Over this weekend, I spent quite a bit of time building prototypes to try to figure out what materials work best. Since repurposed materials are desired (they articulate our message of sustainability), I put myself through a little experiment where I created the same idea using materials gathered from my house and materials gathered in the lab. Additionally, I created a timelapse of the creation of my first prototype (above), to serve as a prototype of my proposed documentation process for making activities.

The prototype below consists of a plant, a toy camera, a broken pencil, a salvaged lampshade, a button, 2 paper clips, and some string. It represents an idea for a system that could track plant health using sensors and machine vision feeding to a cell phone.

And here’s my diagram for the process, Sense-Think-Act noted.

The below prototype is made of a plant, bits salvaged from the scanner, some twist ties, newspaper, and wire. This time I was reminded that a reservoir for the water would be helpful.

And here are the bits of the scanner leftover post-deconstruction.

Both of these sets of materials create what I think are compelling objects, which leads me to the thought that providing a variety of found materials can lead to uniquely creative products. On the other hand, I know I have a bias towards using trash for art … what is your opinion, growBot Team?

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