[SanctuaryMemory]

Hey everyone, I'm a cosplayer, and although I've been delving into playing around with resin casting and adding LEDs to my costumes, I just recently thought of something I want to try on one of my upcoming projects. I couldn't find anything on that topic, but I figured it must be possible when I ran across this forum, so I figured I would ask you guys.

Is it possible to take a faux flower, of silk or other fabric and get it to move/bloom? How would I go about doing this? Is there some kind of motorizing effect for this, and has anyone done this before?

Thanks guys!

[Schrödinger's hat]

SanctuaryMemory, on 10 October 2011 - 03:05 AM, said:

Hey everyone, I'm a cosplayer, and although I've been delving into playing around with resin casting and adding LEDs to my costumes, I just recently thought of something I want to try on one of my upcoming projects. I couldn't find anything on that topic, but I figured it must be possible when I ran across this forum, so I figured I would ask you guys.

Is it possible to take a faux flower, of silk or other fabric and get it to move/bloom? How would I go about doing this? Is there some kind of motorizing effect for this, and has anyone done this before?

Thanks guys!

Shape memory alloy actuators or muscle wire sound like the way to go. You can get it from robotics/rc supply places. I don't know of a specific supplier to recommend, but google returns a lot if you search for either of those terms.
It bends when a current is put through it. You could glue it to the back of the flower and cause it to open/close.

Control shouldn't be too bad. Just lead some wire to your pocket with a battery pack and a switch.

It will probably drain power whilst active, so glue it together in the shape you want the flowers to be in most of the time.

[imatfaal]

For a one off bloom through the day - ie start the day tightly closed and slowly open up over the course of a few hours per the real thing. You could experiment with wet/dry origami - folded and creased paper will tend to unfold as small amounts of water move through it.

If I was doing this I would do it purely mechanically. Anchor petals to a disk and to a point of a stem passing through the centre of the disk. When the anchor point is far from the disk the petals will be forced to be almost parallel to the stem, but when the point is allowed to move closer to the disk the angle will allow the petals to spread. It would be a very fiddley build but by no means impossible

[Schrödinger's hat]

imatfaal, on 11 October 2011 - 11:54 AM, said:

For a one off bloom through the day - ie start the day tightly closed and slowly open up over the course of a few hours per the real thing. You could experiment with wet/dry origami - folded and creased paper will tend to unfold as small amounts of water move through it.

If I was doing this I would do it purely mechanically. Anchor petals to a disk and to a point of a stem passing through the centre of the disk. When the anchor point is far from the disk the petals will be forced to be almost parallel to the stem, but when the point is allowed to move closer to the disk the angle will allow the petals to spread. It would be a very fiddley build but by no means impossible

Come to think of it, mechanical is a much easier way of doing it.
If you wanted them to move at will, just mount them so they are somewhat springy, with a collar which will cause them to contract
then attach the ends of the petals to a central point
you could then attach a bycicle break cable or something similar, and move the other end of it in your pocket or similar when you wanted them to move

[SanctuaryMemory]

These are all really awesome ideas, guys! Thanks. I'm definitely making a bunch of flowers out of satin lining, and I'm also store bought flowers. The fifth image on the top row is what exactly I am making: http://www.fantasyan...gaart-other.htm so I'm not looking to move ALL of the roses, just a couple - especially the giant one on her hip, so having something that is relatively easy to do (for someone who doesn't understand a lot of science fundamentals and technicalities), and can hide the way the rose moves a good bit - at least from far off since it'll be used primarily for stage use, would be the best.