Let There Be Light!

So the Aura team has been working feverishly over the last week to get things in order well ahead of our September 29th deadline. We have been fortunate enough to experience a huge outpouring of volunteers  interested in helping out with our Nuit Blanche 2012 submission from all facets of the Department of Architectural Science. This has really helped to accelerate our fabrication process over the last seven critical days.

This week we managed to complete all of our CNC milling, laser cutting and manual cutting. With the help of our volunteers, we also managed to complete all of our nearly 1700 plunger assemblies to be inserted in our triangular panels. Most recently, under the supervision of our team electrician, Andrew Santaguida, we wired and installed our lighting components - allowing us to then complete the final assembly of all 30 panels. Here are some shots of the exciting progress:

Aura headquarters on a typical weekday evening

Volunteers painting the back panels white to ensure optimal illumination 

A hand full of our 1700 plunger assemblies

Our professor and project supervisor Vincent Hui checking up on our progress

Volunteers from the Dept. of Architectural Science hard at work

It actually works!

Exploring hot and cold spots of light within the panel

Light diffusing through the syringe barrels at the back panel

Syringe barrels inserted into CNC milled recessed slots at our back sandwich panel

A peak at our wiring assembly: A single ballast hardwired to two 24" 20 Watt Fluorescent luminaries

Wired back panels on deck to be inserted into the panel boxes

And finally, a sneak peak at our panel assembly process:

1. Connect face bolt and coupling through pre-assembled panel box

2. Insert plastic conduit spacers around each bolt and coupling assembly

3. Ensure all wires, marettes and ballasts avoid obstruction of bolts, spacers and plungers

4. Insert back panel assembly into panel box

5. Insert eye bolts through back panel assembly to connect with hex couplings within conduit spacers

6. Tighten eye bolts through panel creating a rigid connection for suspension

7. Secondary test of lighting and wiring to ensure no connections were affected during assembly

8. Reunite the panel with its 29 companions

In the coming days, the team plans on mocking up some panels to our structural framing to test and further develop connection details for both the vertical and horizontally suspended conditions. We have a ton of work still to do, but we are all excited to finally see this thing materialize. Stay tuned for more exciting content!