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LIVING MOTION
NuVu Design Sprint
SPRINT BRIEF
You will pick a creature and study how it moves. Then, you will design and build a cardboard robot that copies the creature’s special movement. At the end of the sprint, we will have a Creature Motion Theater.
You will work together to perform with your robots, turning the classroom into a lively habitat full of moving, playful creatures.
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WHAT WE ARE DOING
WHY WE ARE DOING IT
You will learn about creatures and recreate their movements using prototyping techniques combined with electronics
To learn how nature inspires design. By studying how creatures move, you'll explore how we can use those motions to create clever, bio-inspired inventions.
Final Project Expectations
Your design should be inspired by a creature and reflect how it moves in the real world. It will mimic the creature’s unique motion, such as walking, crawling, flying, swimming, or bending.
Your prototype must include moving parts that can be activated manually or electronically to bring your creature to life for the Creature Motion Theater.
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Studio Skills
Collaboration
Concept Development
Lo-Fi Prototyping
Science
Mechanical Movements
Interactivity
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The design process will include these steps:
Lo-Fi Prototyping
Precedent Research & Sketching Concept
A good example of signals are "the launch of chatGPT" or "the fall of the iconic tunnel tree redwood" and good examples of drivers would be "artificial intelligence" or "climate change"
Then, identify signals (glimpses of the future we already see today) and drivers (what made the signal possible)
1
2
90 mins
120 mins
Analyze one creature that interests you! Sketch its movement in three frames, then design a second sketch showing how you'd recreate that movement using paper prototyping
Bring your prototype sketch to life by building a cardboard model that recreates your sea creature’s movement using simple materials and mechanisms.
SPRINT STEPS
Week 2
3
High Fi Prototyping
4
120 mins
Get feedback and improve or do a second model that you could wear
Documentation
15 mins
Take a video of your puppet in motion and turn it into a gif
5
Puppet Showcase
15 mins
Showcase your project in a fun and engaging performance.
Week 2-4
Week 7
Week 4-5
Student Example
Student Example
A precedent is a real-world example or project that you can research to better understand ideas related to your work.
As part of your process, research one creature and analyze how it moves. Focus on how its movement works, what features help it survive, and what makes it an interesting subject to study.
Precedent Research
1.
ACTIVITY MATERIALS
Week 2
Week 11
Pencil
Colored Markers
Laptop/Ipad
Printed Template
Template
You will find all templates under the post, click on each file. You have 2 files in total, one for research and one for the diagrams
Precedent Research
As a group of 3 to 4:
Go to the toolbox folder and you will find a library of various ocean creatures.
Select 1 creature you would like to dive deep into. Then, answer the following questions on a sheet of paper:
1.1
Yes, you can choose a sea creature/organism that is not in the library, but it has to be able to move!
Sketching in design thinking is a quick and visual way to explore, communicate, and develop ideas. It helps designers think through problems, test concepts, and share their thoughts with others—without needing polished drawings. Sketches can be rough, but they’re powerful tools for brainstorming, prototyping, and collaboration.
Sketch how your creature moves by breaking the motion to show how it shifts, bends, flaps, or glides through water. This will help you could recreate that movement using materials.
Sketching Concept
1.2
MATERIALS
Template
Sketching Concept
A. Drawing of Movement
Sketch how your sea creature moves by capturing the key changes in its motion across three frames. Focus on showing how the body shifts, bends, flaps, or glides through the water.
2.
~15 mins
Sketching Concept
B. Prototype Sketch
Now think about how you could recreate that movement using materials.
Create a second sketch that shows the parts and components you'd need to bring your creature’s motion to life through prototyping.
Label key elements such as joints, linkages, flexible materials, or any mechanisms you imagine using.
2.
~15 mins
How to Diagram
Prototyping is the process of turning your sketches and ideas into physical models that you can test and improve. It starts with drawing your concept, then building simple versions using materials to explore how it moves or works. Prototyping helps you test mechanisms (how parts move or connect) and kinetics (how motion happens), so you can find what works and what needs fixing.
CARDBOARD TECHNIQUES: SHAPING
Bending
Scoring
Curving
Faceting
Layering
Hinging
CARDBOARD TECHNIQUES: JOINERY
Brads
Flanges
Brace
Skewer
Bend
Hinge
Slots
Butt Joint
CARDBOARD TECHNIQUES: Mechanism
Scissor lift
Grabbing
Waving
Tentacle
Curving
Fanning
Type to recreate your creature as a cardboard model, replicating it's shape and movement
Model Making
2
ACTIVITY MATERIALS
Cardboard
Colored Acetate
Bristol Papers
Zip-ties
Straws
Metal Ruler
Pencil
Markers
Cutting Blade
Masking Tape
Hot Glue Gun
String
Brads
Popsicles and wooden skewers
Model Making
2.
You will first select choose 1-2 mechanisms that your deep sea bot would use to move. Then you will recreate the mechanisms using lo-fi materials.
For example
*Ensure that the structure does not exactly resemble your chosen deep-sea creature. For example, if your deep sea bot is inspired by a sea plankton, don't create a plankton, but rather, recreate its movement.*
Model Making
Find all the resources for basic prototyping techniques and mechanisms in the toolbox!
Model Making
Examples
Model Making
Examples
Model Making
Examples
Model Making
Examples
Model Making
Examples
Model Making
Examples
Desk Critiques
Group Feedback
Kinds of Feedback
There are three forms of feedback. Understanding these can help us understand the conversations we have with our teams and improve our own ability to react to and use feedback to strengthen our designs.
Reaction-Based
Feedback
Direction-Based
Feedback
Question-based Feedback
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Feedback time!
Teachers are going to move around the class and give feedback to each group!
Make sure you have your research, sketches, and prototype.
High Fi Prototyping (optional)
4.
From the feedback you got work on you model to improve it or make a second one that you could possibly wear!
ATTACHMENT LOCATION
Consider all possible locations and methods of attachment for your wearable enhancement.
Refer to the toolbox to learn different sketching techniques. You will draw many iterations of your design, exploring different ways your concept could look and function. In each sketch, combine the technologies, materials, and design elements you selected, and think about how they work together to express who you are.
Don’t aim for a perfect drawing—this is about experimenting, testing ideas, and refining your thinking. Each sketch should help you learn something new about your design and move it forward.
Think on how one mechanism could become part of a wearable
Document your work!
4.
Record a video of your project moving and turn it into a gif.
Photo of Project
+ Student Name
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2
3
First Prototype (testing)
Concept Idea
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Sketch
4
Final prototype Video
Canva Template for presentation
Puppets Showcase
5.
As a class, bring all your projects together and create a collective performance where you display one wall to showcase your interactive sea creatures in action.
You will choose a creature and study how it moves. You will then design and build a cardboard robot that mimics the creature’s unique motion. The sprint will culminate in a fun and collaborative Creature Motion Theater, where you will bring your creations to life in a group performance, turning the classroom into a lively habitat full of dynamic and mesmerizing movement.
