Flying vehicle

In contrast with the slow speed of Polymer's vehicle, we wanted a vehicle that created a sudden burst, a rapid thrust, a spontaneous starter, quick and fast and vibrant. All these instances of diction sum up the characteristics of a rocket.

1. To give directionality to the vehicle, we decided to have a suspension cord which will lead the direction of the vehicle.

2. Since the steam created by boiling water and heat from cotton and meth are not strong enough to push the whole vehicle we thought of alternative options like trapping hairspray in a bottle and lighting the end on fire which would boost the whole vehicle forward. Therefore, we gathered ideas which can successfully allow gas to escape and burst to function like an engine source. However, it is critical that we don't end up bursting the container and as the vehicle will not have a sense of direction, we must attach it and rely on a top chord.

Trials and experiments of the non-renewable engine source

With the experimented engine source, we sketched ideas of the body of the vehicle. The shape and the vehicle where the avatars seat should fit and function well with the speed.

from the sketch, we developed on and created a mock-up of our body of our vehicle.

 video showing our trial of the mock-up.

due to the heaviness of the first body, we tried out another body vehicle which now embraces the engine source. The space created intween the small and the big tube provides an internal enclosure which is alluminated by the translucency of rice paper. A sense of indoor and outdoor is created by the texture of the materials. However, the vehicle was too heavy to travel far distances as well.

component three

Therefore, rather than extending the volume and the mass of the vehicle in X and Y axis, we decided to extend the Z axis/length. Paralleling with the idea of speed and rapidity of the motion, we created a cone shaped body which can be attached at the back of the gas bottle which is the front of the vehicle. This design does not add any volume beyond the bottle mass and therefore will travel further. In aesthetic sense, it emphasizes the rocket image and imparts a charismatic character.  

However, we discovered that the 3D printed rocket point will get destroyed very well due to its fragility and its lack of pressure and load structure. 

Therefore we searched for another appropriate design that involves with interior and internal structures. Its abstract curvature depicts elegance and the elongated structure does not deliberately show that the following component is a seating furniture. Its intriguing shape and form allows itself to be an interesting focal point already internally therefore no artificial or additional decoration is unnecessary.


With the following component, we experimented the burst of the gas with a different plastic bottle. However, the type of the plastic was not as stiff and strong enough to make the thrust and ended up melting. Therefore we decided to go back to the bottle but with a different drink bottle which is more linear and less 'drink-bottle-like'.

Relating back to the idea sketches and brainstorms we did, we wondered how the rough and mesh-like sketches can be carried across. We therefore tried to draw on the rice paper and soaked it. The waterproof graphic pen did not wash away as much as the other felt pen. The thicker rice paper (the bottom rice paper) managed to keep most of the drawings to its original state but the thinner ricer paper (the top rice paper) halved its clarity and opacity. However after sticking them onto a concrete wall, the thinner rice paper created more contrast and therefore the drawings were more visible and strong.

final

We have inserted the 3D componenet inside the bottle and attatched it onto the power source permenantly. Rice paper and seaweed which functions as curtains or shades are wrapped around the joining part of two bottles. Its motion or movement of rice paper emphasises the ongoing speed and the linear movement of the vehicle. The arrangement of the shade is composed in such way to convey both indoor and outdoor environment for the people inside the vehicle. The glass tube illuminates the space inside naturally and its openness makes it feel like an outdoor space despite its indoor-ness.

As shown above, the weight created from the add-ons (seaweed, rice paper, tape, polysterine, 3D printing) drags the vehicle down which explains its lack of the spontaneous rapid speedy thrust that was experimented eariler on in the process.

Spatial human experience

The motion of the flying vehicle, which would be travelling on a suspension cord, has a spontaneous starting and end stage. The movement is not as fluid and flowing as the other vehicles but rather swift, jerky and short-lived. So it would be interesting to create a contrasting effect on the interior of the vehicle that is to have the interior constant, still and simple. So in a way the concept of time might not even exist inside. This way the avatars inside the vehicle wouldn't be overwhelmed by the fluctuating, rapid motion of the vehicle, which they might find uncomfortable. Instead they would be more at ease and be in a still constant environment, perhaps not even feel the actual movement.  We could achieve this (theoretically) by having shock absorbers of some sort to dampen the movement inside. This spatial experience I mentioned above is more explicit in the drawing.