Project 2.001 Investigate (Materials and Technologies)

TRANSMATERIAL.NET   MATREIALS

Parabienta

            Parabienta is a green wall system constructed of a solidified soil base and a stainless steel wire framing system. The soil is formed from a unique polyster-blended soil compound that when heated creates a lightweight and sponge like material for the base of the plants. The soil is about 1 inch thick and supports many various types of plants that can be interchanged through the panels. The panels are then supported by a nutrient fed hydroponics system. The product is manufactured by the Shimzu Corp. and costs around $80/per sq. foot, making it one of the cheapest green wall products available. This eco friendly, low cost material is becoming increasingly popular in Europe, and has shown that it significantly cools the interior of building as well as mitigates high frequency noises. (http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/) (http://www.thegrowspot.com/ ”Ispichkin”)

Luna

            Luna is a glass building material that contains a phosphorescent chemical that retains light during the day and then glows for hours during the night. It is made from glass that is recycled from car windshields. It is made for both interior and exterior architectural applications. Luna is created by Architectural Systems Inc. of New York. (http://transmaterial.net)

Protrude, Flow

            Protrude, Flow was an exhibit set up at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid from July 26 to Oct 12, 2008. Created by Tokyo-based artists Sachiko Kodama and Minako Takeno. It uses magnetic fluid produced by dissolving ferro-magnetic micro-powder in a solvent such as oil or water. It then retains its magnetic properties even in the liquid state, making for some organic shapes that can not be produced with magnetic sand. The exhibit set up with this magnetic fluid then took viewers voices and projected the volume onto the magnetic forces of the liquid to create 3D forms. The magnetic fluid shown can be easily made at home using oil and magnetic tape. (http://www.kodama.hc.uec.ac.jp/project/protrude.html)

TECHNOLOGIES

Optical Radiation

            Optical radiation is defined as any wavelength range between 100 nanometers and 1 nanometer. This spectrum is further divided by the categories of ultraviolet radiation, visible radiation and infrared radiation. This range excludes ionizing radiation such as microwaves and radio frequencies. It can also be defined as electromagnetic radiation that is visible to the eye. Usually the instruments used in this field are used to find or sort things that may not be visible to the eye at first glance, such as heat sensory and metals under the ground. These instruments are quantum devices in which an individual photon produced a discrete effect. (www.eurofound.europa.eu)

Instruments:

Photodetector – sensors of light or other electromagnetic energy.

Infrared (thermography) – cameras detect radiation in the infrared range and project those images of the radiation. Infrared radiation is emitted by all objects near room temperature, according to the black body radiation law.

Proximity Sensors – a sensor that is able to detect the presence of nearby objects without physical contact. Sensors often emit a electrostatic or electromagnetic field that looks for a return.

Scanning Laser – uses polarized light to find thickness.

Interferometer (interferometry) – is the technique of diagnosing the properties of two or more waves by measuring their pattern of interference created by their superposition.

Scintillometer – device used to measure small fluctuations of the refractive index of air caused by change in temperature, humidity and pressure.

Fiber Optic Sensor – a sensor that used fiber optics as either a sensing element or to relay information from a remote sensing device.

(http://www.wikipedia.org/)

MySQL

            MySQL is a relational database management system that runs as a server to provide multiple user access to a number of databases. A number of high profile websites such as Facebook, Google, Wikipedia, and YouTube use MySQL for data storage and logging of user data. The code for MySQL runs on C and C ++ code, and runs on a variety of platforms such as Mac OSX, Windows, and Linux. Linux is the preferred platform for running MySQL because its package management system allows for installation of code with minimal effort. MySQL was developed by Michael Widenius and named for his daughter My.

(http://www.wikipedia.org/)

LED Lighting Controls

            Controls LED light in either a red, blue, green, output or in a mono output. A variety of LED controllers are available.

CAD/CAM

            CAD/CAM is a term that means Computer-Aided Design and Computer-Aided Manufacturing, and is often used to mean a software tool that covers a wide variety of engineering functions. In a broader term CAx is used to describe the use of the computer to aid in the design analysis and manufacturing of products.CAD/CAM software uses CAD drawing tools to describe geometries used by the CAM portion of the program to define a toolpath to direct the motion of a machine tool that will then machine the exact shape of that which is drawn. The most familiar of these programs are AutoCAD and Autodesk 3ds Max.

(www.gsd.harvard.edu)