Project 1: Expanding structure 

Kevin Liang

The central idea behind this project is to have pieces that that connect with each other in a variety of ways. To ensure this possibility, I started off thinking about things that natural contain a lot of parts. My earliest inspiration is an octopus shaped structure, where the core sits in the center, with 8 legs stretching outwards. 

This idea didn't really meet the goal of a self-expanding structure that can be infinitely build upon since it lacks variety and diversity. 

However, my previous designs on the octopus legs was something I kept and expanded upon. 

I conceptualised the leg portion to be extended through the connection of triangles, while the idea of a octopus leg is no longer being used, I like the extension of triangles. I eventually reached the design of two parallel upright triangles being connected through a T shaped lock. To continue expanding, the T shaped lock expanded into an I (capital) shaped lock, which meant the hole on the triangle needed to be double in length. 

After building the cardboard prototype, I wanted to add more variety and introduced squares. 

The cardboard prototype was crucial for me to figure out mistakes in the exact length and openings of intersecting areas. One of the first thing I realized is how the square need to be the same height as the triangle. If not, the structure won't be balanced (assuming a triangle is on one side and the square on another) and one side would be floating in the air. The second thing I realized the trunk (center pillar) of the lock needed to be longer than at least 1/2 the length of the longest bottom side of the triangle. If not, the triangles would collide with each other and unable to connect. The last aspect was found when consulting my professor. The idea was to increase vertical possibilities of the structure, I added a vertical hole for the lock, so instead of a - minus sign hole, the triangles and square had a + sign holes. My design, however, did not accommodate for both axis, so the vertical hole is 1 unit shorter than its supposed to be. After making this change, we thought about how we could add more expansive opportunities to the design, and added gaps on the side and head of the lock. The final design change was to add a indent in the hook for firmer connections. 

* Demonstration of the basic parts and locking/connecting mechanisms 

These central pieces offer a diverse variety of expanding and interconnecting opportunities. Showcase of some examples will be placed below. For this photoshoot, I ended up with a theme of naval battleships (at least this is how it looks like to me, everyone is welcome to judge.) 

The individual/ships can also be connected together.