01x11 - Blowin' In the Wind

[bunniefuu]

Last time on Design

Squad,the teams faced a

slippery dilemma and had to

build...

A human-powered water system

that will keep our slide wet.

I'm stuck, I'm stuck!

Red Team got in a tight

squeeze.

But Blue Team's seesaw water

pump made a huge splash.

That was awesome!

Natasha is still smooth

sailing at the top of the leader

board for the fifth straight

week.

I definitely think after all

these challenges I've become a

much better engineer.

The insight, the experience,

the fun, you just can't get

this, you know... can't get this

this, you know... can't get this feeling anywhere else.

feeling anywhere else.

♪ We've got two days

to get this straight

♪ Got a challenge

just won't wait

our eyes are on the prize

♪ Two engineers

just set the date

♪ Got this client

can't be late

oh, no, it's go time

♪ Build it, test, fix it

debug now and kick it

♪ Got to get it off the ground

yeah

♪ Stick around and you'll see

what teamwork's supposed to mean

♪ It's so key

Design Squad

Design Squad Design Squad...♪

Design Squad...♪

But is it art?

That's definitely a question

for today's client.

Let's roll the tape.

Hi, design squads.

I'm Nick Capasso.

I'm the curator at the DeCordova

Museum and Sculpture Park in

Lincoln, Massachusetts.

Follow me.

Here at DeCordova we have over

modern and contemporary

outdoor sculptures.

And we're the only sculpture

park in New England.

One of those sculptures is

George Rickey's Three Lines.

This is a kinetic sculpture.

That means it's a sculpture that

moves.

Kinetic sculpture can be powered

either by the wind or by

electricity.

And this sculpture, Three

Lines,is meant to imitate the

motion of blades of grass in a

breeze.

When you arrive at DeCordova,

you can't miss Anthony

Howe's Rooster Rings.

Not only is it the most complex

sculpture we've seen so far, its

forms and motions suggest things

like fans and Ferris wheels and

the cosmos.

Okay, design squads.

Here's your challenge.

I want you to build me a kinetic

sculpture.

And here are the specs.

It has to be driven by the wind,

the moving parts of the

sculpture have to be at least

nine feet high, it has to be

easily affixed to the ground,

you have to design it in such a

way that it's not climbable, and

the materials have to be able to

withstand the elements.

Now, in addition to that, please

remember, you're building an art

work, so I want it to be

beautiful.

I want the motion to be

interesting.

And the winning sculpture will

be installed and unveiled right

here in the DeCordova Sculpture

Museum.

Good luck.

Oh, yeah.

Okay, design squads.

Now, we're shopping at the

Building Materials Resource

Center, which is a nonprofit

organization that takes recycled

building materials and sells

them at a low cost.

Each team has $ to spend.

As usual, you can also use any

materials that you find around

our shop.

Each member of the winning team

will get points.

All right, something special

this week.

In order to help you guys get

inspired for your sculptures,

we're actually going shopping

first.

You guys ready?

Yeah!

Yeah! Let's go.

Let's go.

Let's go. We're going to win this one!

We're going to win this one!

Two bucks.

I like it.

That's cool.

It's a lot different from

other builds.

Usually we have an idea of what

we're doing.

we're doing. I like these.

I like these.

I like these. To the van.

To the van.

I love this challenge.

I personally do not have any

ideas.

It's all right, Tommy.

What do you have?

We could do a school of fish.

Because the way the wind blows

is a lot like the way currents

move things in the water.

Or a storm would be cool.

I personally want to have it

abstract, make people think

about what they're looking at.

So Mike's theme was "Reach

for the stars."

The guy, you know, being

pushed toward the stars type of

thing on this gigantic

thing on this gigantic structure, and just rotates.

structure, and just rotates.

All we have to do is attach

gigantic sheets of metal and

bend them.

Look at the other sculpture.

Something as simple as a blade

of grass inspired an entire

sculpture.

We don't have to go and then

pretty much make a very complex

music box up on top of a nine-

foot pole.

I can see that it's going to

be... I mean, from the moment we

noticed that it was an art

challenge, that it was going to

be pretty difficult.

It's really hard for one artist

just to come up with something,

let alone four artists come up

with one thing.

