Our first experimental set up was the following:

-The robot was controlled by each student via Grasshopper, through the use of the KUKA | Krc plug-in (from association for robots in architecture) for Grasshopper and Rhino. Each group did draw a series of parametric lines that would become the tool paths for the robot.

-A video simulation with the virtual robot in Grasshopper was performed by each student to understand the behaviour of the machine along the path and amend eventual errors; the video  would allow also the testing of multiple path parameters and robot behavioural options.

-The tool mounted on the robot contained 1 fixed LED light and 2 or 4 blinking ones; the blinking was also controlled via Grasshopper and related to the robotic arm path.

-A camera was positioned in front of the robot and its exposure tuned to the particular lighting conditions and the length in time of the tool path. Such configuration allowed capturing the ephemeral lighting traces left by the robotic arm movements. The robotic behaviour is therefore translated into a 3D robotic light painting.

FABRICATION ECOLOGIES 2013
Research Line Directors: Claudia Pasquero and Marco Poletto [ecoLogicStudio]
Robotic Fabrication Assistant : Alexandre Dubor
Students : Venkatakasi Raju, Dolan Alexander, Ali Yerdel, Francisco Castillo, Drew Carson, Georgios Soutos, Niccolo Marini, Priyanka Narula, Gabriela Gonzalez, Jin Shihui, Nasr Chamma, Kartikashok Gala, Aishwarya Sampath, Giannakopoulous Sofoklis, Vincent Huyghe, Peter  Malaga, Ahmed Selim, Iker Luna, Yogesh Karekar, Jean Akanish, Charusilawong Marisa, Levidis Stefanos

This script operates 2 stepper motors using 2 potentiometers.  playing with the values allows you to calibrate the sensitivity of the motors.

#include <Stepper.h>

#define STEPS 100 // no. of steps on motor

Stepper stepper(STEPS, 8, 9, 10, 11); // stepper, number of steps, pins

Stepper stepper1(STEPS, 4, 5, 6, 7);

int potval0 = 0; //incoming potentiometer values

int potval1 = 1;

int previous = 0;

int previous1 = 0;

int potmin = 1023;// pot minimum and maximum for re-mapping the values

int potmax = 0;

void setup()

{

// set the speed of the motor (RPMs)

stepper.setSpeed(50);

stepper1.setSpeed(50);

}

void loop()

{

// get the sensor value

potval0 = analogRead(0);

potval0 = map(potval0, potmin, potmax, 0, 100);//re-map sensor value to no. of steps

potval1 = analogRead(1);

potval1 = map(potval1, potmin, potmax, 0, 100);

int val = potval0;

int val1 = potval1;

stepper.step(val – previous); //number of steps sent to sensor

stepper1.step(val1 – previous1); // remember the previous value of the sensor

previous = val;

previous1 = val1;

}