Site hosted by Angelfire.com: Build your free website today!
IDEAS FOR
ROBOTS		 Here I will be listing all the ideas I have been thinking about for robot art projects. If you find any of these ideas particularly of interest, please let me know. And remember, everything is possible

TALKING TO
THE DEAD

 

8/1/00

 

I'd like to try to animate a human spinal cord...the kind you see at chiropractor's offices. The base of the scull might hold a video camera. A group of these strange-looking backbones facing each other and in motion, may be a very bizarre sight, especially if they appear to be in conversation.

 

VIRTUAL REALITY
BLIMP

 

7/1/00

 

We plan to build a 24' long by 6' diameter blimp using K'Nex construction kits. The blimp will be controlled remotely via a radio-control system. The blimp will be installed with two small video cameras with a wireless connection to a virtual reality headset. The pan and pitch of the cameras can be controlled by the tilting of the head.

 

Click images to enlarge.

BACKHOE ANT

6/15/00

 

A giant ant could be built by mounting six backhoes together on a specially-made chasse. A simple Lego Computer Brick could be programmed to operate the backhoes in such a way that the entire sculpture could walk like an ant. (Budget $10,000) This might seem difficult, but it's all doable and fairly easily. I could see this sponsored by the Lego Company or John Deer.

 
WATER SPIDERS

5/19/00

 

We are building a series of water spiders that dance around the circle in Waterplace Park in Providence, or any small pond. (Budget $5000) The center of the water-spider robot would be a 2-foot diameter clear plastic sphere (I have lots of them). A motor unit is fixed to the interior of the sphere. If the weight of the motor is set off-center of the axis, the sphere will spin in the water instead of the motor. Paddle-like fins will be attached to the sphere creating the propulsion.

 

Eight copper tubing legs with Styrofoam feet attached to one end create the spider's legs. If the whole leg unit is attached to the motor shaft it will stabilize the robot and protect the clear plastic center from collision damage.

 

Infrared distance sensors can inform the robot brain if another water spider is approaching or any object for that matter. Evasive maneuvers can be triggered creating a random dance of water spiders.

 
 

Copyright © 2003 Robotics Art Club