Preparation
When we (Marina, Tatiana and Roberto) teamed up together to work on the fabacademy monthly challenge, we began by outlining our different interests, trying to find common ground for the project. We noticed plants, biology, science, interactivity and bioremediation pop up in common.Some ideas popped up, like a spice holder, plant pots or even a small laser cut village.
We asked ourselves
How can we interact with our plants and living species in our home in a fun way?
We decided upon a game involving plants: the plant race
Propagame: The game
A game where two people could measure the growth and progress of their plants over time, allowing the best caregiver to win.
How does it work?
You place 3 plants side by side, with 3 thin wooden stick with holes in them in between them. The holes in the stick would be accompanied by wooden pegs which represent the speed at which the plants are growing.
Each week, the players would measure the growth of the plants and add the corresponding "Week x" peg to the height the plant has grown.It is reminescent of being a child, and marking the growth of the child every year with marks on the wall to measure height.
The winner of the game, is the caregiver whose plant has grown the most by the end of the stipulated time frame.
Contribution to the project
My role in this project was to produce the 3D design of the prototypes after we had all collaborated on the design and main idea of the project. Additionally I was also in charge of the recopilation of the documentation and the web development in html and css. Lastly, we worked together on the assembly process.
Learning Outcomes
There were several learnings that one can extract from this experience. First and foremost, project management. The delegation of jobs and work timelines is of utmost importance in order to complete the challenge in a timely manner. Tatiana, Marina and I gathered to brainstorm ideas for the product and each design; after deciding on the top 2 designs, we based ourselves on a set of criteria in order to choose the winning design. Once this was achieved, we ventured into our own jobs and carried out our responsibilities quickly. After we came together, we fixed all of the little mistakes and got on to cutting, documenting, and assembling. All in all, the process was very quick and thanks to this we were finished before most groups and everything went very smoothly. More important than the technical skills, was the ability to work together.
To find the documentation, description and reflections, as well as the open source fabrication files click here >> Propagame