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Data Generated Surfboards

An on board sensor system which gathers data while you surf and uses it to manufacture custom one off surfboards.

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The generative design system is an IOT solution for creating and manufacturing custom surfing equipment. The system uses a combination of sensors to understand what the surfer is doing on a wave in order to generate smarter equipment which is built in their image and performs as an extension of themselves.Since surfing is a sideways facing sport it is natural for the surfer's toe, heel / back, front feet to have different tendencies. Surfer's often categorize themselves as being front or back footed, this is a basic criteria for shapers to build the right equipment for their customers. By shaping through the surfer's inputs we can observe these asymmetrical tendencies on individual basis and generate asymmetrical outlines which can be produced through industry standard CNC milling.dark-labs.co

Brief

The Generative Design System gathers data while you surf and uses it to manufacture custom one off surfboards. Through an integrated on board sensor system movement is quantified while you surf then applied to generate bespoke CNCd shapes. This post outlines the basic principles of how movement and pressure data can have a direct quadrillion to surfboard shape, volume and contours. How this system can be applied to different industries as well as a history and future of the project.

Surf-GIF

fig.1 Data SurferLeft: IMU movement signal processing stream. Right: Board Index cycling through possible generated shapes.

Basic Principal

The generative design system is an IOT solution for creating and manufacturing custom equipment. The system uses a combination of sensors to understand what the surfer is doing on a wave in order to generate smarter equipment which is built in their image and performs as an extension of themselves.

Basic-Principal

fig.2 Shape by Pressure Left: The dot density is a representation of how a surfer applies pressure on the deck. Right: Generated shape deformation corresponding to the pressure map.

Surfboards are a blend of curves which work together to channel the flow of water. As a surfer rides a wave water is pushed through the bottom concaves of their board then out through the fins creating lift and thrust. Studying each surfer's stance and foot pressure we can optimize the entry and exit point of the board's bottom contours to maximize speed and control.Accurately logging and categorizing the moves in a ridden wave we can control the blending of curves and outline to systematically generate boards for each surfer, based on each surfer.

Hull-Sim

fig.3 Hull Simulation Fluid simulation of different concaves on the flow of water.

ASYMMETRICAL SHAPES

Since surfing is a sideways facing sport it is natural for the surfer's toe, heel / back, front feet to have different tendencies. Surfer's often categorize themselves as being front or back footed and this is usually a criteria for surf shops to help sell boards. A front footed surfer might want more foam in the forward section of their board whereas a back footed surfer wants a thinner nose so they can control more from the back foot. This concept is equally observable in the Y direction and has a huge impact on the boards water flow. By shaping through the surfer's inputs we can observe asymmetrical tendencies on individual basis and generate asymmetrical outlines and bottom contours which benefit these different strengths. See Part 3 Software Development for more information. 

SPIN-GIF

fig.4 Data Generated Board V2 Asymmetrical proof of concept shape processed from gathered data. This board is a gross estimation using traditional signal processing techniques. Rides are identified through manual visualizations and pressures during these ranges are gathered and rounded.

MANUFACTURING

Today the majority of surfboards are produced using CNC cutting machines. Blanks made of EVA or polyurethane foam are milled by specialized cutting machines, then hand finished by a shaper. The foam is then laminated using resin and composites such as fiberglass, carbon fiber, graphite or natural fibers. Unlike other products which might require a mold, surfboards are milled allowing for only a tweak in the machine's g-code to produce fully custom one off product manufacturing 

CNC-GIF

fig.5 Marko Foam CNC The Generative Design system allows for rapid manufacturing; personal data collection to custom product.

PROJECT INTENTION

I believe that this system can be used as a model for other projects for the production and manufacturing of products which co-exist with customers as an extension of themselves. This is made possible with machine learned sensor data processing and production through rapid manufacturing. Building a system of design and manufacturing of products based on personal data. I intend to continue developing...

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  • 1 × Particle Electron
  • 1 × 9-DOF IMU L3GD20H + LSM303
  • 6 × Round Force-Sensitive Resistor (FSR)
  • 1 × 16 Pin Ribbon Cable
  • 1 × Marine Grade Hook and Loop Velcro

  • Generated Shape Software [Concept 0.2]

    DARK-labs08/24/2019 at 23:09 0 comments

    Event-Detectionfig.1 Event Detection Model Single stream of IMU data being categorized into specific movements. The four bottom dots represent the average of the four pressure sensor quadrants.

