Dustyn Roberts & Ben Leduc-Mills "SADbot"
Eyebeam Art & Technology Center
This event has ended.
SADbot (The Seasonally Affected Drawing Robot) is a solar powered, interactive drawing machine. It uses two 18.5'' x 13'' solar panels to power two stepper motors which allow the control of a pen in two dimensions. SADbot takes input from people walking outside the gallery window by putting a set of sensors that can tell how much light they're getting (photocells) up against the inside of the window. SADbot knows if someone is covering up one of the sensors, and can change its drawing behavior accordingly.
As the Window Gallery does not receive direct sunlight, the artists set up an array of mirrors on the roof of Eyebeam to direct sunlight to a fixed mirror hanging off the roof that reflects light down to the solar cells in the gallery window. The solar cells, in turn, power the motors to run the drawing machine.
Some of the components and techniques used in the installation will be featured in Dustyn's book, Making Things Move, and everything will be documented and made open to the public. The artists are using open source platforms (Arduino, Processing, Sparkfun's EasyDriver motor boards), to make it easier for anyone to make their own SADbot.
Media
Schedule
from June 10, 2010 to July 24, 2010