Convergence/ Long Beach, CA

Again a long time has passed without postings.. However, we have not been idle!

We decided to bring 4 TC2s to Convergence at Long Beach,CA (www.weavespindye.org),  this July, and these looms needed to be warped, threaded and woven on first! We actually had a total of 36 modules to thread, which is not done in a hurry!!! I got a whole team of colleagues & friends to help: First came the Danish Stine for 4 days. She made several  warps and started to thread one loom. Then came Katja Huhmarkangas from Finland for a week; She threaded a couple of looms in no time, and overlapped with Aino-Maria (also from Finland), who stayed for 4 days. Aino-Maria  spent her vacation to come! In addition to these weavers, I got help from 2 girls in Tronrud Engineering, plus an engineering student working here for the summer!
Because of trouble with the yarn order, I also got a friend to bring in suitable warp materials (thank you, Anne!) and others who helped tracking down people with equipment I needed to borrow!

In addition to the people who came to assist in preparing the looms, we had Stacey Harvey-Brown (www.theloomroom.co.uk)   from the UK for a couple of days: She tried out the TC2s and gave valuable feedback on their performance! Stacey had barely left before two Dutch weavers came to see the looms! A few days after that, two Indians came for the same reason!
 It is very inspiring that people queue up to see the TC2 looms!

One of the looms we decided to prepare has 12 modules in the depth, i.e. 72 ens per cm or 180 epi. The warp has 2640 warp ends in total. The Threading of this loom was a learning experience!
Katja developed a list of things that helped getting the job done: Most important was an expired credit card (!) because of it's hard plastic. We also used a few soldering rods, a corrugated paper plate, 2  luggage rubber bands with hooks, one metal rod, a few strings etc....
A more detaled list may be issued later  ;-)
Here is the threading almost done!

And here is a rhino woven from a drawing by Albrect Dürer, early 16th century!

Thanks to Katja, we also set up a Facbook page for the TC2 during the 'Loom Camp!'

Search for TC2 and TC1 or go to   http://www.facebook.com/ThreadControllerDWN

And - please let us know if you like it!

Vibeke

Good things come to those who wait...

 

It has been a long period without blog updates about the TC2, but we have not been idle! 

We have tested/modified both the loom, the software and the user interface!

Some of the recent tests were about how the loom's performance was affected by dry / humid air at different temperatures: We even built a test room - approximately 100 m3 - so that we could change humidty and temperature more efficiently!  Humidifyer on the table in the forground...

Bjørn, R&D engineer, checks foot pedal input /automatic warp advancing/warp tension control. 

Arna, textile artist, waits to continue weaving. 

It is the big loom frame (for max 4 modules in the width = 145cm / 56" weaving width) and equipped with 12 modules and 2 warp beams. Present configuration is 3 modules wide and 4 deep. Only the 4 modules in the centre are threaded.

The loom is soon to be delivered, so we play arond with it as much as we can!

Next is to check the performance of the automatic advancing and tension control for the two warp beams and the fabric beam!  We use two different warp materials on two different warp beams...

Line Position

We are getting closer to the TC2 launch! We will start out producing small batches, in case we discover that we need to make a modification or two:

Instead of having to make a modification on for example 20 looms, we can get away with just a few. Next production batch will then have the modifications implemented. The downside of this plan is that delivery times will increase.
We will therefore encourage people to sign up for a ‘line position’.

This is not a binding commitment or an order. But if you consider it likely that you will order a TC2 when it becomes available, it could easily become a long wait! Your feedback will help us to decide for the initial production batch sizes as well as the delivery order.
(In the aviation industry, line positions have been traded like tickets for rock concerts!)

Email feedback to: Digital Weaving Norway

At this point we do not have prices carved in stone! We will offer the first looms at a somewhat lower cost than the future ones (it should pay off to be an early bird!) A TC2 with max weaving width 28" / 72 cm and 4 modules will cost around 60 % of the TC-1 cost. Looms with more modules seem to end up costing around 50 % of the TC-1s.

We will of course monitor the first TC2 looms closely, both regarding installation and support. Our long term aim is to sell TC2 looms without personal instruction and training, because an instruction DVD will cover the entire process.

To summarize: If you secure a line position, it will guarantee an early delivery!

TC2 progress

It has been a long period when I have not updated you on the TC2: Most of the recent work has been related to electronics, hardware and software. It is not a simple job to share this with you because pictures just show electronics and cords, no ‘action’. There is also no simple way to explain verbally what is going on because the processes are far too complex and complicated.
It is a bit like showing pictures of a computer – hoping that you will understand it's potential.

It is difficult to explain my excitement to outsiders, when I for example click on ‘Connect’ in the Loom Controller: After a second or so, the following word appears in the lower right corner of the screen: Connected! It is just a little word on the screen, but it is the visualization of the wireless connection between the computer and the loom!

When testing electronics, nothing MOVES like it does in mechanics. The only visible signs of response can be readings from a voltmeter, or small red or green light diodes lighting up (if programmed to do so). It is therefore a job that only experts can do, and we are lucky to have this expertise in the company!
The wireless connection between the computer and the loom constituted an important milestone! Earlier I have woven a design off the computer pick by pick, but now we may also view and edit the actual loom settings wirelessly! I can sit in my own office and communicate wirelessly with the loom electronics located in another office on another floor in the building! Since every loom has it’s own IP-address, we will provide customer support from Norway, including the possibility to check the customer’s loom settings, design parameters and possible error messages.

