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(Scroll down for results & settings used) Abstract By making the layer lines inherent to the (FDM) 3D printing process a central aesthetic feature of the printed product’s design we can for 3D printed objects create objects have value because of the fact that they are 3D printed. This alternative aesthetic which works with the layer lines could be said to be a more honest representation of 3D printing. This is a starkly different characterisation of 3D printing’s value to that which would have 3D printed objects be as perfect a representation of the 3D model as possible, making visible layers a negative feature of the process. »

Critical Reading Notes: https://mosacre.hotglue.me/?Hacking%20Minor%20Research/ Critical Reading Bibliography Groten, Anja. “Hacking &; Designing: Paradoxes of Collaborative Practice.” The Critical Makers Reader, UnLearning Technology, no. #12, 2019, pp. 237–244. INC Reader. Von Busch, Otto. Otto Von Busch - Hacking Design. 2010, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miWzqZmKAlw. Witt, Andrew. “Design Hacking: The Machinery of Visual Combinatorics.” Log, no. 23, Anyone Corporation, 2011, pp. 17–25, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41765683. Curtis, Adam. Can’t Get You Out of My Head, BBC iPlayer, 11 Feb. »

What’s hacking to me? For me hacking is linked to looking critically at systems and exploring changes to them with the goals of democratisation and personal autonomy. These goals are linked to the deeper drive of empowering people. Undoubtedly my view of hacking is viewed through my own perspective as a product designer and someone who is interested in things, how we do or don’t produce them and how these things influence society and the balance of power. »

Pleurotus Ostreatus on malt + yeast agar Inoculated with a piece of agar with live mycelium. Incubated @ 25 Celsius for 7 Days on malt + yeast agar (50% nutrient concentration) Inoculated with a piece of agar with live mycelium. Incubated @ 25 Celsius for 7 Days Panellus Stipticus on malt + yeast agar Inoculated with a piece of agar with live mycelium. Incubated @ 25 Celsius for 14 Days »

Mycelium Watch Sketches CNC Milled from Beech wood »

Goal To gain experience practical experience with and to observe the entire process and variables involved in making mycelium/lignocellulose composites (with Ganoderma mycelium as the matrix, Flax as the substrate and Spray Millet as the grain spawn). The Ganoderma mycelium used has been isolated and grown by myself and was taken from the centre of a bag of colonised grain spawn which had been in the fridge for some months by a colleague at the lab. »

Mechanical, physical and chemical characterisation of mycelium-based composites with different types of lignocellulosic substrates July 22, 2019 Elise Elsacker Simon Vandelook Joost Brancart Eveline Peeters PP.1 “The conducted tests reveal that the mechanical performance of the mycelium-based composites depends more on the fibre processing (loose, chopped, pre-compressed, and tow), and size than on the chemical composition of the fibres” PP.9 “The compressive stiffness is considerably larger for chopped flax, compared to any other fibre type and condition. »

Disclaimer: Afterwards I learned it’s not legal to pick mushrooms in the Netherlands from public land. Sorry Netherlands. Location: Zuiderpark, Rotterdam Polyporus Squamosus (suspected) Ganoderma Applanatum (suspected) Update 5/24/21: After sitting in my fridge vegetable draw since I made this post, I found the Ganoderma had sprouted mycelium from where it was formerly attached to the tree. The mycelium had spread out over the top surface of the mushroom in search of nutrients. »

Goal To grow a layer of mycelium which can be used in the living jewellery. Method 1: Growing on Liquid Nutrients First I started with trying out this method posted by Elise to the BioFabForum: https://biofabforum.org/t/method-of-making-mycelium-leather/218 I used Ganoderma Lucidum as I didn’t have any Schizophyllum Commune. “You need 1/2 to 1 agar plate of mycelium (e.g. species Trametes Versicolor, Schizophyllum commune, Pleurotus ostreatus). Remove all the agar to keep pure mycelium »

Solid State Method On Mycotech’s Kickstarter page for their Mycelium/ wood watch, they share some photos of their process for making their mycelium “leather”. It seems like they let it grow around the surface on blocks of what looks like sawdust and then they remove the sawdust to leave behind the mycelium fabric. High performance of macrofungi in the production of mycelium-based biofoams using sawdust — Sustainable technology for waste reduction Journal of Cleaner Production Volume 234, 10 October 2019, Pages 225-232 »

