Showing posts with label project. Show all posts
Showing posts with label project. Show all posts
Friday, July 16, 2010
THR_33 Smile Scan
When someone approaches the tea house they are visually scanned by by the OMRON Smile Scan.
"The system measures the degree of a person’s smile from a camera-recorded facial image based on its original criteria using facial key point movements. The resulting data is displayed onscreen with a percentage reading from 0% to 100%."
In THR_33 this percentage controls how much the tea-house "eyes" open - so if they are smiling the "eyes" will allow for a direct line of sight between the visitor and the robots.
When TST_003 (the toaster) "sees" someone with its passive infrared sensor it will initiate its toasting cycle - it stops roaming and both its toasting drawers extend. Also, the inside of the robot illuminates.
When RDO_002 (the radio) "sees" someone with its passive infrared sensor it will play a randomly chosen sound sample from a library of samples of robots from science fiction movies.
When MXR_011 (the mixer) "sees" someone with its proximity sensor it will spin away from them (we figured when it is in regular use it would have to mix in one direction only - so in the tea house it would spin whichever way takes its fancy).
Wednesday, July 07, 2010
A few hours of final tweaks...
Trouble in Paradise/Medi(t)ation of Survival at MoMAK gets its first visitors later today. We have a few hours left to fiddle with things and give THR_33 a few last tweaks.
RDO_002 is now happily working after we scoured Kyoto for a replacement power supply and had the Museum electrician hack the one we found.
TST_003 is now toasting again after a brief hiatus when the LEDs went on strike.
MXR_011 is designed to behave erratically and is doing just that.
The view the public never gets to see. The black area on TST_003's platform is what triggers the QTI sensors to make it back up and turn.
Cezanne checking the Smile Scan. It covers quite a wide area and is very responsive. It will find and track up to 2 faces and will open the tea-house "eyes" based on the percentage that those faces are smiling. It scans the passage between THR_33 and Critical Art Ensemble's Genetic Modification Theater. This is also the main route between 2 of the Museum's main gallery spaces.
RDO_002 is now happily working after we scoured Kyoto for a replacement power supply and had the Museum electrician hack the one we found.
TST_003 is now toasting again after a brief hiatus when the LEDs went on strike.
MXR_011 is designed to behave erratically and is doing just that.
The view the public never gets to see. The black area on TST_003's platform is what triggers the QTI sensors to make it back up and turn.
Cezanne checking the Smile Scan. It covers quite a wide area and is very responsive. It will find and track up to 2 faces and will open the tea-house "eyes" based on the percentage that those faces are smiling. It scans the passage between THR_33 and Critical Art Ensemble's Genetic Modification Theater. This is also the main route between 2 of the Museum's main gallery spaces.
Tuesday, July 06, 2010
Monday, July 05, 2010
THR_33 Setup
The robots ready for their big trip.
Packing the robots (very carefully) in the case we got for them. After all that, TSA at Detroit airport partially disassembled our robots, then flung the parts they had taken off inside the shells and badly packed them up again. We didn't know till we got to Kyoto. They undid a bunch of nuts - so the robots shipped with Arduinos and sensors rattling around inside them. They also undid the toast mechanism. So our first morning at the Museum was spent fixing the robots.
Taisuke Murakami made the system that allows the tea-house "eyes" to be driven by the OMRON Smile Scan. Here he is pictured explaining to us how to connect the system.
"Designed for objective and quantitative evaluation of smiles, “Smile Scan” utilizes Omron’s “OKAO Vision” face sensing technology. The technology relies on facial data gathered from over 1 million people, accumulated through over 10 years of study of the human face. The system measures the degree of a person’s smile from a camera-recorded facial image based on its original criteria using facial key point movements. The resulting data is displayed onscreen with a percentage reading from 0% to 100%."
In THR_33 this percentage controls how much the tea-house "eyes" open.
Day 2. Unpacking the tea-house crate. The Museum staff were "amused" by the fact that we used 4 different kinds of screws (Phillips, 2 sizes of Torx and Robertson) and put them in from every possible angle (including from underneath). They are more used to unpacking delicate and valuable objets d'art - MoMAK chief curator Shinji Kohmoto (pictured on the right, arms outstretched) said they could enjoy this because it was "wild".
MoMAK's excellent team go to work on the tea-house structure...
... done.
We have integrated the Smile Scan with the tea-house and had it working - tomorrow we need to get everything in its final place and get the robot platforms in.
Thursday, July 01, 2010
A short note on the 'robots'...
Michael Hohl hit the nail on the head:
"It reminds my of Buckminster Fuller's 'dymaxion car' that could also turn on the spot (though without a tethering cable ;) )"
All 3 robots are hybrids of vehicles and products: TST_003 = Dualit + Airstream; RDO_002 = Bush TR82 + GM Futurliner and as Michael pointed out, MXR_011 = KitchenAid Mixer + Dymaxion Car. We are playing with futurism as a 'retro' phenomenon. The styling and color palette is based on the 1950s RayGun Gothic - or as we like to call it SodaPop Chic!
Other (more subtle) references in the color choice:
MXR_011's fire engine red is simply the color of our actual KitchenAid mixer.
