VIDEO: How I Built A Robotic Sculpture From An 1800s Table

How I Made “The Shy Machine”: An Interactive Kinetic Light Sculpture That Moves, Learns, & Reacts

by Daric Gill

{Time-Lapse Video of Process Above}

The Shy Machine is a motion activated, sound reactive, environmentally adaptive, kinetic light sculpture. As its name would suggest, this robot is shy. The two halves of this 12-sided geometric form open and close depending on the noise levels in the environment. Vibrant lights pulse from within according to volume in the room. The insides are packed with electronic brains, lights, and sensors to make this happen. In this article, you can explore the build process from start-to-finish.

{Process Image Gallery Below}

 

VIDEO: Interactive Kinetic Light Sculpture Moves, Learns, & Reacts

“The Shy Machine”: Interactive Kinetic Light Sculpture that Moves, Lights, Learns, & Reacts

by Daric Gill

“The Shy Machine”: Fully opened in the Soft Volume Position. Slow undulations of rainbow light.

The Shy Machine: a motion activated, sound reactive, environmentally adaptive, kinetic light sculpture.

Taking over a year to complete (time split with other projects), this piece has been the most ambitious artwork I’ve created to date. It’s been my goal to create a piece with the specific aim to push myself beyond any previous personal limitations regarding engineering, finance, complexity, and conceptual meaning.

A project this involved earned a proportionate amount of planning and quiet contemplation before any work could even begin. At this point in my career, I view this particular piece as the combination of my childhood interests mingled with my adult potential. In this article, I’ll discuss how I came to the idea, how it works, and how I relate to it on a very personal level.

{ Click To Skip Article & Go To Image Gallery }

{Explore the entire build process  here}

 

Interactive Light Sculpture Traveling To Artlink Contemporary Gallery, Indiana

“The Living Orb” Motion-Sensing Light Sculpture Traveling to Artlink Contemporary Gallery, Indiana

by Daric Gill

The Living Orb at night (glowing)

In its first debut since being completely re-built for new action, The Living Orb has been accepted into the Artlink Contemporary Gallery, Fort Wayne, Indiana.  The Living Orb is a motion-sensing sculpture that when presented with movement, wakes up and slowly pulses a white light. The wooden sphere is made from hand bent poplar laminations. Inside the sphere is a small brain; a circuit board called an Arduino that can be reprogrammed to do multiple tasks at once. A motion sensor picks up activity and tells white LED strips to ‘breathe’ with life. Artlink Regional Exhibition is juried by Danielle Riede.

 

The brain of The Living Orb, a re-programmable Arduino micro-controller

Exhibition Dates:
January 5, 2018 – Feb 9, 2018

Opening Reception:
Friday, January 5, 2018, 5:00 – 8:00 p.m

Location:
ARTLINK
300 E Main Street
Fort Wayne, IN 46802
Driving Directions (courtesy of Google Maps)

Hours
Tuesday – Saturday    12PM-7PM
Sunday      12PM-4PM
Monday     Closed

 

MAKE: Magazine Covers “The Living Orb”

A MAKE: Magazine Writeup

by Daric Gill

Today will be a short but exciting entry! I’m ecstatic to announce that MAKE: magazine has written an online article covering my latest kinetic light sculpture, “The Living Orb”. If you’re not familiar with the magazine, it’s a quarterly periodical and online leader of the maker movement. They are an amazing source for project tutorials, art & design blogs, electronics reviews, skill-building, and the fantastic projects & imaginations of interesting people across the globe.

[Go to article HERE]

 

Click the image to read their article

 

It’s a true honor to be acknowledged by MAKE:. A special thanks goes to contributing writer, Jeremy Cook who also happens to be a skilled engineer/maker. You can give him some online love at his website, DIYTripods.com or follow him on Twitter.

Want to see how “The Living Orb” was made? Follow the build process from start to finish here.