AsianScientist (Apr. 24, 2015) – Science imitates arts at this year’s Affordable Art Fair in Singapore, as an ABB robot “paints” its very own masterpiece with the help of engineering students from Ngee Ann Polytechnic.
The robot takes just 15 seconds to create its picture, much faster a human. From their mobile devices, visitors can choose from one of the programmed designs and transmit it wirelessly to the robot to draw. They can also watch their artwork being created in real time on their mobile devices. The artwork comes from American pop artist Burton Morris, who created his designs using an Etch-A-Sketch Screen.
The DoodleBot requires several hours of precise calibration and programming for it to accurately draw out the designs. The robot, owned by Ngee Ann Polytechnic, was programmed by Mr. Yang Hao and Mr. Khor Jin Quan, final year students doing their diploma in automation and mechatronics systems.
“Through the DoodleBot project, we got the opportunity to explore the ‘soft’ application of robotics. Robotics is usually deployed in industrial processes, so it was eye-opening to see the potential to go beyond that,” said Yang, the key student-in-charge of the project.
For the students, the DoodleBot project was a way for them to put what they had learnt during their course into action. They emphasized on the need to have a product tailored for the end-user:
“When you develop a smart product, there is a lot of research, fine-tuning and creative thinking involved because you have to understand the user’s needs,” Yang added.
“For instance, with the DoodleBot, the original idea was to have the robot draw on paper just like a real artist would. But that would involve a lot of paper wastage, so we decided to have the robot draw on a Doodle Board instead.”
Commenting on the skills he has learned from his course and from his experience from working on the DoodleBot project, Yang concludes, “I feel ready to realize my dream of designing smart products.”
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Source: ABB & Ngee Ann Polytechnic.
Disclaimer: This article does not necessarily reflect the views of AsianScientist or its staff.
