EPISODE III
stepping on air
in my first year at hku we were given the assignment to make a staircase, the staircase had to meet four specific requirements :
1. a minimum of three steps
2. at least one meter in height
3. handle a weight of 90kg
4. impossible to use alone, at least one other person is needed to be able to use the stairs
i had the idea of using air pressure to move the different steps up and down, after some research i decided to make a wooden frame that holds the three steps together with a rubber bag inside in the shape of the stairs
this was not going to be an easy task, i tested different types of glue and made a felt bag that comes around the rubber bag so it could expand less, after days and days of gluing and clamping all the rubber patches, i came to the realization that the rubber bag was not watertight and therefore not airtight, i tried to reinforce the seams extra, used rubber spray, duct tape, ... but air kept escaping
my staircase never functioned completely and when i tried again a few weeks later, the glue had already come off in many places so i decided to leave it at that