Nicole Kirk

Timed by Water

A tower of acrylic ramps, rope and water that carries a ping-pong ball through thirty seconds.

QMUL · Group work · 2025

The brief

Your solution must incorporate water, via mechanisms, directly or indirectly to move a ping-pong ball to clearly indicate a 30-second time lapse.

Group Work
Render of a black ramp frame with three angled deflectors and a yellow ball at the top.

One ball, thirty seconds.

The run

  1. Pencil sketch of two bottles joined by a tube: a siphon and a pump to start the water.

    On / Off lever

    • Pump system to start + control the flow of water
    • Using gravity + atmospheric pressure to act as a siphon
    • Non-electrical water pump
  2. Water being poured from a tub into a clear test rig on a stand.

    Testing the flow

    Pouring water into an early test rig.

  3. Pen drawing of a spider’s web.

    A spider’s web

    The drawing the centre of the tower grew from.

  4. Looking down into the tower: rope knotted across a white ring like a web, holding clear acrylic ramps.

    Rope centre piece

    • Acrylic ramps held with no adhesive, just rope.
  5. Close-up of a clear acrylic ramp with wooden deflectors and yellow tape, a ping-pong ball rolling down it.

    Zig-zag ramps

    • Longer zigzag path increases distance of travel
    • Angled deflectors to guide the ball + water
    • Frequent changes in direction = ball can’t accelerate
  6. Sketches of a bucket with a bell hanging inside it, and of a ramp with angled deflectors and a ball.

    Catch bucket

    • Water collected in catch bucket
    • Ping-pong to land on top of bell at 30 sec
    • Distinct bells to sound alarm

The tower

The finished tower: a white wire frame with rope strung through it, clear acrylic ramps wrapped in yellow tape, a bottle and hose at the top, standing in a black tray.

Rope, no adhesive.

Acrylic ramps.

The tower part-built in the workshop, ramps clipped into the wire frame.
Going up
The four team members in workshop aprons, standing beside the finished tower.

Team

  • Dinusha Aravinthan
  • Leonie Faulkner
  • Nicole Kirk
  • Yasar Syed