Stabilizer Platform
Space Crisis; Who's driving this thing?
The stabilizer platform is the foundational structural component of the game as well as the key dynamic element. With design requirements of dynamic user feedback from the weeble-wobble mechanics, range of motion, and safety, the following stabilizer was created based on the sketch from the storyboard below.
Based on this concept, a SolidWorks rendering of the stabilizer was created, below.
How was it made?
The spherical surface of the stabilizer was difficult to fabricate at once. Similarly, the 6 foot diameter was a constraint when selecting the manufacturing process and material to choose. Finally it was decided to make the stabilizer from wood, and CNC rout profiles layer by layer. Each layer was broken up into pieces depending on size and layed out on a 4' by 8' plywood bed. 6 Sheets of plywood were needed. Below shows how one layer was broken down.
Each piece was cut on a CNC router and carefully numbered based on radial size.
Once cut, the pieces were stacked together, and a finishing pass was used to smooth the surface, as shown in the timelapse below.
Finally the three pieces were bolted together!
The base had 16 ball-transfers secured in pockets bored in a plywood base.
Finally, the post was secured in the middle, and it was finished!
