Overview

• During P3 I have worked with a foreign subject and material to me. I have never worked with pneumatics before. Everything had to be either learned or related from other subjects such as electrotechnics.
• The workshops given by my supervisor have introduced me to using a 3d-printer to create pneumatic buttons.
• The freedom of the project, not being bound to any methodologies or manufacturing processes, has allowed me to explore the topic of pneumatic buttons from a personal perspective.
• Some insights only appeared after spending a long time in the uncertain phase of the design process.
• This group was a lot more individual than previous groups, task division and clarity is crucial.

Past Quartile

This project has been an introduction for me into pneumatics, its methodologies, and application. It has also introduced me into using more advanced materials and manufacturing beyond prototyping. I wrote in my PDP that I wanted to explore more varied media and methods. What I noticed was that it is important to search for overlapping methods or processes that can serve as starting points. To me that was electronics and 3d-printing, as I already have previous knowledge on these subjects. The workshops given by my supervisor have given me the extra knowledge and experience for using the modified 3d printers that I needed to get started creating and exploring this new medium and material.

The project itself was very open-ended. I see this as both a freedom and a challenge. Because it was so open, I got to explore whichever facet of pneumatics that fit best in our project or personal development. I got interested in creating a database for the pneumatic buttons, which is currently what I'm working on regarding the expertise area of MD&C. Being able to choose what I want to research, it gives me a deeper understanding of how and why I choose these things, and how this fits in the overall design methodologies I use. Our project is characterized by a very broad exploration in the start, and a more thorough deepening approach now. What is challenging is that most of these insights only came as a result of a long time of uncertainty and doubt, scrapping explorations and going in circles. I want to learn to get more comfortable in this phase, and allow space for both my personal biases and opinions, but also the explorations themselves.

The group for this project, in addition to being only 3 people for most of the time, has been quite individual. Each member is quite skilled in their own processes, combining the preferred form of working and making sure we all knew what we were working on was quite challenging. But with good clarity, divided tasks, and regular communication especially if needed, we are able to work efficiently together.

Remaining Quartile

MDC plays a big role in what I am doing now. I have accomplished my goal of exploring new methods and materials. Now is the time for me to document everything more properly, create visualizations of data, and culminate everything in a group report together with what my other team members are doing. Next priority is creating an outline for the report, translating human data into machine readable formats, creating visualizations, and making sure that the code is plug and play (for adding more data later). I want to make sure that all the work I do is of good quality and reflects my attitudes and priorities as a designer: quality, detailed, and versatile in use.

Future Goals - PI&V

Through this project I have oriented myself from physical design more towards research and analytical design. I want to spend more time within the expertise area of MDC as I think this branch is fast expanding and in need of design experts that can connect data to people and their research in new and innovative ways. My PDP 2.1 goes into depth on my current goals.

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