Jathan Tensegrity

Creating a functional Tensegrity structure, but with an interesting artistic touch. Working with my partner, we decided on the theme contrast, as well as the Yin-Yang motif. Through trial and error we were able to successfully design 4 distinct pieces, each having their own concept but fitting under the general idea of contrast. The bases were Cloud and Stars, and the beams were Sun and Moon. Now the way this structure works is using hooks and string, tension between the beams and bases is created. With each base connected to one beam, the tension holds the pieces in place, and any downward force is met with a pulling force. Thus creating a stable structure with a floating appearance. The dimensions of the build are 15 x 18.5 cm. The design underwent multiple rounds of trial and error until we achieved the ideal build. With the correct amount of tension the structure can be a functional surface for office supplies or decorative pieces, and paired with our assembly instructions the build is not too difficult to make. Outside of the parts lists, you will need hooks and string. Additionally, check out my partners page! 

Problem Statement: “With a partner, you will design and create a single custom Tensegrity Structure of equal complexity or greater as the tables depicted above (as determined and approved by the instructor).” 

Parts List: Color choice is up to you!

• 1 Clouds Base, Sky Blue 
• 1 Stars Base, Silk Cobalt
• 1 Sun Beam, Silk White
• 1 Moon beam, Glitter Black
• 135cm of String, ( ~45 cm per connection)
• 8 metal hooks

Assembly Instructions for Version 2.0

Recommended tools: Hammer, very small Phillips head screwdriver, flush cutters, scissors, pencil, ruler with mm, sandpaper

Step 1: Gather materials
 

Gather all materials including tools, and print all parts from Solidworks file.

Step 2: Insert hooks into bases

1. Pick a mark on one of the bases. Take a pair of flush cutters and attempt to dig a hole starting at that mark. This part is tricky--you need to push hard enough to make a hole, but if you go too hard, the hole will become too big and the hooks won’t stick.

1. Attempt to push a hook into the hole you’ve made. If it can stand up on its own, move on to the next step. Otherwise, repeat steps b and c until it does.

1. Once the hook can stand up on its own, that’s a good indication that your hole is a good size. Now screw the hook in until the entire screw is buried in the base, leaving only the ring poking out. This will be quite difficult if your hole is small enough, you may need pliers to hold the hook while you screw it.

1. NOTE: It may be easier to hold the hook in place and spin the base around it, rather than the other way around.

Step 3: Insert hooks into beams

1. Take one of your two remaining hooks. Use a pair of flush cutters to cut away a small piece of it, turning it from a ring into a hook.

1. Putting in the hooks is the same as for the bases, with one note:
   1. Be VERY careful making your holes this time! Because of the direction the pieces were printed, these holes will be pushing apart the layers of the print. If you’re not careful, you can split the piece open.
       
2. You should now have all 8 hooks inserted into the proper pieces, and are ready to move on.

Step 4: Putting the pieces together
 

1. Take your moon piece and stars piece. Insert the tab at the bottom of the moon piece into the slot in the stars piece so that it hangs over the center.
   1. It may not fit right off the bat. If it doesn’t, try:
      1. Pushing harder. Sometimes, it can just barely fit, which is good because you don’t want these coming apart.
      2. Sandpaper. Sanding it down can make it just small enough to fit.
      3. Flush cutters. You can chop off the edges of the corners where the filament juts out.

1. Repeat with the sun and clouds.
   1. IMPORTANT NOTE: The sun piece inserts into the bottom, flat side of the clouds--the same side you put the hooks into.

Step 5: Achieving Tensegrity

1. Prepare the string.
   1. Cut your string into 3 approximately equal segments, each ~45 cm long.

2. Connect the two hooks on your sun and moon beams together. You should be hanging the sun piece from the moon piece, which will put the clouds on top.

3. Now comes the hard part. You’ll need two people.

a. Have one person hold the clouds piece in an upright position. You may also want to pin the stars piece in place against the table.

b. The other person takes a piece of string and loops it through a corresponding pair of hooks on the stars and clouds pieces, and then ties the two ends of the loop together.

c. Make sure to pull the string as tight as you can.

4. To tie this knot, we recommend you use a square knot. Here is a link to a video on how to tie a square knot, but we also have instructions below.

1. Hold the two ends of the string, one in each hand.
2. Cross the string in your left hand over the string in your right hand.
3. Loop the left-hand string under the right-hand string, switching hands as you do.
4. Repeat steps 1-3 again.

5. Repeat the process for the other two strings.

6. At this point, the first person should be able to let go of the top, and you’re finished!

Design Analysis: 

Sketch Phase- At the initial brainstorming of what design we should do, my partner and I knew we wanted to make a complex design, I remember this because I had sketched a few basic shape ideas and my partner advocated for something more intricate. From the overarching idea of complex, we figure the two beam pieces should physically fit as halves of one shape. And from there we decided on a Yin-Yang motif, clearly basic at first if you look at the first sketch, but we quickly enhanced the idea with more design choices such as contrast and symbolism. We brainstormed exactly what sort of symbolism we should use, and settled on light and dark as a general theme. More specifically, sun and moon, and clouds and stars. 

The most notable change between design and build was the size of the clouds, and the arrangement of the stars, The clouds were made much smaller and more organized in the later stages of design while the stars pattern and free form were adjusted to be more organized and to make room for the hook to be inserted. Mainly we wanted to change the layout of the bases as to clean up the overall look of the pieces, serving little function other than aesthetic. However in terms of functional changes the free form was too large near the hooks and even the openings for the tabs were designed too small and unproportional. 

Here you can see the clouds were much larger and unorganized that in the final design, and the tab openings were thicker. 

In the final design 2.0 stage, we have altered the clouds, the tabs, and free form, added hook marks, chose colors, and fully lined up the bases. In the assembly stage there was very little altercations we had to make, simply sanding the sides of the tabs a bit because of excess expansion in the printing phase.