Making the first foot

Today our team constructed the first foot in the Live Demos series. The foot only includes flesh and an ankle bone at this time and cannot be created in bulk. However, the quality is very high. We expect to use feet like these for pinch point and falling object demonstrations. we can also show the purpose of steel-toed boots and their limitations. The "falling objects" team (Eric, Carl, and Zach) mentored by Justin Harter of Bechtel took on this effort.

Eric with his foot in the alginate! His foot will now be immortalized.

Eric looking funny with a block of alignate on his foot. Zach and Carl preparing to free him.

The team pouring dragon skin into the mold.

The final product. The only small defect was a bubble on the big toe that caused a small divot.

Kudos to the team! This looks pretty good.

A new logo!

One of our research students, Spencer Lacy, worked with a colleague (Sophia) and put together this new logo for the team. Check it out! Thanks, Spencer and Sophia!

Production Video!

After a whole lot of hand making, videography, story boarding, and video editing we mad the first production-level live demo video. Soon I will be posting the storyboards and elements that went into this video.

Although its not perfect, we are pretty happy with the outcome.

The video is hosted on Vimeo because of its size and HD qualities. 

http://vimeo.com/80761732

All the details on the slow motion capture

This week we were able to make serious progress with the high speed camera and our drop column demos. Below are some photos from our day in the laboratory and some video products from the shots. We are one step away from having a production level video. Kudos to Sid and Spencer for some great work.

Prepping a hand for the drop column

These were our conditions on the day of the shoot. We had to open the bay door because we needed the natural light for the high-speed camera.

Using the new drop column from an elevated work platform in the University of Colorado Structures Laboratory.

Spencer draining the tested hand. Take a close look at the labeling of that trash can :)

This is the aftermath of a drop...sometimes difficult to explain but very effective in achieving our goals. This is what an unattended hand would look like after being struck by a concrete chisel from a 10-foot drop.

This is the resulting video from a high-speed drop. We are very pleased. You are seeing the hand hit on the radial artery. The blood bladder has the same internal pressure as your arteries (approximately 2 psi). Pretty dramatic and very realistic.

Scaling UP!

Today I began making hands for a CoP Project in Australia. I figured folks out there may like to see what the process looks like to create one of these hands. Below is a time lapse video over 45 mins. Add 120 minutes for curing and viola! Ten more hands to go.

CoP Conference

Short story: The ConocoPhillips Conference went really well. There was no question that the conference was early since our project started only 2 months ago BUT it was a wonderful opportunity to showcase the idea and receive feedback early in the journey. Overall, the idea received overwhelming support from the global community. Multiple times we received comments like: "you are really onto something!" " You cant stop!" "Don't give up on this idea" and "How do I bring this to my region." Feedback like this is excellent motivation to keep the project moving forward rapidly and for thinking BIG!

Here is how the conference went down:

Day 1 (Sunday): Matt and Alex arrive at the conference venue in Houston with a load of baggage.  We brought all of the hands, a high-speed camera, the materials for the demos, and the presentations. Traveling through TSA with a cooler full of hands was an interesting experience. They did not like it.

Once we arrived we knew that we had a lot of work ahead of us because these would be our very first demos. Since we had to focus first on making the hands, no demos were complete. As a person who likes to share things that are finished and polished, this was certainly outside of my comfort zone.

Dave and his colleague Glen brought the 10 ft long clear acrylic pipe for the drop demo and the proper PPE. Once we all got together, we started practice.

Alex holding the 4 in diameter pipe, Dave about to drop, and Glen holding the ladder

Day 2 (Monday AM): The entire conference kicked off with our demo. Since ConocoPhillips begins their meetings with a "safety moment," we were up first. Our plan was for me to present the Live demo concept and show some of the high speed video for the situation with a glove and without a glove. The presentation was a huge hit and was mentioned several times later in the conference. Below are the key videos from the presentation.

This video is without a glove. Contact pressure of the chisel is 9000 psi

This video captures the falling chisel with the glove. The impact pressure is reduced by 98% because of the increase in contact area. 

Day 2 (Monday PM): The afternoon was filled with trying to get our second demo complete. Do we use a grinder or a box cutter? The answer was quickly determined once Dave tried cutting a sample hand with a box cutter. The knife went through the hand like butter - just like it would with real skin. We knew immediately that the the demo had to be a cut with a box cutter. The box cutter demo ended up being an excellent choice because it focuses on the decision to use the right tool (which is sometimes inconvenient) or the easy tool (e.g., box cutter, which is NEVER the right tool). The demo also deals with an issue that plagues almost every project.

Day 3 (Tuesday AM): We kicked off the second day conference similar to the first. Our goal with the second presentation was to do two demos: the full-scale drop column and the box cutter demo. We had shown the videos above on the first day but wanted to demonstrate the actual full-size drop column. The second demo would involve using the right tool to cut a cable tie and a video showing the box cutter hitting a hand.

The presentation was well executed. Unfortunately, as we feared, the drop column didnt work quite right. The diameter of the pipe is so large that we cant be sure to hit the hand every time. Of course, both drops int eh live presentation missed after every one in our practice hit. Fortunately, we had a back-up plan and I had a hand that had been hit to show the camera.

The slow motion laceration of a box cutter

Day 3 (Tuesday PM): The afternoon of the second day of the conference involve an "un-poster session." In this session we had one-on-one time with the conference attendees. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive. This session gave us the confidence to know that this would receive broad and long-term support. Below are some photos from this session taken by Alex.

Our booth

Showing off the Phantom camera

Showing off the hands. People thought "cool" or "creepy" but everyone had some sort of memorable reaction.

We had a steady crowd for the whole 2-hour period - How cool!

The Kong gloves were a pretty big hit. new to almost everyone.

Lots and Lots of Hands

After a long weekend, we now have a fluid process and a whole lot of hands. We have come a long way but it looks like we have a sustainable and productive operation.

A new, more streamlined operation. Hands take about 2 hours to make and require about $40 in materials

The blood bladders are leak-free and easy to install.

We have a pile of defect hands for preliminary testing and six new hands for show time!

In one week we will be heading to Houston for ConocoPhillips conference where we will be doing a live demonstration. Wish us luck!

PS. I need to stop watching Breaking Bad as I make these hands because I am starting to refer to them as a "cook."