Everybody's confused, and not a

lot of people know what we

should do about this, or how we

should even go about this.

Let's look for stuff in the

Let's look for stuff in the shop.

shop.

I like the storm idea.

So let's talk about it.

Can we list off elements of the

storm now?

Yeah, I think we should.

Yeah.

What do we want in our storm?

And then I think it would be

really cool if we had a thunder

sound, too.

We can just have something

that...

Creates noise.

A house.

A house with the roof lifting

off.

My favorite is the house with

missing roof, because when I

think of a storm, that's the

first thing that comes to mind.

Our new theme is "The

apocalypse."

"Save me, save me."

You know how when you hula

hoop with a bunch of hula hoops,

and it's like... that's a

tornado.

Yeah.

You guys want to go outside

and get inspiration from the

great outdoors?

Yeah.

This isn't really working so

well.

I'm not an artsy person at all.

So the problem we were having

was just figuring out how we

were going to incorporate

kinetic motion into our storm.

I like the tornado idea.

It can just be, like,

spinning.

Like a big piece of sheet

metal that we cut in spirals?

I don't know how we'd do it.

The more and more everyone

talks about a tornado, the more

I hate it.

I feel like it's restricting us

right now, because we're all

sitting here like, "How can we

make this storm?"

So I don't know.

I'm drawing something that I...

Stop being silent, please.

Come on, brain.

Don't fail me now.

You told me to write my ideas

and my thoughts, and I wrote

down about bacon, because that's

all that's in my mind right now.

Get it out of your mind.

I was just thinking in my

head, like, wind and water.

If we did, like, a school of

fish.

Fish.

Yeah, that, like, swim in the

air, basically.

Just kind of, like, fins, like

gills.

Anything basically in a

roundish shape can make a fish.

We could use fishing line.

You know, fishes, fishing line.

Sounds good to me.

All right, guys, let's go.

Oh, no.

I'm enjoying this.

Let's go.

Come on.

Come on. I want to start building.

I want to start building.

We need to do something.

I think we should just pick

one thing that's really cool and

then just build that.

Do you guys want to start

with the tornado?

Let's just do it.

Playground setup, everybody?

Yeah.

feet tall.

We have some sort of attachment

here.

I have no idea.

Maybe it runs on hopes and

dreams.

Then our spring starts.

Like, inside each other.

An apocalypse, like when the

world gets taken over by

tornadoes completely.

Everyone dies.

That's where I hope this thing

ends, in death.

What is wrong with you?

Is it too late to switch to

Red Team?

I don't like this one,

because the base is prominent,

you know what I mean?

How do we make it so that the

base is the most important part

of the design?

We could put the base inside

the tornado.

We have a contact point right

there.

We're going to have a six-foot

coil of rebar in a conical shape

like a tornado.

And then to make it actually

catch the wind and spin, we're

going to put little wind cups.

Blue Team plans to use wind

cups or vanes to create torque

to spin their sculpture.

Here's how it works.

When wind hits the convex side

of a cup, it slips easily around

the curved surface.

But when wind hits the concave

side, it stops and pushes hard

against the cup surface.

So if Blue Team uses wind cups,

the wind will push hard against

their concave sides, creating a

turning effort, or torque, to

spin their sculpture.

All right.

I like that.

Yeah, let's do it.

Let's make a small model.

I already made one.

You did?

Listen, Tom, I know we

haven't had this idea yet, but I

made a model.

I'm going to attach the fan

blades.

Oh, it spins.

Ah-hah.

There's no bearings in there.

We need fish.

We just orient them in a

position where they look like a

fish.

I see the sea horse.

Oh, these look like

jellyfish.

There we go.

Spins like a charm.

Time's up.

Wrap it up, design squads.

All right, all set.

That'll work.

We're done prototyping.

We're doing prototyping.

We're doing prototyping. All right, let's go.

All right, let's go.

All right, let's go.

Warm up for day two.

You want to do jumping jacks?

Yeah, sure.

You guys know what inside-

outsides are?

One, two.

Inside, outside, outside,

inside.

Three, four.

Inside, outside, outside,

inside.

Five, six...

Oh, you guys...

I think we're sufficiently

warmed.

