Week 9 : A Friendly Hand First Iteration

This week, I focused on making a A Friendly Hand first upgrade as visualised in the Week 5 - Construction Plan. This process includes laser-cutting, assembling and subsequently ordering the required materials & tools for further improvements.

Part ① : Laser Cutting the Dual-Layered Platform with Acrylic

I had went for a quick shopping and I couldn't find a 3mm wood for the laser-cutting. Instead, I used transparent acrylic to test out my construction plan.

Below is the laser-cutting file that I sent into the laser cutting machine to print. The design is simple, I rounded the egdes of the corners and added 3mm holes as well as a little inverted bump for the string to hook on and meanuver back and forth.

Part ② : Putting A Friendly Hand Together

After laser-cutting, I made a new paper hand using the exact same materials—paper, wall plug, grey electrical tape, and white string instead of orange, just to test color variations. To piece the dual-layered platform together, I used a 45mm spacer that I got from Sim Lim Tower. Additionally, integrating LDR with a 20mm suction cup that I ordered online.

Everything went smoothly until I started wiring and powering up A Friendly Hand—and then, the Arduino burst. I reckon it was either because I forgot to add a resistor before assembling the wires, or the Arduino itself might have been a fake.

Part ③: Ordering Materials & Tools

As reflected in Week 7, I knew I was going to make at least three A Friendly Hands. So, I ordered three sets of Arduino Uno, micro servos, and additional 50mm suction cups (since the LDR integrated 20mm suction cups couldn’t stick to the screen).

While researching suitable wood for laser cutting, I came across Baltic Birch plywood—which felt like the perfect choice, as a tribute to ecologist Suzanne Simard’s study on Douglas Fir and Birch Trees. I mean… just a nice little connection.

I spent about $130 in total and waited for my items to arrive over the week.