Robotic Art Studio



These are some pictures of our project for Robotic Art Studio. This class basically consisted of a final project, due at the end of the semester. Being an art class, there was a lot of freedom to build whatever seemed neat. One group made a big thing that looked like mold hanging from an air conditioner, and it pulsated. Another group made a robot that was designed to write offensive messages on the sidewalk, while being remotely operated, so the operators could practice civil disobedience without the danger of being caught. Our project was an interactive fountain, with a moving spout of water. It had several motion detectors around it, and responded to motion with spout movement. I enjoyed this class, because building stuff is fun. The other people in the group are Paul Constantinides, Scott Hansma, and Amy Marino. Scott and Paul were mainly responsible for the electronics and software, and Amy was in charge of artistic/aesthetic things. My main job was making the spout move in X and Y axes. Everyone shared in the construction of the fountain base.

Here is our fountain in it's first stage of development - a bowl.




This is the beginnings of the stand that holds the bowl, and makes the basic shape of our fountain.




This is the fountain in the Fine Arts building, before it was completely finished. We didn't put the metal rings on until the very end, because they restrict access so much, it's nearly impossible to work on the electronics.




Here's a closeup of the spout mechanism - there are two servos underneath the bowl, moving the pushrods. The pushrods move the spout, which can move in any combination of x-y, including circular motion. There is also a solonoid that can turn the water on and off rapidly. The motion control is accomplished with a small onboard computer, indepently controlling each servo. There are six patterns of motion, from simple back and forth to more complex series of motion ranges. The more otion sensed by the external motion sensors, the more rapidly the computer switches between patterns of motion for the servos, and the more jerky it is. If there is no motion detected, the spout stays still. If the servos move back and forth in certain phases, th spout moves in circular or oval motion, and it looks really cool.




Here's the finished product, at 4 AM in a not-very-well-lit hall.




It was quite interesting to watch as people walked in the door and saw the fountain. Usually, they glanced at it, and saw a fountain with a stream of water coming out of the top at a slight angle off of vertical. They walked as if they would go past it. Then, as they got near, the fountain would start moving a little, then more as they got closer, and they would stop, and look at it for a while. The fountain would no longer sense motion, and would stop moving after a few seconds. They would become disinterested, and turn to leave. The fountain would start moving again. They'd stop, look at it, it would stop. Usually, they move arms, and it goes again. Then they look around, look under the bands, etc. It's kind of fun to watch people do this.