Why Isolate? As I understand it, isolating does 3 major things. First, it helps remove contamination; this one is easy. Second, you can select only those strains that grow fast, leading to quicker colonization. Lastly, you ensure that your tub only has one “individual” inside of it, removing any competition for resources. One organism in the tub means it is free to grow happily and enjoy all the nutrients to itself. »

Today we stated growing samples of Ganoderma mycelium on agar. As a staring point I am following this shroomery.org forum post, “Stro’s Cleaning and Isolating On Agar” (https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/18430998/fpart/1/vc/1/nt/3) Task: To make agar plates with the mycelium at the lab. Firstly In order to see if it is still alive and if so to attempt to isolate a appropriately fast growing and rhizomorphic culture for use in the watch face of the mycelium watch and potentially in other mycelium living jewellery pieces (self manufacturing ((growing)) bracelet, earrings, pendants). »

A moodboard with some of my favourite examples of fungal beauty. Click the images for sources: https://mosacre.hotglue.me/?MYC/ Presentation of the Mycelium A seller of pre- poured nutrient petris who use Potato dextrose gellan gum instead of agar for a transparent growing medium (see photo). They also add colour sometimes. https://www.reddit.com/user/tipofthecapmushrooms »

“Wood Wide Web” - Fungi trade nutrients with plants via the mycelium. This enables plants and fungi to access food which they couldn’t on their own in a symbiotic relationship. Plants get phosphorous and nitrogen which mycelium make available by breaking down other organic matter and the mycelium get sugars which the plants create via photosynthesis which fungi can’t do. In this way mycelium are a vital part of all life on land. »

Attempt 1 In the beginning, my plan was to attempt to reproduce HomoFaciens' design (see my research here for more about it) as it is the most easily reproduced, using only 3D printed and hardware store items. The original maker had tweaked his original design as he went to a level where it functioned quite reliably for him even for long prints. I thought I could reproduce his design and then document & test it more completely to maybe make some improvements. »

Why? In 2nd year I made vases and bowls using a modification to the settings of a 3D printer to make surface effects with the layer lines, as you see here: The reasoning for the project was to show that final products can already be made with cheap 3D printers. The layer lines on 3D printed parts are often seen as ugly and a reason why 3D printers are only good for prototypes. »

Why is increased recycling not leading to reduced production of virgin raw materials? You would be forgiven for imagining recycling allows us to put a stop to the endless production of waste which has become ever more recognised as an ecological disaster in recent times. Actually, our current method of recycling has not led to a world where the same waste we put in our recycling bins circulates efficiently, from waste to product, over and over again. »

Bio-Dyes: How did Suzanne Lee Seal her leather? Or did she? Furniture Design “takt project utilizes natural dyes in bespoke plastic table collection” https://www.designboom.com/design/takt-project-dye-it-yourself-plastic-table-collection-tdw-12-28-2015/ Natural dyes: Safflower, Cherry Blossom, and Japanese Indigo They use a porous plastic which soaks up the natural dyes. This gets around the problem of natural dyes not penetrating plastic well by hugely increasing the surface area. This porous surface is of course not as conducive to cleaning as a smooth one. »

Fungi Research Platforms http://biofabforum.org The Cornell University Mushroom Blog - https://blog.mycology.cornell.edu/category/fungi/ https://www.mycosphere.org/ - Research papers on fungi collected Elise Elsacker has several published articles on mycelium materials which are extremely relevant: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Elise-Elsacker Fungal Architectures is a new cross-disciplinary research project that seeks to develop a fully integrated structural and computational living substrate using fungal mycelium for the purpose of growing architecture. https://www.fungar.eu/ Articles, papers, forum posts on mycelium The Effects of Temperature and Nutritional Conditions on Mycelium Growth of Two Oyster Mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus and Pleurotus cystidiosus), Ha Thi Hoa, Chun-Li Wang https://pubmed. »

Preparation For this fist test, we prepared 4 petri dishes with rye straw in different forms. We also had some dried coconut fibre and so decided to prepare this for a test also. Dish 1: Random Straw First we prepared a dish with scraps of some of the larger diameter sections of straw from our supply, these were placed randomly in the dish to act as a control to compare its strength to the woven and layered straw tests. »

