.
3) Teamwork is wonderful when all of you share a common goal and know the meaning of respect + support.
4) To be open and be a good sport.
5) Have faith that things will work out, especially when you’re in a team.
6) Never underestimate the power of tin foil!!!
Comments!