The Learning Curve

The Learning Curve

Making circus fun accessible for everyone

Together with Woesh (https://woesh.be/), we transformed their juggling board into an immersive experience, fueled by innovation and creative flair. Over the past few weeks, our team embraced the challenge of redesigning Woesh's Juggling Rails, striving to improve and add value. Through multiple iterations and feedback sessions with professors and Woesh, we developed "The Learning Curve", a multifunctional add-on that is fun and accessible for everyone.

Join us as we share this exciting transformation and how you can create and experience the magic of juggling in a whole new way!

Team 14 | Marie Odrich, Saya Malengier Ciocci, Lars Janas

How it works:

Woesh aims to teach elderly people circus tricks with instruction from individuals with disabilities. Their system simplifies juggling movements, making it easier for beginners and the elderly to learn in a fun, single or multiplayer scenario. The difficulty can be gradually increased with add-ons like a curve and ramp.

Using the juggling rails is really easy: depending on the desired difficulty, you can play with a single rail or upto a set of five. Simply take a juggling ball and roll it back and forth over the rails, exercising your wrists and arms. You can play alone or in pairs.

Downloads

export_1718029271457.mov

Supplies

For the stand:

18mm poplar plywood
CNC with Ø3 end mill longer than 18mm
Router with Ø3 bit
Sandpaper

For the ramps:

24mm poplar plywood or 2 x 12mm poplar plywood
CNC with Ø3 end mill longer than 24mm or longer than 12mm
Router with Ø3 bit
Sandpaper
Woodglue and Clamps

For the transport bag:

Sewing machine
Fabric scissors
4 Buttons
Textile
Elastic band

Parts

Ramps

Material: Plywood 24mm

Quantity: A left and right side

The ramp is designed to let the juggling ball roll up and then back down towards the person who rolled it. It consists of two mirrored pieces, creating a left and right half. These pieces are manufactured with a CNC machine and can be produced in a fab lab. The ramp is assembled by sliding the two halves onto a rail and aligning them with each other. However, these two halves are more than just a ramp; they can also be used as a curve, as explained below.

Stand

Material: Plywood 18mm

Quantity: atleast 1

The stand for the juggling rails serves as a tool to connect and level the rails into a single plane or, by removing one of the stands, to create a slope for the ramp or curve. A new feature of this stand is its longer inserts that extend above the juggling rails, allowing for the attachment of add-ons and enabling the creation of the curve mentioned below. This piece is manufactured with a CNC machine and can be produced in a fab lab.

Curve

Material: Plywood 24mm

Quantity: A left and right side and a stand

The curve connects two rails together, causing a 180-degree turn when the ball rolls against it. It is made from the ramps mentioned above, but in this configuration they slide onto a third piece, the stand, using a cutout at the bottom of each half.

Transport Bag

Material: Sheets of fabric (420 cm x 297 cm) x7,

Elastic band (1 cm x 12 cm) x4, Buttons x4

Quantity: at least 1

Last but not least, there is a transport bag that can be attached to the existing playfield base. The bag not only makes transport safer by protecting the add-ons from damage, but it also allows for better organization during (dis-)assembly by providing a dedicated space for each piece of our design.

Making the Stand

1) Use the svg/step files below to make a CNC code fitting the CNC of your choice in the 3D software of your choice. Don't forget to add tabs (min 5 x 3 mm), to keep the pieces in place while milling.

2) Add the 18mm piece of plywood to your CNC and upload the code. We recommend screwing the wood in place so it can't slide while milling. For one full set of The Learning Curve you need to mill out 1 Stand.

3) Carefully cut the tabs, connecting the piece to the big plate, and sand of any residue wood using fine sandpaper (we used sandpaper with grain 600).

4) At this point we recommend you check your piece for any faults and small damages. You can use sandpaper to smooth them out.

5) Use a 3 mm router point to round all the edges (inside and outside) to prevent sharp edges while handling the pieces later.

