wave tank « The Free-Choice Learning Laboratory at HMSC

Mark and I did some scale-model wave tank testing this afternoon. An initial test presented some hurdles (waves splashing over the far end of the tank, waves rebounding and creating mid-tank chaos, etc.). Mark introduced a novel scale-model component (a scouring pad at the end of the tank) to disperse the wave energy and prevent the waves from bouncing back.

With this humble addition, the model tank performed admirably, providing practical reassurance that the proposed measurements for the final design will demonstrate the relevant concepts without soaking the floors. Any handle, button, lever, knob or switch in an exhibit space must be built to accommodate a range of perceivable affordances. If pulling the lever triggers an interesting result, pulling it ever harder and faster might produce even more interesting results.

This can sometimes put wear and tear on exhibit components, but it’s part of what makes hands-on exhibits fun for learners (and learning researchers, too).

Left to right: Harrison, Bill and Laura discuss wave tank placement and accessibility.

With new tools and exhibits on the way, we’ve had plenty to keep us busy. We’ve come up with a new wave tank layout. We’ve been working with our new Open Exhibits Kinect system. We’ve tested the limits of face-recognition demo software. We’ve laughed. We’ve cried. We’ve waved our arms around in closets.

Mark tries out the Kinect interface from Open Exhibits

For a brief overview of the research camera placement process (boldly undertaken by McKenzie), take a look at this video.

Here’s a great piece by Nina Simon regarding adult participation in interactive experiences. We carry certain cultural assumptions about what adults do in a museum or science center. These assumptions influence our behavior even when they don’t reflect our motivations and interests.

“The common museum knowledge on this issue is that adults are timid, that we have lost some of the wonder, impulsiveness, and active creativity of childhood days. But I don’t think that theory holds up. Major research studies by the NEA and others demonstrate that adults well into their 60s are highly motivated to participate actively with cultural experiences. They’re playing instruments, painting pictures, and cooking gourmet meals in record numbers. They’re going to trivia night. They’re playing video games. It’s possible–likely even–that today’s adults are more motivated by interactive experiences than generations past.”

On a somewhat-related note, we spent some time in the Visitor Center this morning to work on the placement of the wave tanks. Large sheets of butcher paper stood in for the tanks, and I borrowed one of our wheelchairs to get an initial feel for the accessibility of the layout. We should have more pictures of this process soon.

Oregon State University’s beloved research vessel, the R/V Wecoma, will be retiring at the end of March. Her replacement, the R/V Oceanus, is already on its way to Newport from Woods Hole. As of this posting, the Oceanus is South of Jamaica on her way to the Panama Canal. You can follow her progress via webcam and location map here. The image refreshes every 10 minutes.

While you’re on the webcam site, you might want to check out the O.H. Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory webcam. This webcam, refreshed every minute, provides a glimpse into the kind of research we’ll be sharing with the public through our Visitor Center wave tank exhibit.

Some of OSU’s other interesting webcams include the Java II coffee kiosk cam (pixelated for privacy), the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest webcam, the Marys Peak Observatory webcam and, of course, the Hatfield Marine Science Center outdoor webcam.

Here are a couple of models Mark made in SketchUp to show the proposed size and placement of the wave tanks:

Today we met with a consulting engineer to puzzle out the basics of our wave tank. We’ll use the wave tank for two main purposes: modeling tsunami damage and demonstrating wave energy buoys. This means we’ll need to create both breaking waves and swells. This may entail two tanks or a convertible system of some sort.

The wave energy element of the exhibit will use working scale-model wave generators with LED lights to show the output. What better way to demonstrate wave energy than to actually let visitors produce it and see the results? We’ll be able to use this setup to host student design challenges, wherein participants engineer and test their generator arrays for power and efficiency.

We expect visitors (and ourselves) to have a lot of fun with the tsunami modeling aspect of the wave tank. This will feature scale-model buildings and a shore on which waves can break. We’re still exploring the design possibilities. This part of the exhibit will also lend itself to design challenges, as visitors and students will create buildings to test their tsunami resistance.

Tsunami modeling has immediate implications for a town like Newport, which sits right next to an offshore fault. Here at HMSC, we’re at sea level. Regular drills and the presence of emergency supply “bug-out bags” on the walls ensure that everyone here has at least an imagined scenario of what he or she would do in case of a quake. Pat Corcoran is our coastal natural hazards extension agent, and he has lots of info on the subject of “The Big One” and how to prepare.

When the earthquake hit Japan earlier this year, folks on the Oregon coast learned how real this scenario could become. For those of us on the Oregon coast, the local evacuations were a wake-up call. In Japan, the nightmare continues. We imagine great disasters befalling “other people,” but actual disasters tend to remind us that there are no “other people”—only some of “us.” Nobody is immune, and nobody is untouched.

With this unsettling fact in mind, why do we so enjoy the concept of using model waves to smash a miniature coastal town not unlike our own? Back in my own home state of Florida, why do visitors enjoy “Disasterville” at MOSI? Why bring to mind the things that frighten us most? We do so for the same reason we watch horror movies, ride roller coasters or listen to Slayer. That is, as long as we have popcorn to eat, a lap bar to hold us in our seats or a buddy to pull us out of the mosh pit, we can look down upon danger and laugh. We banish the ugly and the frightening to the realm of fiction, if only for a moment. If we learn something useful in the process, all the better.

The Free-Choice Learning Laboratory at HMSC

Informal science education research

Tag Archives: wave tank

Waves and affordances

Making way for new tech

Designing Interactives For Adults (From Museum 2.0)

Oceanus Webcam

Wave tank models

On Waves, Big and Small

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