What is Robot 250?

..."As Pittsburgh prepares to observe its 250th Anniversary in 2008, the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon joins in the celebrations by including our region's leading role in robotics education and research, which stretches back to the 1920s. But more than just looking back, Robot 250 will highlight the future of Pittsburgh, emphasizing educational and creative opportunities in robotics..."

I was invited to create a mobile robot for Robot 250 in December of 2007. My proposal is the "Look-See Tree".

The Look-See* Tree is a mobile artwork housing 6 motion activated mini-theatres.  The small theatres contain robotic animals in somewhat natural settings within a large tree structure.

From afar, viewers will see a large, sparsely limbed tree trunk lying on its side, supported by wheels, and connected to a bike.  As they approach, viewers will notice the leaves of the tree, which sprout and are withdrawn repeatedly and irregularly implying an unusual fluctuation in seasons. Closer inspection, will reveal several glowing hollows in the tree trunk. As viewers approach and peak in, they will see fictional animals that will respond to their presence by either beginning or ending a gesture- hiding vocalizing, shifting, or jumping, and otherwise reacting to visitors.  The setting which the animals inhabit will be littered with detritus and various signs of technology, in an attempt to create in miniature version of some of the strange innovations and reapportions that take place when nature meets urban space. For example- birds whose calls mimic cell phone rings and car alarms, and animals that collect scraps from city spaces that are then used as nesting material.

Viewers will also notice a unique feature of the Look-See Tree Big-Bot - which is that its power source is supplied on-site from a bicycle generator. The source of locomotion for the sculpture is also a point of interest- an electric bike. The Look-See Tree proposes technologies that are of low environmental impact. This approach means low-cost to no cost in sustaining a means of showing the sculpture, while showcasing species that seem to gracefully and disturbingly have found ways to adapt to settings irrevocably affected by human-related environmental augmentation.

 

*The term “look-see tree” is taken from a name given to trees that have been converted to fire watch or simply observation towers.  This name was of interest to me because it designates a tree as a place to go for observation and contemplation- in this case, however, the view is inside the tree rather than beyond it.

Technical Support will be provided by Thiago Hersan. Thiago Hersan has a M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, and now works designing computer chips for a small company in Pittsburgh. He gained some experience working with electronics as part of his class work at CMU, including experience with simple vehicular robots.