Oh, it's so heavy.

How's that for a base?

It's moving all the time.

This base is going to sway back

and forth, and it'll look like a

tree.

Well, why can't we use the

rebar?

No, we can use rebar.

Well, why is it a conflict?

We should use rebar.

Because Kim refuses to use

rebar.

It's the one material that we

have in abundance up in the

shop.

All right.

And she just doesn't like the

way it looks.

All right, I'll talk to her.

All right.

We need, like, feet.

This is what we have a lot of.

Let's bring all this in.

I don't like it.

I know, but we don't have a

choice.

I don't like how it looks,

but whatever.

I like this color.

I like what it looks like.

I do like it, too.

It's gritty.

It's gritty.

It's mean.

It's mean. Tornadoes are mean.

Tornadoes are mean.

We have feet right here.

We could call it The Urban

Tornado.

The tornado itself is going

to be six feet tall.

The coil's going to be hard.

I know.

Like, ridiculously hard.

I know.

We can do it.

This is very tedious.

Basically, this right here is

going to be one of the branches

that also catches the wind.

These branches will hold each

little fish that we have.

Hey, guys.

Hi.

Hey.

How are things coming?

Do you guys have a drawing or a

plan or a model of what your

final structure's going to look

like?

Down in the base that we have

we have actually two rotary

brakes that are put up against

each other.

And we were thinking about

taking one of those high-tension

springs that also is in the

shop, and we can connect it down

at the bottom and kind of make

this so that it sways with the

wind...

Okay.

...but also comes back to its

original position, just like

what a tree would do.

This is just a preliminary top

piece here.

All right, I just hung one up

right now.

I can't help but notice that

the model's not quite done yet,

and you guys are still

proceeding on the final design.

What might happen is you guys

have a lot of nice fish that you

made but nothing to hang them

on.

Make sure that you guys are

prioritizing and spending your

prioritizing and spending your time efficiently.

time efficiently.

Watch, watch, watch!

[ crashing]

The mannequin's okay.

I really think we should use

these.

To attach the fan blade to this,

we're going to cut a slit.

We're going to either crimp it

in the vise, or we're going to

drill holes in it and use bolts

to tighten it up.

And it's going to be welded

onto our rebar.

Rebar.

Rebar!

We're just going to tack weld

it instead.

And this is going to make it

And this is going to make it look very pretty.

look very pretty.

You guys, I just had an idea.

Why don't we have, like, a

circular thing that the fish

hang in, and then this, like

moves, it's like a circle, and

that, like, moves?

A sphere cage, basically.

The rest of the tree will

go...

So this whole thing is a ball

So this whole thing is a ball bearing sphere.

bearing sphere.

That's that.

That's cool.

I like it.

Because Kim and I believe

that our sculpture is not

pretty, we made a sign that's

pretty where we can describe our

sculpture here.

All right, let's fill in the

gaps there with epoxy so that it

stands the test of time.

What are you guys doing?

We're making a sign.

A what?

A sign.

For what?

For our exhibit.

We need an exhibit before we

We need an exhibit before we make a sign.

make a sign.

make a sign. Hello?

Hello?

There's been a change in

plan.

We realize now that tangling's

going to be a big issue.

So what we're going to be doing

now is we're going to be putting

in a line just like this and

we're going to have the fish

inside the line.

They still move, but they're not

going to be moving around from

side to side.

They're just going to be

spinning, basically, which will

look cool, and they won't be

tangling each other at all.

So right now I'm just trying to

measure the line, get the fish

on, and hopefully be done with

this.

A sign is not going to win

this contest.

No, I think it's a really

good feature.

Why are you so upset about?

Because our feature... our

entire design is not done yet,

and you guys are making a sign

for it.

Tom and I have been working

on everything.

And we go back in and we try and

tell you guys to do stuff, and

you guys are making a sign.

It needs to be clamped.

There are other things to be

done.

I haven't sat down once today,

not because someone didn't tell

me what to do.

I've been taking the initiative

and doing stuff.

There is stuff to be done.

I know that.

Before we make a sign for our

project.

No, I think the sign's a good

point.

It's a good point to be done

after our project is done.

Look at... that's our project

right now.