    Turning the collected surfing data into surfboards. The different attempts to accurately categorize specific surfing maneuvers based on movement data. Developing an Activity Recognition system using visual signal processing techniques. The ultimate goal of building a cluster machine learning event detection system. Methods of indexing surfboards based on shape and function.

    Event Detection

    One of the most important hurdles in the entire project is the process in which the movement data collected from the IMU is categorized into specific surf maneuvers. Activity recognition aims to recognize the actions and goals of one or more agents from a series of observations on the agents' actions and the environmental conditions. The previous E.D. attempts have been largely reliant on visual signal processing with a little bit of help from video data.

    By splitting the surfing session into these events we can cross reference the pressure pad and build a picture of how the surfer interacts with their equipment. The act of surfing is composed of linked turns, pumps, stalls, redirections and tricks. Determining the moment when one move starts and the next begins is an important step in quantizing the sport.

    The process for building this dataset will require a variety of surfers to repeat specific maneuvers with external sensors and imaging to gather snapshots corresponding to each trick. After a sufficient amount of data is collected a series of cluster models can be trained to recognize a breadth of similar events to categorize each maneuver.

    Board Indexing System

    Categorizing shapes for behavior. The methodology of creating an index which can be referenced to create a variety of custom surfboards. While generating shapes from the G-code was an original intention for the project it seemed that a more scalable approach would be to leverage existing shapes. By doing so we can keep the system up to date with the most current shaping innovations. Each board is divided in half and categorized by a coordinate system which corresponds to its function. ie. a wide point forward will benefit a front footed surfer while a thin tail with benefit a back footed surfer. Fitting the generative system to this index can assign you to an existing shape or to mix and match the divided shapes to create fully new custom shapes based on the surfer with the shapers expertise behind it.

    BOARD INDEX 2fig.2 Board Index Each board in the index is categorized by a coordinate system which corresponds to event data.

  • Data Gathering Prototype [Concept 0.2]

    DARK-labs08/24/2019 at 23:07 0 comments


    IMU

    “An inertial measurement unit is an electronic device that measures and reports a body's specific force, angular rate, and sometimes the magnetic field surrounding the body, using a combination of accelerometers and gyroscopes and also magnetometers.”Source The IMU's purpose is to give us a signal that can be used to identify what the surfer is performing on the wave. Much like in a smart phone the device is capable of capturing and identifying 9 degrees of movement.

    Brain housing 1 grey

    fig.3 Embedded in board module Second generation hardware system. Used to collect working data for the generated shape. [In Development]

    FSR Sensor network Fiberglassed into the surfboard

  • Generated Shape [Concept 0.1]

    DARK-labs08/24/2019 at 23:01 0 comments

    Free-from Asymmetrical

    Board shaped from surfing data

    Using Data from Data Gathering Prototype to produce the shape

    • Rhino 6
    • Grasshopper

    Generated Shape Production

    CNC

  • Data Gathering Prototype [Concept 0.1]

    DARK-labs08/22/2019 at 21:31 0 comments

    Pond Liner Bag

    Software 

    + Illustrator

    + Fusion 360

    Data Gathering Prototype Build

    The bag is constructed of pond liner which is adhered using PVC glue.

    Materials

    + pond liner http://www.homedepot.com/p/Total-Pond-7-ft-x-10-ft...

    + pvc glue http://www.homedepot.com/p/Weld-On-PVC-717-16-oz-H...

    + FPT Cap http://www.homedepot.com/p/Charlotte-Pipe-2-in-PVC...

    + Male Adaptor http://www.homedepot.com/p/Charlotte-Pipe-2-in-PVC...

    + VHB Tape https://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/S-10113/3M-VH...

    + Double Sided film tape https://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/S-17123/Doubl...

    Data Gathering Board Concept 1

    Tools

    +Vinyl Cutter http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/281910397159?lpid=82&... 

    + Soldering Iron

    + Ruler

    Pond Liner Bag

    THE SENSOR

    + Force Sensor Resistor (11) https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9375

    + 10k ohm Resistor (11) https://www.sparkfun.com/products/8374

    + Stranded wire

    + Arduino mini https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13614?gclid=CLa5...

    + Arduino Datalogging Shield https://www.adafruit.com/products/1141?gclid=CIDwi...

    + Battery http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Adafruit/258/?...

    Water Proof Pad Sensors

    Testing the Prototype

    Water Proof Pad Sensors

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