Robots, Mimicking Bees, Cover a Room in a Drawn, Unbroken Line

MIND OUT : PROJECT LONGARM from e on Vimeo.

The idea of technology being apart from nature may be entirely backwards. Patterns and logic in code spring from the organic engine of human brains, and can be at their most effective when they mirror the natural world.

And so it is that you can cover the walls and floor of an installation using rules that mimic the flight of bees. Call it cross-pollination.

Mattias Jones sends his project, and notes that “all code, engineering and music is bespoke for the installation.” Details:

Towards the end of 2012, as part of The Festival of the Mind in Sheffield, myself and a small team of technicians, coders and mathematicians developed a drawing system and put it to work. The robots drew one line pattern solutions, the shortest line possible, derived from theories on how bees fly from flower to flower. It ended up covering three walls and the floor of a twenty foot cube in one unbroken line.

Still photography of the installation by Andy Brown here.

Engineering : James Folkes
Coding and prototyping : Tom Whiston
Additional coding : Chris Godley

Technician : James Griffiths
Contact microphones created by Dave TechDiff
MAX/MSP Code for audio : Tom Whiston + James Griffiths
Prototype traktrix horn soundsystem + engineering : Danger Noise Audio

Video editing : Elliot Holbrow
Photography : Andy Brown + Nathan Gibson
Additional photography : Shaun Bloodworth

Thanks to : Vanessa, Lynette and the amazing Festival of the Mind staff.
SasQwax and Distorted Panda for music and hardware.