Does that look... it looks

fantastic.

It's not done, though.

All right, well then tell me

what needs to be done and I'll

do it.

But you... that's not the

point, Kim.

The point is that for the past

hour or so you guys have been

making...

What do you want to do about

the past hour now that it was

the past hour?

I want you to not do that

again.

All right, fine.

She just said tell her what

to do, and you say, "For the

past hour."

Who cares about the past hour?

I do, Kim.

Okay, I'm not Kim.

She's Kim.

But, okay, fine.

We're not doing it anymore.

Tell us what to do right now,

and the past hour will be cured.

and the past hour will be cured. It won't be.

It won't be.

They're fighting over there,

so I'm going to take this while

they're busy chitchatting.

I understand you're

aggravated, and I respect that

you're aggravated.

Just tell me what to do.

I have no idea what's going on

in this project, and I could

care less.

You could care less?

That's exactly what this is

about.

You could care less.

This is our challenge.

This is Blue Team's challenge.

Right.

I don't care whether you like

this challenge or not.

Get your crap together and help

out.

I'm telling you to tell me

what to do and you're talking

about my act and how I don't

care.

I already know that.

You're not telling me anything

new.

Tell me something new so I can

do it.

Just act like you care.

Just act like you care.

Okay, fine.

I act like I care.

Now can you tell me what to do

so I can act like I care?

Clamp these down so they're

in an oval.

Fine.

Do it so that it...

Let's get these stretched out

once they get on so it doesn't

once they get on so it doesn't matter what incline it's at.

matter what incline it's at.

Uh-oh.

I think you've giving them

too much leadership role in the

whole thing.

So basically what these are

for are on the circle, this is

where the rebar is going to be

basically going.

And on each circle, on each side

of the circle, which are four of

these, we're going to have wings

so that at the slightest breeze

our sculpture will start to

our sculpture will start to move.

move.

What I'm now going to do is weld

the vane onto the globe so that

the wind can catch it.

From this groove up in here, the

point is going to come in, and

the entire tornado's connected

to that.

So the whole tornado rotates

around this bar at that point up

here.

This is the hook that we're

using to spin our tornado on.

And I have to make a point

And I have to make a point there.

there.

So right now I am about to

weld these two pieces of rebar

together.

together. It's the top of our tornado.

It's the top of our tornado.

Good one.

That's awesome.

What I'm doing is trying to

orient these as our legs here so

that we can secure them to this

piece of metal right here.

This one's a little shorter than

that one.

that one. Shave this down.

Shave this down.

All right, it comes down a

little bit.

That's not bad.

Does it spin on that point?

It's not going to spin like

that.

I think that's... I like it.

I like it on the tilt like that.

That's pretty cool.

I just want to give you an

update.

What's going on is the base that

we originally had for the

design, we cut out those two-

foot sections for us to, you

know, fit onto... you know, to

kind of hold it down.

But stability-wise, the wind

that's going to be blowing on

this and tilting, it would

definitely fall over.

So we're trying to find another

way.

We'll get to that, because we

need to get it.

I think the guys have really

just been slacking off right

about now.

They're telling me with

minutes left that they think the

thing's going to topple over.

I mean, they were just watching

the Johnson saw, like, just go

down.

And I was like, "You don't need

two people to watch the

saw."

So, I mean, I'm just really

frustrated right now.

This is one of the first times

I've ever been really worried

that we're not going to finish.

Is that how it's going to

look like?

Yeah.

Just making our rod look

demented, but hey, that's the

look we're going for.

Ah, it works, so let's do it.

I'm going to start attaching

fan blades.

We're shy nine inches.

I don't think the criteria's

I don't think the criteria's going to be that strict on us.

going to be that strict on us.

That's it.

You're out of time.

You're out of time. Put your tools down.

Put your tools down.

Hey, design squads.

Welcome to the DeCordova

Sculpture Park.

And this is Red Team.

Basically our structure can

actually move in three places.

Okay.

The fish themselves on the

lines can move, so at the

slightest breeze...

Moving in the breeze.

Yep.

And when the wind picks up, not

only does the globe actually

spin, but it can also move from

side to side on the pole.

Sway.

Can you show me how that

works?

