This is the final paper. It is written by Diana Xu. Link: final paper
After exhibiting my project in IMA show, in the undergraduate research symposium, and in Montreal at ICRA, I have collected many comments and feedback:
1. So far so good:
1)It’s good to keep the piece “magical”, to see the ball moving top-down– To keep the sand table on the floor. People would be curious about the mechanism of why the ball is moving. Many of them would actually bend down and look underneath the sand table, which is an interesting interaction that could be photoed.
2)The appearance of the sand table is decent and beautiful, making it like artwork.
3)The slow movement of the ball relates to a sense of “Zen”. The audience would actually enjoy watching it without feeling impatient. They would stare with curiosity and interest. Some would even stay longer to wait for the reveal of the pattern.
2. Suggestions:
1) The pattern could be more precise so that the ball could run continuously. (After it has finished the pattern, the robot could run backward again to its starting point.) In this case, the whole piece could be a display that doesn’t need custody.
2) There could be various patterns to choose from. In this case, it may deviate from the point of us making the sand table but makes it a more flexible and intriguing art piece.
3) The robot could be with feedback: If the ball on the table is detached from the magnet below, it would know and get back to fetch the ball and push it forward.
4) To create depth in the sand, we could also try vibration/electromagnet/back and forth.
5) People awe of the magnificence created by the pufferfish. Yet, for now, people can’t tell the relationship of the piece with pufferfish: We could either carve the ball into a fish or use a big water tank, fill it with water and make the magnet draw at the bottom of the tank on the sand. Meanwhile, there could be a display (using TV or printed picture) of the actual pattern drawn by the pufferfish to inform people in a better way than a simple description in a verbal presentation or written form.