Fibonacci Lego Zoetrope

Zoetropes are an early animation device that typical used 2D drawings and a man-made "shutter" that takes advantage of the human brain's persistence of vision to create an illusion of motion. This project will implement 3D design to create a 3D zoetrope that has a lego figure walk cycle and a Fibonacci lego board.

• minimum size 12 x 12 inch, 1/8 inch thick plywood
• minimum size 20 x 12 inch poster paper, 2 sheets
• acrylic paint (suggested colors: red, green, blue, yellow, black, white)
• 1 bobby pin
• paint brushes
• scissors
• painters tape
• ruler
• protractor
• gorilla hot glue
• minimum six 8.5 x 11 inch felt sheets (suggested colors: 3x light blue, 3x white)
• Adobe Illustrator
• Autodesk Maya
• TinkerCAD
• Ultimaker Cura

Using Adobe Illustrator, create a 18.72 x 12 inch rectangle with triangular tabs on one of the long sides (see example pictures and attached file). The rectangle must have six slits and will be laser cut twice.

Next, create a 12 inch diameter circle with a smaller circle at its center.

For your laser cutter to successfully cut through the material, use these settings in the line work of your illustrator file:

Color = RGB red

Stroke = 0.072pt

Save as .SVG (MUST be .SVG for the laser cutter software to recognize the graphic as a vector)

Next, place your material on the laser cutter bed and level it.

After you import your .SVG file, go to the power and speed settings in the ULS software associated with your laser cutter.

Use these settings in the ULS:

Select the RBG Red button

Power = 100

Speed = 10

The illusion of motion using the mathematical concepts of the golden ration and Fibonacci numbers to place the lego board pegs yields a really cool and trippy effect (see attached video example).

Using the attached .PNG, convert it to an .SVG file and import it into TinkerCAD.

Extrude the dots to 0.11811 inch (3 mm).

Add a 12 inch diameter, 0.0787402 inch (2 mm) thick circle below the dots and combine them (see example photo of model).

Cut out a small circle in the center, ~ 0.286 inch (7 mm) diameter.

**For printing the lego board, you may have to split it in half or in quarters depending on your 3D printer's bed size.

Import the lego board .STL files into the Ultimaker Cura software.

Use these settings for the prints (see attached image for guidance):

In the middle tab,

Generic -> select CPE

In the print settings (third tab),

Profile -> Fast - 0.2 mm

Infill ->

Infill Density -> 20.0

Infill Pattern -> Gyroid

Material ->

Printing Temperature -> 255°C

Build Plate Temperature -> 80°C

Support ->

check Generate Support

Support Placement -> Everywhere

Support Overhang Angle -> 60

Support density -> 15

Build Plate Adhesion >

check Enable Prime Blob

Brim Place Adhesion Type -> Brim

Brim Width > 7 mm

Print the lego boards based o your printers protocols.

Once printed, remove supports and paint the lego board a light green (suggested to mix green paint with white) and then paint the pegs a darker green.

Use gorilla hot glue to adhere the CPE plastic to the wooden circular base.

Using an animation software like Autodesk Maya, model and rig a lego figure.

After that, key a simple walking animation at 12 fps (see attached video).

Export the individual 12 frames as .OBJ files

** An alternative is to model the lego figure in TinkerCAD twelve times, each model being a frame of the 12 fps animation.

Import the lego figure .STL files into the Ultimaker Cura software.

Use these settings for the prints:

In the middle tab,

Generic -> select CPE

In the print settings (third tab),

Profile -> Fine - 0.1 mm

Infill ->

Infill Density -> 20.0

Infill Pattern -> Gyroid

Material ->

Printing Temperature -> 255°C

Build Plate Temperature -> 80°C

Support ->

check Generate Support

Support Placement -> Everywhere

Support Overhang Angle -> 60

Support density -> 20

Build Plate Adhesion >

check Enable Prime Blob

Brim Place Adhesion Type -> Brim

Brim Width > 10 mm

Remove support after printing.

Make sure to keep track of which figure corresponds to which frame in the correct order of the animation.

BE VERY GENTLE WHEN REMOVING THE SUPPORT; the figures are fragile and can snap in unwanted places.

The traditional lego figure has blue pants, a red shirt, yellow body, and black details.

Paint two coats of white all over the lego figures as a base.

Paint two coats of yellow on the head and hands.

Paint two coats of red on the shirt area.

Paint two coats of blue on the pants areas.

Using a bobby pen, dot on the eyes and the mouth shape on each of the figures.

**See the attached photo for reference.

Using a protractor, divide the round lego board into 12 equal slices (30 degrees per slice) and place the 12 lego figures evenly in each slice in counterclockwise order (see attached clock for frame placement guidance).

Using construction or poster paper, draw and cut out a cloud shape to use as a stencil for the felt.

On white felt, trace around the stencil 12 times to make 12 clouds and the cut them out.

Take 3 full sheets of the light blue felt and fold them all in half hot dog style.

Place the 3 sheets side by side below the slits on the carousel poster walls (see attached photo).

Use gorilla hot glue to adhere the felt to the poster paper.

Place the clouds in an up-down animation loop (see attached photo for frame reference).

Use gorilla hot glue to adhere the clouds to the sky.

Fold in the triangles on the carousel walls.

Use gorilla glue to attached the walls to each other and the wood base to the folded in triangles (see attached photos).

There are a few options for how to test the zoetrope:

Option 1: Place it on a record player at the highest rpm. Turn off the lights except for one directly above the zoetrope and look at the figures through the slits of the carousel.

Option 2: Place it on a record player at the highest rpm. Turn off the lights and use a strobe light at around 900 rpm. View the zoetrope from above and not through the slits.

Option 3: Use a DSLR camera with a shutter speed of 1/500 and view through the viewfinder or record a video. Lights must be on and bright enough for the camera to capture the zoetrope.