2022/11/21-2022/01/01

BRIEF

[Sisyphus] is a lamp that bends over to turn on a switch by itself. With only two taps on the table, it will bend over slowly to turn on the switch and light up. With three taps on the table, it will bend over to push the toggle switch to the off position. It was named Sisyphus because of its tireless way of moving back and forth.

CONCEPT

The original intention of this project was from that I’ve watched a lot of Pixar animation when I was a child, and I was very impressed by the lively little lamp at the beginning animation. One night, I suddenly wanted to make such a small lamp with soul. In fact, the core idea is to ensoul all kinds of inanimate or unconscious small beings, so that they can also get the opportunity to express themselves, just like [CyberFlower] and [CyberPot]. Why make [Sisyphus] when there are already voice-activated lights? Because this kind of mechanical, dynamic interaction seems alive and ritualistic, when you tap on the table, it bows to turn the lights on for you, rather than simply lighting, bending down like a polite housekeeper. When you’re tired at your desk, a few simple interactions can give you a sense of companionship. There are very times in life when such little pleasures are needed.

PROTOTYPING & ENGINEERING

I designed a Fresnel lens light cover for the highlighted strip to make the light come out softer. The joints are hinged with ultra-thin bearings. And I designed the hollowed joint structure, so that the overall shape won’t be so bulky, and be filled in more science fiction sense. The motion mechanism uses two linear steering gear to provide power, so that the lamp can do circular motion around the two axes, to achieve the toggle switch in two directions. The power supply uses two 12V DC battery packs, with four wire circuit protection board, so the charging interface uses 0B four-wire Remo aviation plug. Vibration sensor is used in trigger mechanism, and Arduino Nano microcontroller is the main controller, so the bottom needs to accommodate vibration sensor, Arduino Nano, two cylindrical battery packs, aviation plug and some wires. Therefore, I arranged them along three rays with an Angle of 120°, on the one hand, to ensure the stability of the center of gravity. On the other hand, the sense of volume should be reduced visually as much as possible, and there should be no large solid structure.

PHOTOS

The following are some of the real photos of [Sisyphus].