6) Use two of Woesh's rails to test if it slides on the ends smoothly. If not use sandpaper to adjust the piece.

Downloads

Stand.svg

Stand.step

Making the Ramps Pt 1

Making the ramps is a bit more complicated because it requires 24mm plywood, which we created by gluing two pieces of 12mm plywood (a standard size) together. Depending on the length of the CNC bits available in your workshop, there are two ways to produce the ramps. The first and easiest method is to glue the two 12mm pieces together and then use the CNC machine, reducing extra work. However, if you don't have a long enough bit, you can make each ramp in two parts, as shown below.

1) Use the svg/step files below to make a CNC code fitting the CNC of your choice in the 3D software of your choice. The files for both methods are available. Don't forget to add tabs (min 5 x 3 mm), to keep the pieces in place while milling.

2) Either glue two 12mm pieces together first and then screw the 24mm thick wood onto your CNC OR use the split files below and start by screwing a 12mm thick plate onto your CNC. Once the required wood is screwed in place, start milling.

3) Remove the pieces from the plate and use sand paper to smooth out the tabs and small imperfections. If you used a 24mm plate you can skip to step 7.

Making the Ramps Pt 2

4) Next we will connect the two 12mm pieces using wood glue and dowels (Ø6mm x 10mm). Lay out your pieces and make sure you know which half belongs to which side of the ramp (1A|2A and 1B|2B) with the holes facing upwards.

5) Apply wood glue to the inside of the corresponding halves as well as in the holes and connect them using the dowels. We recommend you do the top piece first before applying glue to the bottom piece.

6) Next put clamps on the pieces to press them together while the glue dries. To avoid leaving marks on the piece you can put some scrap wood wherever the clamps touch.

7) Next, using a router with a 3mm bit, round all the edges (inside and outside). You can also use some sandpaper to further smooth out the part and imperfections.

8) The last step is to test if the ramps connect well to the rails in both the ramp and curve position If they are too tight you can loosen them up with some sandpaper. If too loose, add woodglue.

Downloads

Woesh rails freeswerk 19 borden uit 1 plaat berk.svg

Right Ramp.step

Left Ramp.step

Left_ramp_BOTTOM_layout.svg

Right_ramp_TOP_layout.svg

Right_ramp_BOTTOM_layout.svg

Left_ramp_TOP_layout.svg

Right Ramp.svg

Left Ramp.svg

Making the Bag Pt 1

1) Draw the pattern on your fabric seven times. Since our pattern size (420cmx297cm) corresponds to the size of A3 you can use a piece of paper to draw these rectangles. Cut out all 7 pieces.

2) Take one of the pieces and pin a piece of elastic in each corner the way it is shown in the pictures above. Make sure the loop faces inwards so it will be on the outside when we flip our sewing later.

3) We will now take 6 of the rectangles to create the main panels of the bag. Pin 2 pieces together along the edges with the good side of the fabric facing inwards. Repeat this step two more times.

4) Place the fabric in your sewing machine in a way that the presser foot edge lines up with the edge of your fabric. Leave a gap of 2-3cm at the end of your stitches to easily turn it inside out.

5) Once your panels are turned stitch up the opening and repeat the previous step. This will create a cleaner finish and secure the stitched we hide on the inside.

Making the Bag Pt 1

6) Take the two panels that do not have elastics and pin them together along their corners. Mark the middle of the longest sides and sew in a straight line between them.

7) Next we take our last fabric rectangle, fold it in half along the short side with the good side facing inwards and repeat steps 3-5. This will become our bag lid

8) Pin the lid and the panel with elastics in a way that they overlap along their longest side by 0.5-1cm. Sew them together

9) Pin the two connected panels ontop of the panel with elastics. Repeat step 5 to connect them all. do this step slowly to avoid breaking a needle.

10) Last but not least use a needle and thread to attach a button (we recommend at least 2cm in diameter) to the corners. This needs to be on the front side, the panel that we split with a line down the middle earlier.