PracticalTheExpandedToolbox

The Expanded Toolbox

Introduction

The Expanded Toolbox deals with the application of technology in a thoughtful and skillful manner. We will see technology, no matter how little its net contribution to the work, as a real and essential part of the work that needs thought and insight in order to be applied. In Q8 the main focus will be on the use of electronics but many of the principles can be applied to mechanics as well. Enough basics of electronics will be covered to start developing some intuition on its usage and we will look at methods that will help you to craft your circuits. Software will be covered briefly when we will talk about source code management and documentation.

Content Summery and Methods

Electronics is a hard subject and can not be mastered over the course of a quarter. Hence the practical goal of The Expanded Toolbox is to develop an intuition on how to use electronics and to be able to apply the acquired knowledge in a thoughtful. It should provide you with enough insides to start making/using existing relatively simple circuits.

The expanded toolbox has three components: Lecture / workshop, Lab / Experimentation and an independent project.

Lecture / Workshop

During the lectures you will learn essential basic knowledge on a given subject. Often the lectures will contain a little workshop or demo to demonstrate the contents in a practical scenario.

Lab / Experimentation

Hands on trial and failure is essential for learning the content given in The Expanded Toolbox. The labs / experimentation is meant for just that. After a lecture / workshop you are given instructions to carry out a certain experiment independently. In order to fulfill the labs / experiments successfully you will need to connect previous material with research you will carry out yourselves. The results should be documented clearly on your WiKi page. You are free to carry out the labs/experiments together but the results should be documented individually. Copy/Pasting each others work is not allowed.

The goal of these lab and experiments is to develop intuition, a feel on where to find and interpret information, persistence.

Important to remember during the labs is that failing to make something to work is not bad. Important is trying to understand why.

Independent project

You will need to produce an independent project that shows you are able to apply to acquired knowledge and skills to work of your own. There are two paths you can choose depending on your own personal preference:

1. A work of your own. This will give you total freedom in producing and individual piece.

1. A technological interpretation of an otherwise 'passive' work. For people needing a little more boundaries this may be a good choice. You will need to capture the original intentions of an existing work and reinterpret these into an technological enhanced work.

For both paths the same criteria (in no particular order) hold:

• the project is conceptually sound
• the project has technological component (electronic, mechanical, software or a any combination of those)
• the technological component is essential to the work; the work is not possible or its meaning significantly altered without this component
• the project is well crafted
• the execution of the technology matches the concept and execution of the project
• the project is well documented
• the project works

Daily Planning

TUESDAY

• Lecture / Workshop

Interaction Station - 10:00 - 13:00

Schedule

Date	Location	Content
April 26	Interaction Station	Kick Off
May 3	()	Holiday
May 10	Interaction Station	Presentation Ivan Henriques on science, technology and artistic practice
May 17	Interaction Station	Intro into electronics
May 24	Interaction Station	Making a circuit etching / soldering
May 31	Interaction Station	Sensors and actuators
June 7	Interaction Station	?
June 14	Interaction Station	?
June 21	Interaction Station	Assignment Due

Presentations / Workshops / Visits

Ivan Henriques on science, technology and artistic practice http://www.ivanhenriques.com

Yaprak Sayar (To be confirmed) Graduate Art/Science KABK https://vimeo.com/147938963

Rene Wassenburg (To be confirmed) Visit the EMM++ Tesla Coil https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gB4HwN1TtU4

*What is the function of your wiki?

The wiki is an ongoing document, throughout the whole Quarter, that will be presented and/or discussed at different stages of the process. It will be the result of research, concept development, tests, experimentation, workshops...

The content should be visual (collected images, mapping ideas etc, animations, interactive experiments, your own sketches), textual (collecting articles, quotes, creating keywords, adding links and references) and material (documentation of the tests and experiments from your own project, your first models, prototypes etc.).

In all cases, make sure you add your own descriptions and explanations, giving insight into your thoughts regarding both ideas, knowledge, skills and execution.

The goal of the wiki is manifold:

1. a place to keep track of your process
2. to offer a thinking framework within which to develop your projects both individually and collectively
3. to be a resource that aids you in your concept development, design, planning and realization.
4. to offer a context that enables you to collect and organize the research and design process both individually and collectively.
5. it's a tool that helps to communicate about your project to others, at different moments throughout the process, about concept; decisions; planning (plan van aanpak) and final outcome.
6. to be a source of your own material and content from which you can select and and which you can reorganize for specific presentations.