Sure.

Inside the cylinder there's a

spring.

Right, okay.

And right now, if the wind...

Not only is it a sculpture,

it's a musical instrument.

Yeah.

Radial motion.

Because there's no wind right

now...

This is not a good day for

kinetic sculpture.

There's no wind.

Okay.

There you go.

See?

That's... that's a lot of

motion.

Yep.

One of the criteria was that

the moving elements had to be

nine feet off the ground.

I was out here earlier with my

measuring tape, and I found out

that indeed the moving elements

up there are nine feet off the

ground, but this is not.

This is not nine feet off the

ground, and it moves right down

in there.

See that?

The reason that I wanted

everything nine feet off the

ground was for the safety of the

sculpture and the safety of the

visitors.

What happens if I put my finger

in here and the wind comes up?

Bye-bye, finger.

This is very dangerous.

So this is a real red flag here.

How do you feel about their

artistic design?

The whole idea of creating

this kind of conceptual sphere

with the two pieces of rebar and

then filling it with these found

object fish forms across two

planes and calling it an

aquarium really works.

You want us to weld that

down?

All right, Nick, are you

ready to check out the Blue

Team's sculpture?

Yeah, let's take a look.

Let's see Urban Tornado.

Okay, why is it the urban

tornado?

It's got sort of a grunge

look to it.

Uh-huh.

And storms aren't pretty.

And although most urban

settings are quite beautiful,

there are parts of it that are

just, you know, very gritty.

And that's part of the beauty of

an urban setting, is the grit.

So how about the movement of

your tornado?

There's no wind today.

Somebody has to show me how your

tornado turns.

We put wind cups on, made

it...

There's of them?

.

Uh-huh.

Made of sheet metal, with arms

to increase the mechanical

advantage of spinning this

around its axis.

Also, like, the actual metal

of it kind of vibrates a little

bit and shakes a little bit back

and forth to make it look more

like a tornado.

It adds a little twisting.

Okay, one of the things...

It's spinning right now.

There it goes.

Oh, it's going.

One of the things... now

we've got a little gust

happening there.

Awesome.

It works.

And just to be fair, I

measured your moving element,

and it's eight feet, two inches.

But I can reach up here, and my

fingers are not going to get

caught, and I'm six feet tall,

so the only people we have to

worry about are basketball

players.

It's very simple and elegant,

and everything looks

intentional.

The materials work not only on

an engineering level.

It evokes something urban.

It expresses an urban

sensibility.

So the winner of this design

challenge is the Blue Team.

Yes!

Congratulations.

points to each member of

blue.

And the ultimate prize is

that your sculpture is going to

stay here on display at

DeCordova.

The Red Team, too, you guys

came very far in your designing,

came very far in your designing, and we're so proud.

and we're so proud.

Captioned by

Media Access Group at WGBH

Media Access Group at WGBH access.wgbh.org

access.wgbh.org

With only two challenges

left, Natasha still hangs onto

the lead.

But the real race is for second

place, with only ten points

separating Noah and Mike.

All right, Deanne, here's a new

challenge: describe the Design

SquadWeb site in ten seconds.

Go.

There are games, photos, new

challenges, videos, quizzes,

scoring updates...

Time's up.

Ugh!

Ugh! Just go to pbskidsgo.org.

Just go to pbskidsgo.org.

My name is Jennifer Natiama.

I'm a civil engineer, and I have

the greatest job working here at

Sea World, San Diego.

This is the exhibit for the

Humboldt Penguins to be

relocated to.

The Humboldt Penguins are a

small penguin bird variety.

They actually come from South

America, and they are used to

warmer climates.

Right now this is housing sea

lions.

As a project manager, I work on

the design with the animal

caretakers to make sure that

this really is going to be a

habitat that the penguins accept

as their real-life home.

What would you recommend we

design into the rockwork?

It can't be anything that's

abrasive, because it will damage

their feet.

It would have to most simulate

rocks that the birds would

naturally be climbing on, but

also have to be easy to clean.

In my day-to-day job I look

at plans, then make sure that

everything's being built to that

engineering design.

If you enjoy math and science

and you like seeing things

built, civil engineering is the

built, civil engineering is the road for you.