Submission + - Light Play : A Robotic Army Controlled by Your Thoughts (zoness.com)
What began as a nerdy girl’s fantasy two years ago, has evolved into an ongoing project involving my close friends and other experts in our maker community here in Las Vegas. Our city’s budding art scene has recently started to take off, having been jump started by creative projects related to the downtown revival. Working from Vegas’s first hackerspace, SYN Shop, I aim to make Las Vegas the heart of art tech, in the spirit of what the city is known for; beautiful gaudy displays of light.
Light Play involves a massive network of hundreds of miniature delta robots which I have designed, all being controlled by the gestural motion and neural input provided by those interacting with them. Though delta robots are stationary, my models each have an RGB LED mounted on their swift moving end effector, making for a dynamic ballet of light motion. So far I have a smaller version of the installation developed which makes use of the Kinect’s motion capture abilities. Anyone who approaches the small collective of ten delta robots can use the angle of their body to control the robot’s motion or the color of the robot’s light.
Though the miniature installation is fun and effective, it isn’t an army. I want a whole room, if not airplane hanger filled from wall to wall with these things, and I need help doing it. To fund my cause I’m Kickstarting my robot’s design as a kit for other DIY enthusiasts to build for themselves. If my financial goals are met when the project launches in mid January, I plan to take my fully realized army and march wherever the wind takes me, leading up to Maker Faire and the like. I want others with the same nerdy fantasy as I to be able to geek out and experience controlling a robotic army of their own.
It’s a large feat to accomplish, but the ride has been exciting. It’s my first time attempting to crowd fund a project, so I’ve been documenting the whole experience as well as the progress on the installation on my tech blog : roboticarts.wordpress.com. I’m hoping that with the faith of the maker community, I can pull this idea from science fiction into reality, and in a BIG way.