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11. Open Source Hardware - From Fibers to Fabric

Research & Ideation

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ASUKA MIYATA

Asuka Miyata is active as a knitting artist and has had a long relationship with Take. She creates her works by modifying a household electronic knitting machine (Brother). Moreover, it turns out that the person who modified her knitting machine is also Take's friend, Takashi Matsuoka. To find out if the knitting machine (Silver Reed) I have could be modified, I first interviewed Matsuoka-san for research.

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According to Matsuoka-san, knitting machines can generally be divided into three types:

-Fully manual

-Punch card type

-Electronic models

The model I own is a fully manual type that doesn’t have a mechanism for moving the needles. Matsuoka-san said that hacking this type would be quite difficult. He recommended purchasing a second-hand electronic control type to modify instead.

Now, I wonder if there’s anything else in our house that could be hacked…?

References & Inspiration

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In my Fab Lab, there were several other machines that seemed hackable. A laser cutter, a bobbin winder for an embroidery machine, bobbins for industrial and home sewing machines, and so on.

While exploring various things, I came across something called "string art." It’s something that could also be created using CNC movements.

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String Art

I envisioned the possibility of creating this string art by hacking our home CNC machine, so I gave it a try. The motif I chose was the Japanese katakana character "イ."

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Why this motif? Hamamatsu, where my Fab Lab is located, is the hometown of Kenjiro Takayanagi, the person who first succeeded in displaying electronic images using a cathode-ray tube. In the UK, experimental successes with mechanical television were achieved in 1925, followed by public demonstrations of mechanical television the next year. Similar efforts toward realizing television were being made in the United States, Europe, and other countries.

Having recently learned about Takayanagi’s biography, I decided to take on the challenge of using the character "イ," the first letter of his name.

Process

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1.

Using "ThreadTone"-opensource softwafe to make a list of the coordinates for positioning the nails.

TheadTone

File: threaded.CSV

2.

Ask Chat GPT to make a program for output by CNC g-code.

Files: CSV2gcode.py

3.

To make the program, repeat to ask several times to adjust the details.

-If it can be create a program that moves 1mm away from the nails and threads the string in a clockwise direction.

-"gcode.append(f'G2 X{x2 + radius:.2f} Y{y2:.2f} I{-radius:.2f} J0 ; Circle around next nail clockwise')This seems unnecessary.

-To change the radius to 5mm when circling around the nail

-simply modify the default value of radius in the code or specify it as an argument when calling the function.

-The G2 motion for threading the string is slow.

-Set the feedrate to 10mm/sec."

4.

Executed it in VS Code to output as gcode of the following 2 gcode;

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Following Steps

A．

Drilling the halls for the nails & hammer

Fils: drilling...gcode

＃Preparation=hack: Making Attachment

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"The attachment for attaching the air pump pipe to the CNC machine was designed in Fusion360 and created using a 3D printer. Even with the air pump attached to the CNC machine, the string is threaded from the side so that it passes through the air pump pipe."

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Fils: Attachmentdata

＃B.Trials.

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Fils: string_art...gcode

Results

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From Vimeo

CNC sting art

Feature

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I use a visual block programming software called Scratch, so I thought, "Maybe I can make it with Scratch too!" and created a very simple design. I also figured out how to convert it into CNC G-code, so I want to try it out on my next day off.

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Tools

  • [ThreadTone]
  • [Visual Studio Code]
  • [MeshMixer]
  • [CNC milling]
  • [Prusa 3D printer]
weekly assignment

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get inspired!

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