In this recitation, we built a drawing machine. The machine has two arms controlled by two stepper motors that use two mechanical arms to draw as we turn the knob on the potentiometer.
At the beginning I built the circuit by myself, made sure that the H bridge was positioned in the right direction. The finished circuit looks quite complicated, but all the wires are along the H bridge or along the positive and ground side on the breadboard. I first connected a positive side to the ground, and when I ran the code, nothing happened. After correcting this mistake, my stepper motor successfully rotated.
Building the circuit
Then I went on to step two and added in the map function as well as the potentiometer to the circuit. My stepper motor successfully turned as I turned my potentiometer. I added my part of the stepper motor to Steve’s stepper motor, and as we each controlled our stepper motor, the mechanical arms created a confusing drawing on the paper.
Spaghetti Circuit“Masterpiece”
I first connected a positive side to the ground, and when I ran the code, nothing happened. After correcting this mistake, my stepper motor successfully rotated. Then I went on to step two and added in the map function as well as the potentiometer to the circuit. My stepper motor successfully turned as I turned my potentiometer. I added my part of the stepper motor to Steve’s stepper motor, and as we each controlled our stepper motor, the mechanical arms created a confusing drawing on the paper.
Question 1: What machines are you interested in building?Add a reflection about the use of actuators, the digital manipulation of art, and the creative process to your blog post.
I am interested in building a machine that does not only draw with turning the knob, but also with our whole body movement. Although we can draw with our hand, it is still interesting to see a machine drawing. What the machine drew is our own artistically output, but it is also not our own art. What we made in this class is also a collaborative drawing machine. My teammate and I are both controlling the machine for something neither of us can foresee.
Question 1:Choose an art installation mentioned in the reading ART + Science NOW, Stephen Wilson (Kinetics chapter). Post your thoughts about it and make a comparison with the work you did during this recitation. How do you think that the artist selected those specific actuators for his project?
I found the project “INVISIBLE-the shadow chaser” by Yoshinobu Nakano and Team Shadow extremely interesting. It uses computer-controlled manipulation of water to simulate the act of catching a goblin. The artist made something completely fictional into reality. Although we all think that goblins don’t exist, the creation of this vacuum-cleaner-like tool made it as if goblins do exist. Our drawing machine was creating random art, and the shadow chaser was creating a imaginary world to its audiences.The Shadow Chaser
