I took a class offered through the MIT Museum which has a new objective each semester. The semester I took the course, we were tasked with constructing kinetic sculptures to be put on display at the museum alongside a larger kinetic sculpture display that was in their rotating gallery space. We had lectures from artists including Anne Lilly and Arthur Ganson.

My exhibition was a Sisyphean sculpture which allowed the viewer to roll a large ball up a ramp, but just before reaching the top, it would begin to slip.

The behavior was achieved by using a steel ball on a steel ramp which had strong neodymium magnets underneath along the ball's trajectory. The magnets increased the normal force between the ball and ramp and thereby increasing the friction enough to prevent slipping. Just before the top of the ramp, the trail of magnets ended which allowed the ball to spin freely.

The sculpture was made of a wood subframe wrapped in fabric. The ramp surface was curved steel sheet. The ball was a large steel ornamental ball which was welded to a steel rod. The rod went to a gear box connected to a wood cylinder (a rolling pin) which the user rotated. The gearbox structure was waterjet cut aluminum plate.

Sadly, the sculpture had to be removed after about 3 months on exhibit because steel shavings were being spread by the ball rubbing on the ramp. Creating a piece with heavy user interaction is challenging!

one interesting observation was that the left half of the rolling pin was much more dinged and dented than the right, presumably from visitors' wedding rings. They must've been frustrated!

I was extremely satisfied with the result. When I stopped in the museum after "Slipping" was taken off of display, a museum staff member told me that numerous visitors had asked where "Slipping" went.