This post also appeared on the futurist blog io9, Art Created by Industrial Robots with Chainsaws… and Quill Pens!
Came across a link to a videos showing 6-axis industrial robot fitted wit an electric chainsaw creating 3-d sculptures, or furniture out of a solid log of wood. Check it out:
The title of the video translates as “kkaarrlls for real forrest.” Kkaarrlls is a German design studio focused on creating art in novel ways. Like giant chainsaw wielding robots.
Robot Portraiture
Of course, that’s not the only robot artist. Below is a 6-axis industrial robot that uses a digital camera and white-board to create portraits.
Here’s what the ‘bot can do: With a digital camera mounted on its arm, it snaps its subject’s picture, then by using edge-processing software converts that person’s face into co-ordinates, ready to be transferred to paper. Equipped with a pencil, the robot proceeds to draw a line-based portrait. [Digital Trends]
Robot Scribe
Here’s an art project where an industrial robot wrote out the entire 66 books of The Bible in only 9 months of continuous work. I bet I could have photocopied it in half the time. Monks used to transcribe the bible by hand before the advent of printing the press. Can you imagine how long it would take a human to do this?
in 2007 in the installation ‘bios [bible]’ is an industrial robot writes handwritten with a quill pen down the bible on rolls of paper. With precision, the machine from the calligraphic Linen, and leaves as a monk in the monastic scriptorium, gradually the Text arise. Starting with the Old Testament and the books of Moses produced ‘bios [bible]’ in nine months without interruptions the entire work. All 66 books of the Bible are written on rolls and then stored as literary works in the library of the installation. ‘bios [bible]’ is concerned with questions of faith and technical progress.
Industrial Robots
Industrial robots are basically robotic arms mounted to a pedistal that can do various industrial tasks such as placing parts, welding and machining.
The International Organization for Standardization gives a definition of a manipulating industrial robot in ISO 8373:
“an automatically controlled, reprogrammable, multipurpose, manipulator programmable in three or more axes, which may be either fixed in place or mobile for use in industrial automation applications.” [Wikipedia]
Here’s a video that explains how a 6-axis Industrial Robot works.
And from one of my favorite shows, How It’s Made, here is how a robot arm is made.
For more cool Robot videos check out the Gizzard Stone Robot Playlist on YouTube. And Subscribe to The Gizzard Stone channel too!
-Mike
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