Re-construction

Tonight I began to put the Teletubby back together to a certain extent so that I could begin to study his full range of actions, movements and reactions. Tonight was also my first go at soldering, which I can't say I'm an expert at but it will only take practice I'm sure. While re-building the lower half of the body I discovered by error that if the motor gets put in backwards then when activated the Teletubby will walk backwards. I was also luckily able to fit the two pieces of the great box back together which for whatever reason had been giving me some trouble earlier in the week. Also I was able to re-attach the small microphone that was never attached in the first place to two wires that I was unaware of their purpose during the dissection process. Due to the re-attachment the Teletubby now responds to sound causing it to dance, basically what would happen if the hand sensor was pushed. Once the re-construction is complete in the morning I will be taking some video footage that will get posted, so stay tuned!

Wuvluv

After hours of searching "google" trying to figure out what the blue fuzzy toy I just got is actually called I have finally discovered it is called a Wuvluv. It's an interactive half plush half electronic toy introduced in 1999 by Trendmasters Inc. that wiggles, responds to touch, sings (ABC's & I'm a Little Tea Pot), talks and "gives birth" to a Wuvluv baby, which it names (1 of 60 possible names), contained in an egg with which it interacts through more song exchanged back and forth between the two of them. It has glowing antennae, rolling eyes and an intense amount of actions - which I haven't completely gotten the hang of yet! I'm extremely interested in what exactly this toy has to offer in terms of research into the world of automatons!

Automatons & my love for Value Village

After having such a great time dissecting the Teletubby I became frustrated that I would now have to work with one of my other 5 objects that somehow didn't seem quite as interesting now...

Patrick's suggestion to me during my crit session today was to turn my focus to automatons...ok I'm not gonna lie before today I really didn't know what these even were, and maybe I'm not completely sure yet but from what I understand at this point an automaton is basically a robot type object, somehow animated or given the suggestion of life, such as the painting/statues(?) - can't remember which one exactly- , in the Architect's Metier...

au·tom·a·ton (ô-tm-tn, -tn)

n. pl. au·tom·a·tons or au·tom·a·ta (-t)

1. A self-operating machine or mechanism, especially a robot.

2. One that behaves or responds in a mechanical way.

I digress... so unhappy with my collection of objects remaining which didn't seem to fit the direction I was now suggested to move in I went hunting again! After having been to Value Village every day for almost 10 days straight I wasn't optimistic about my chances of finding what I was looking for but ohhhhhh was I wrong! I am proud to introduce the newest members of my dissection process...

- Not one but TWO Hokey Pokey Elmo's!!!! (one with slightly yellow eyes...possibly liver failure?)
- A weird looking blue blog creature with huge eyes...that does crazy things...
- A dog wearing a top hat that dances and sings New York New York!

Dissection Complete

So after an all weekend escapade the dissection is complete! 7 Sheets of paper, a couple of cups of tea, some bad/hilarious jokes from the group & a VERY cramped hand and the Teletubby is now in about a thousand pieces and is well documented through extensive drawings and approximately 450 photographs! Extensive photos will be posted over the next few days but just to get things started here are a few from throughout the process...

Parallel Universe...ooo...

While searching for something else related to studio I stumbled across this website of another class (Parsons New School of Design?) dissecting battery operated toys, as we are! I found it kinda neat to look through...
http://yg.typepad.com/makingtoys2/eplush_insides_of_mainstream_toys/index.html

Vivisection victim number one!

After careful discussion and consideration the Teletubby has been selected as my first victim for vivisection. I'm really happy with this choice as I feel that because of its many functions as a whole it offers me the most opportunity as a single object, at least at this point. I am most interested in the robotic being that lies under the fuzzy hot pink exterior - curiously entertaining for toddlers all over the world - what is really inside the Teletubby with the circular shape mounted on top of his head whom is imaginatively named "Po"?

As I begin to look through blogs among pop-culture sources online I am finding that The Teletubbies carries with them some extremely different opinions - cute & cuddly child entertainers/educators as opposed to homosexual icons created by drug induced maniacs....this clearly requires some investigation on my part on the role of the Teletubby in the pop-culture world of today!

Among many of the "weird" sites I have found so far depicting the Teletubbies here is one... http://www.metacafe.com/watch/271376/teletubbies_get_mauled/

Ahoy !Technological Exploration!

I have now officially occupied my studio space & am prepared and mostly excited for what tomorrow may have in store! Having little to no experience in dissecting anything electrical, to sum up my general thoughts would be to say "this should be interesting!" - I'll leave it at that!

5 Objects

Project 1: Dismantling the Beast

Reverse Engineering

Each object will be part of an in depth analysis of existing electronic components allowing insight to how they function and are constructed therefore developing the skills necessary to build a responsive device from scratch. Each item will be deconstructed and documented accordingly.

Object 1:


Teletubbies Po Dancing Plush

• Material - Plush object, primarily fabric, with plastic detailing (face and hand toy)
• Size - Approximately 15” high x 8” wide
• Abilities - When its hand is squeezed causing it to sing, light up, dance and walk across the floor
• Power Source - 3 x “AA” batteries

Object 2:

Interactive Robot

• Material – Hard plastic
• Size - Approximately 10” high x 6” wide
• Abilities – Counts & identifies numbers and colours in French and English as well as moves across the floor when button on top of head pushed
• Power Source – 3 x “AA” batteries

Object 3:

Karaoke Sing-Along

• Material – Hard Plastic
• Size - Approximately 12” high x 7” wide
• Abilities – Records voice and music through a removable microphone onto cassette tape with the ability to control tone & volume
• Power Source – 4 x “C” (1.5V) batteries

Object 4:

World Wizard Traveler Game

• Material – Hard Plastic with LCD screen and laminated cards
• Size - Approximately 6” high x 7” wide
• Abilities – Displays numbers on screen to correspond with questions listed on card to be paired with answer key
• Power Source – 2 x “AA” batteries

Object 5:

Interactive Solar System

• Material – Hard Plastic
• Size - Approximately 12” high x 18” wide
• Abilities – Quizzes user about the solar system and provides knowledge of planets and stars through an interactive game with sounds and lights
• Power Source – 3 x “AA” batteries

I have a blog...it's ALIVE!!!

So this is my fist attempt at having a blog...hopefully all goes well!