I can now play around with configuration alternatives such as 3 modules wide and 12 modules deep (= 36 modules in all). Then I can swap to defining a variable warp density, for example 10 deep + 12 deep + 12 deep + 10 deep= 44 modules (= 9680 warp ends totally). I may then load a suitable design and start weaving!

Despite the fact that we are somewhat behind schedule, we have actually already sold a couple of TC2 looms! It is a testimony of confidence that we are very proud of!

Once we start producing the TC2s, we will start out with small batches. This will lead to long delivery times, so that those who want to be on a waiting list, should let us know!

See separate posting about Line position!

First weaving!

The little video glimpse of actual weaving is a breakthrough!  The warp advancing and backing feature is not implemented, but it will happen any day now!!!! We used 6 modules (1320 warp ends) @ 18 ends per cm/ 45 epi and 2 shuttles, approximately 40 picks per cm/ 100 ppi.
Testing of components still run around the clock: The shed opening mechanism yesterday passed 200 000 cycles. If calculating 10 picks pr cm, it corresponds to 400 meters of weaving.
How many meters do you weave per year ?

More soon,
Vibeke

Electronics & Software

Some time ago we received the first batch of coil cards for the TC2 loom: Once the first card was hooked up to a computer, it was checked through a number of tests.

The test design was to lift one single heddle, the same one for each new shed. Remember: The communication is WIRELESS! Magic!!!
We waited in deep consentration to see if  the heddle would respond. It not only did,  we could actually HEAR the valve closing with a barely audible little click! I tried to tape the sound, but the noice cancelleation removed it! 

Once the cards were OK'ed, the software could be developed a few steps further: When a file is ready to weave, it initially contains 2 colors (for example red + white) to describe the lifted or lowered WARP ends. In order to check that your weft colors are assigned to the correct picks, it can be useful to add colors to the point paper design: Now Loom Control can open such muli-colored files!

Another piece of good news is that the Loom Control program can run under Linux!

The TC2 may actually also be controlled from  an IPAD (or similar) - but it will have to wait until the fall. How cool  would it be to have the Ipad on the front of the TC2, at eye-level!

TC-2 DEVELOPMENT

In this blog I will not spend time on technical details! My main point is to share with you the exciting experience it has been to be part of the development of the TC-2!
Here are some of the improvements we have accomplished so far:

• Increased warp density: The new TC-2 will be able to accomodate 12 modules in the depth = 72 ends per cm ~ 182 epi.
• Increased total number of warp ends: The total number of modules in the loom will be 44, corresponding to 9680 warp ends!
• Variable Warp Density: The TC-2 will be able to handle a variable warp density!
• Pick density control: The TC-2 has a motorized warp advancing / reversing allowing full control of the pick density
• The user interface will be more flexible and intuitive

16 years of production and customer feedback left us with a relatively long list of items to improve/change! The more we studied the TC-1, the more potential we saw for improvements! This was not surprising: The TC-1 went into production as early as 1995. Some of the components and solutions were even selected a couple of years before this, so 18 years ago!  

Before starting on the TC-2 development, a detailed analysis of the present loom was carried out: This was partly because we did not have exact information about the TC-1 performance! Initially, when we developed the TC-1, we had limited access to sophisticated measuring and logging equipment, or today's state-of-the art CNC multi-axis tooling machinery: Several decisions had to be made based on trial and error. It took weeks and weeks to compare components and select the ones that seemed to perform best.

The following photos show some of the analyzing that had to be done before we could make specifications for the operation of the valves.

In order to log various functions, all sorts of gadgets had to be attached to the TC-1!

The video shows a highspeed camera filming the actual opening/closing of a TC-1 valve (controlling whether a heddle is to be lifted or remain down). The core moves a couple of millimeters, and it lasts for a few milliseconds. I.e. not much of an "action" movie. 

TESTS

Tests running 24/7:

For some time now, Ole Christian has been running performance tests on new components.
Thanks to sensors and logging software, the tests run around the clock, workdays and weekends!  






















Right now we have one valve that has performed flawlessly for more than 2 million cycles: Translated into weaving, it corresponds to almost 4 million picks of tabby. If you weave 10 picks per cm, it corresponds to 2000 meters (~ 1 ¼ mile).

If you weave 10 picks per minute, it corresponds to roughly 3 300 hours.   On average, the hour counter in the control cabinets for the TC-1 shows an annual average of  300 hours  ~ 11 years of weaving!

A web camera has been pointed towards the test bench, so that all the team members can log on whenever they want, and observe the ongoing tests. In a few weeks I’ll let you know how much "weaving" has accomplished!

Anders is running some tests for the warp advancing mechanism, based on different warp tensions. We want the loom to be able to increase and decrease the warp tension, and it should be able to wind the woven fabric off the fabric beam or the warp off the warp beam. These operations will require more force if the loom has many modules (=many warp ends) and if you want a high tension warp.   The tests have been going on for several weeks to see what parts will wear out first, and in what ways. The purpose is to identify possible design flaws BEFORE starting fullscale production!

Bjørn Haavard has developed a new manifold for the pneumatics.  Up till recently we used a manifold assembled from 96 parts. The new manifold consists of 3 parts, and it performs BETTER than the old one! The new manifold is furthermore designed to fit inside the left or right side compartment of the TC-2 loom!  A pity that it will not be visible!

Bjørn L on the electronics:

The biggest news is that the modules will have a WIRELESS connection to the loom!

Here from testing of antennas and elecronics:

Jan writes the software, and says that it is beginning to "talk to" the electronics!

Rune (right) and Eivind (left) discussing.

Isn't it AMAZING that so many highly skilled people put their minds into developing a new TC-loom!