Mechanics Exhibits

Mechanics Exhibits

(Unfortunately I am having problems getting my videos to show up in this blog post)

Human Slingshot

This exhibit, which explores projectile motion, is a multi-user exhibit in which visitors can operate what is essentially a giant slingshot. Through my "looks like" and "feels like" prototypes, you can get a sense of what I was envisioning for the exhibit. The slingshot is made of a bungee cord with one end attached to a movable piece on the wall and the other end attached to a handle so the user can hold it. In the middle of the bungee cord is a cup-shaped piece with a handle so that another user can take the ball (also included), load it into the cup, and launch it. There are two large rulers painted on the floor; one measures how far the "launcher" person is from the end of the slingshot, and the other measures how far the bungee-cord "holder" person is from the wall (and therefore the other end of the bungee cord. There is also a protractor connected to the wall-end of the bungee cord to measure the angle of launch. The idea is that the users can explore with different distances, angles, heights, and tensions to see how these parameters affect the projectile motion of the ball.

My "looks like" prototype was fine, but when I tried to test my idea with a "feels like" prototype, it didn't work as well as I had hoped. It looked like it would work, but when I tried to launch my makeshift ball, it didn't go very far and there was some recoil in the bungee cords/ If I decide to refine this proof of concept, I will have to test different ways to get the slingshot effect that I desire.

Bouncy PENdulum

This exhibit looks at waves and periodic motion. It consists of a wooden frame with two springs suspending a pen on a weight. The springs are attached to a pendulum so that the pen can move both vertically and side-to-side. 

There are two dowels behind the frame, on which rest a roll of paper with a crank. As the user turns the crank, the paper moves across and rolls onto the other dowel. While the moving the paper crank (or not, if the user desires), the user can push the weighted pen in any way to make it move and watch the design that results from the pen tracing its path on the paper.

A problem I had with this proof of concept is that the paper "screen" was a little flimsy. To fix this, I might put some foam core or other hard, flat material behind the paper to support it. I was also unsure if I should have the user manually crank the paper roll, or if it was too distracting. I could try to rig the crank up to a small motor so that it moves along automatically and the user can focus on the actual spring and pendulum contraption.