Mycelium Research in chronological order: Textiles w/ mycelium: https://neffa.nl/portfolio/mycelium-textile/ Topic: Growing mycelium on textiles Species: schizophyllum Findings: Mycelium does not like to grow on a tight knitted or woven fabric. It needs space and openness to grow. (oxygen) The mycelium did not use the textiles as food, even over 6 months. making mycelium material – some loose protocols: http://www.o-matic.com/blog/blog/2014/08/04/making-mycelium-material-some-loose-protocols/ Good Tip: “nut bags (or other mesh bags) to pasteurize substrate (easy to squeeze water out)” »

Hands: Of Bees & Bee Skeps - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99MBkslFhGU Ireland: Wheat straw tied with briar. the straw must be whole, not cut up by a machine like a harvester. The straw and briar must be well dead so there’s no sap in them. In this film, they don’t use any tools to twist and tie the straw. 6:40 - 16:40 Making a Skep, a traditional straw beehive - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBCub2_bKVI Traditional craft fair: Here they use a tool called a “girth” made from a hollow and truncated animal horn to twist the straw and hold it tight as they tie it. »

Mock-Up: First Test The First Try: On the first try the motor arm wasn’t held securely enough to the clamp, despite the hex bolt being so tight that I felt the clamp would break if I turned it anymore. This meant that the smallest bump in the road or slipping of the motor on the wheel (for example if too much power is applied when the bike is not moving fast enough) can move the motor arm up and out of contact with the wheel. »

Building a Mock-Up for Testing: Prototype 0 (P0) Reasons for Building a Mock-Up: My next step was to move from the bench test to a first working mockup. The mockup I will make will be a simple seat post/tube mounted design. Sketches: I need a mockup to test some important aspects of the design such as the positioning of the motor on the wheel (at what angle?), the amount of pressure needed to force the motor in to contact with the tyre (is a spring of some kind needed? »

For the full documentation including the lasercutter files, see the github: https://github.com/waagsociety/air_quality_sensor_kit/tree/master/MUV%20Kit/Case Introduction: I was asked to make a case for the air quality sensor kit for the MUV urban mobility project. An open source citizen science project funded by the EU. To allow it to be easily reproduced by others, the case should use an existing waterproof electronics enclosure and readily available parts. Instructions and the needed files were all published to the MUV GitHub page here: The timeframe from receiving the case to delivering the finished prototype and its documentation was 1. »

For the full documentation including the lasercutter files, see the github: [https://github.com/waagsociety/proximity_kit/tree/master/PK_MUV/Case] Making a case for the MUV proximity sensor: Proximity sensor, PCB + Components Dimensions: Screw holes: 51.5mm x 38.75mm H: 70mm W: 59mm x 59mm Proximity Sensor Case, Key points for design: -Allow NFC to function -Design for manufacture with Fablab machines -Ease of assembly -Access to all buttons and USB port -Access to battery -B,C and Tag LEDs all visible »

Research Stage 3, 3/12/18 - 10/12/18: To move from the desk test setup to the first ridable prototype, P1. I will need to buy a clamp for mounting to the seatpost or the bikes frame (these seem to be the most straightforward mounting locations so I will focus on them for the first mock-up). I think it makes sense to buy a commercial seat clamp (known as an “O-clamp” or an “axle clamp”) as they are readily available and made to fit the range of tube sizes. »

Research Stage 2 26/11/18 - 3/11/18: Parts: For my first prototype (P1), I chose to use the most simple equipment I could find to mock-up the power system for my motor. For this test, I just wanted to produce a mock-up that would allow me to adjust the speed of the motor with a throttle of some kind, using batteries which are similar in voltage to those I plan to use in my final version. »

Research Stage 1 19/11/18 - 25/11/18: I began by researching the different types of e-bikes and the history of e-bikes overall. After settling on the friction drive as the variant which best fits my project, I looked into the existing friction drive offerings, both D.I.Y. and commercial. I found friction drive designs from the late 1800s until now. I particularly noticed the recent trend in popularity of small friction drive kits being released, often through crowdfunding. »

An Open E-Bike Kit Motivation and the Idea: As part of my internship at Fablab Amsterdam I will work on a project of my own. For this I chose to make an add-on E-bike kit, following the open design concept. I came to this idea after moving to the Netherlands and using a bike as daily transport for the first time. The cheapness and effectiveness of the bicycle are clear as is it’s lesser environmental impact vs the car. »