For my final project, I wanted to make moving flowers that bloomed in sync with the wearer’s breath. I have had experience with CADing mechanical parts, but I really wanted to try modelling something more artistic.
For the flower petals, I will probably make them out of fabric or flexible materials for comfort and aesthetic reasons, but I wanted to think of a way to actuate the “blooming” motion.
My first challenge was trying to come up with a design of getting the flower to open and close repeatedly. I thought of an umbrella, and decided to losely base my design off of that.
I CADed a base from a circle with cut areas for joints for the rotating sections of my flower petals.
I then added rectangle sections as a revolving joint, and made a circular pattern around the base. Then I linked the movements so they would move synchronously.