"It reminds my of Buckminster Fuller's 'dymaxion car' that could also turn on the spot (though without a tethering cable ;) )"
All 3 robots are hybrids of vehicles and products: TST_003 = Dualit + Airstream; RDO_002 = Bush TR82 + GM Futurliner and as Michael pointed out, MXR_011 = KitchenAid Mixer + Dymaxion Car. We are playing with futurism as a 'retro' phenomenon. The styling and color palette is based on the 1950s RayGun Gothic - or as we like to call it SodaPop Chic!
Other (more subtle) references in the color choice:
MXR_011's fire engine red is simply the color of our actual KitchenAid mixer.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
THR_33 (Nearing completion)
Another (almost sleepless) week. Some of the many things that happened:
The tea-house structure was assembled and painted.
The tea-house skin was laser cut and 'stitched' together. The skin is made from 2 layers of precisely cut synthetic paper pieces that interlock with each other.
The robot electronics and coding were 90% completed (still some tweaks necessary). We are grateful to Osman Khan for all the time, patience and knowledge that he brought to this part of the project.
The operable panels (a.k.a. the tea-house 'eyes' were mounted and strung).
Half of the tea-house skin was test hung.
Chris Johnson fixing the skin.
(Westley) Josiah Burger inspecting the skin seams.
While the skin was in place we did a test of where the robots will be seen and finalized the design and fabrication of the platforms they will inhabit.
A detail of the tea-house skin.
TST_003 and RDO_002 look through the tea-house 'eyes'.
When the 'eyes' are activated they allow for line-of-sight between the robots and any human beings that might be interrupting them.
More work was done on the tea-house skin and the entire surface was test hung.
A lighting test was carried out.
Cezanne checks the view through a tea-house 'eye'.
We tested various ways of lighting the tea-house.
RDO_002 ready for paint.
TST_003 ready for paint.
MXR_011 ready for paint.
TST_003 during its 'toast' cycle.
Tests of the tea-house 'eyes':
The tea-house structure was assembled and painted.
The tea-house skin was laser cut and 'stitched' together. The skin is made from 2 layers of precisely cut synthetic paper pieces that interlock with each other.
The robot electronics and coding were 90% completed (still some tweaks necessary). We are grateful to Osman Khan for all the time, patience and knowledge that he brought to this part of the project.
The operable panels (a.k.a. the tea-house 'eyes' were mounted and strung).
Half of the tea-house skin was test hung.
Chris Johnson fixing the skin.
(Westley) Josiah Burger inspecting the skin seams.
While the skin was in place we did a test of where the robots will be seen and finalized the design and fabrication of the platforms they will inhabit.
A detail of the tea-house skin.
TST_003 and RDO_002 look through the tea-house 'eyes'.
When the 'eyes' are activated they allow for line-of-sight between the robots and any human beings that might be interrupting them.
More work was done on the tea-house skin and the entire surface was test hung.
A lighting test was carried out.
Cezanne checks the view through a tea-house 'eye'.
We tested various ways of lighting the tea-house.
RDO_002 ready for paint.
TST_003 ready for paint.
MXR_011 ready for paint.
TST_003 during its 'toast' cycle.
Tests of the tea-house 'eyes':
Sunday, June 13, 2010
THR_33 (Update)
A busy week. Here is some of what happened.
I modeled the front of TST_003 from the dimensions of the cardboard mock-up. This incorporates locations for the sensors and guides for the toast 'drawers'. The parts were run on the FDM.
A piece of ABS sheet was cut out and fitted into the top half of the shell of RDO_002. The same was done for MXR_011. These are to locate and hold both pieces of these shells in place.
These were fixed in place with ABS /Acetone slurry. (Note the sanded FDM part of TST_003 in place in the image above and in the video below).
An ultra light density fiberboard (ULDF) buck was cut, sanded, sealed and polished to be vacuum formed over for the rear end of TST_003.
'Nubbins', dials, drawers, handles and sensor holes were made, cut and inserted.
Side panels for TST_003 were cut from ABS sheet and joined to the FDM front and vacuum-formed rear part.
Cezanne began making the circuit boards for the final versions of the electronics.
Robots ready for final integration.
In the meantime, Chris Johnson has been working on the tea-house structure and Westley Josiah Burger has been working on the tea-house skin.
I modeled the front of TST_003 from the dimensions of the cardboard mock-up. This incorporates locations for the sensors and guides for the toast 'drawers'. The parts were run on the FDM.
A piece of ABS sheet was cut out and fitted into the top half of the shell of RDO_002. The same was done for MXR_011. These are to locate and hold both pieces of these shells in place.
These were fixed in place with ABS /Acetone slurry. (Note the sanded FDM part of TST_003 in place in the image above and in the video below).
An ultra light density fiberboard (ULDF) buck was cut, sanded, sealed and polished to be vacuum formed over for the rear end of TST_003.
'Nubbins', dials, drawers, handles and sensor holes were made, cut and inserted.
Side panels for TST_003 were cut from ABS sheet and joined to the FDM front and vacuum-formed rear part.
Cezanne began making the circuit boards for the final versions of the electronics.
Robots ready for final integration.
In the meantime, Chris Johnson has been working on the tea-house structure and Westley Josiah Burger has been working on the tea-house skin.
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