Light-Up Ramp Wall:
An Interactive Installation for Pre-School Students
At the end of summer 2019, I worked with pre-school teachers and administrators at Riverfield Country Day School—the same school I attended prior to Olin—to brainstorm designs for a new interactive installation. They were looking to augment their existing Ramps and Pathways wall, a large piece of pegboard with attached ramps and tubes that children could roll small plastic balls through. I envisioned something that could engage yet another aspect of the children's curiosity by lighting up and changing colors. I designed a pegboard made of laser-cut acrylic sheets, surrounded by a wooden frame with embedded LED strips.
The following winter break, I hauled some 48 lbs of laser-cut acrylic sheets back home in my suitcase, hoping to install the project before the start of the next semester. Over that break, I spent nearly two weeks leading the construction and assembly efforts of the project, alongside the school's teachers and administrators. The wall consisted of a 3 x 4 grid of these acrylic sheets for an overall size of about 36" x 96". We attached the sheets into a surrounding wooden frame, the inside of which we lined with color-changing LED strip lights. The internal seams between the acrylic sheets were held together with laser-cut wooden disks and hex screws.
We sourced acrylic tubes that we cut in half to make ramps of varying lengths. Onto these ramps, we attached electroluminescent tape to make them glow in several different colors. In addition, we created a rotating spiral ramp and a spinning ramp disk that we affixed to the wall with deconstructed Lazy Susans. We found some remote-controllable dot LEDs that we attached to the spinning ramp disk for additional light components. Finally, we ran two additional LED strips, one in the ball tray at the base of the wall, and one on the top behind the top panel, that reacted to sound inputs. Next to the wall, we installed Nanoleaf LED triangles that could also be programmed to change colors with sound input.
The project was a great way for me to get more experience with large-scale installations, practice my wiring and cable management skills, and create something interactive and awe-inspiring for others. It was a great way to further explore the intersections between art and engineering, the nexus of which I believe is one of the best ways to engage the creativity and curiosity of others. It was also a great way for me to give back to a community that gave me so much in my own life.
The following winter break, I hauled some 48 lbs of laser-cut acrylic sheets back home in my suitcase, hoping to install the project before the start of the next semester. Over that break, I spent nearly two weeks leading the construction and assembly efforts of the project, alongside the school's teachers and administrators. The wall consisted of a 3 x 4 grid of these acrylic sheets for an overall size of about 36" x 96". We attached the sheets into a surrounding wooden frame, the inside of which we lined with color-changing LED strip lights. The internal seams between the acrylic sheets were held together with laser-cut wooden disks and hex screws.
We sourced acrylic tubes that we cut in half to make ramps of varying lengths. Onto these ramps, we attached electroluminescent tape to make them glow in several different colors. In addition, we created a rotating spiral ramp and a spinning ramp disk that we affixed to the wall with deconstructed Lazy Susans. We found some remote-controllable dot LEDs that we attached to the spinning ramp disk for additional light components. Finally, we ran two additional LED strips, one in the ball tray at the base of the wall, and one on the top behind the top panel, that reacted to sound inputs. Next to the wall, we installed Nanoleaf LED triangles that could also be programmed to change colors with sound input.
The project was a great way for me to get more experience with large-scale installations, practice my wiring and cable management skills, and create something interactive and awe-inspiring for others. It was a great way to further explore the intersections between art and engineering, the nexus of which I believe is one of the best ways to engage the creativity and curiosity of others. It was also a great way for me to give back to a community that gave me so much in my own life.