The Small Bang!

Here the Creator is kneeling down since the high-torque spine servo is not powered up.

It has been quite an ordeal to get to this point. In fact a couple of years to be exact. But finally the creature moves, and not only moves but seems to have a life of its own. I will not post video until after the performance but I am very excited by what I see. Philip and I crack up laughing every time it moves because it is so life-like.



But come to think of it, what is happening (philosophy purists will probably disagree) is that life in fact has been transferred and conserved as energy in a different form. This is not something new to me. I consider any work of our hands to partake of this mysterious force that we call life, otherwise how would it inspire us or elevate our spirit?

When I see a painting (in reality, not a reproduction) by say, Vermeer, the emotion I feel is a product not only of the formal beauty, but of being in the presence of time standing still, a few years of someone's life (which just happens to be a master) condensed and trapped like a genius in a bottle. I, the recipient of this gift, am the vehicle necessary for this alchemical process to occur. I release the energy contained in the matter of the painting.

The order of the particles, held by resinous mediums, crystallized by the passage of time which conform the external appearances of the scene resonate and I believe connect me in the most direct form with the creator of the work of art, in the same way that we are in intimate connection with the writer that is sharing her thoughts and life experiences with us.

This is, has to be, an energy transfer that could probably be calculated by an Einstein, but I prefer to simply shed a tear of joy when I find myself in front of the work of art. That is what art means to me.


In case you have not seen a previous post this is what the Creator's creature looks like. Here Lorena is getting some exercise and getting fit to withstand the wild and strenuous performance ahead, after all it is all her fault since she created the Creator. Playing god or goddess does not come cheap. You can see a little animation here

The Cyclopean Eye

The tiniest springs I could find in my "this could be useful" parts bin

The eyes are an important means of expression of the "soul" of a person, animal or character. The only external organ that connects directly to the brain through the shortest possible path.
The eyes of the creator move nervously as he scans its surroundings. Its world. They are animated by a simple spring mechanism that responds to the smallest movement. I did not know it was going to be so challenging to do this, except that, as we have found out, scale matters. And the smaller the scale the more critical the elements become.

The springs proved to be too weak to support the weight of the eye,
so I added a coat of latex to strengthen and stiffen it a bit,
but it proved to be a little too much so I ended up burning the latex away.
The residue that it left iwas just the right amount.

Lorena irritating the eyes

Of course the real "eye" of the Creator is up in the sky, or rather the ceiling in this case. This cyclopean eye that sees and controls everything is more and more a pervasi and accepted fact of life, in our streets, our buildings and even our homes, not to mention the "real" and inaccessible eye in the sky who observes and analyzes our every move, both as a species as well as individually when the need arises.

A very wide angle camera (76 degrees) was the choice after a good deal of research, and it proved to be the right one. I like that it is flat and although the base actually sucks if you are going to use it on a desk or a monitor it is perfect to tape to the roof and adjust the angle precisely. I needed a wide angle because the ceiling at the venue is not very tall and the camera must cover at least a 10x10 mt performing area, the world of the Creator, its Tartarus.

HP 2 megapixel camera, 76 degrees FOV

Related to the eyes or rather vision system is the light. Not the infrared light that the camera detects and processes but the actual "stage lighting". For quite a while I thought I was going to have to finagle a small lighting system form the theatre department at my university but since that was not very promising I started looking around for solutions.

I must say I am very happy with the outcome. I bought some inexpensive 12 LED flashlights at the local supermarket and hacked them (literally) so as to keep only the front portion. The advantage, in this case, of a cheap Chinese product is that it was very easy to solder to it, unlike more sophisticated models. The beam is extremely bright and is easily controlled by the microcontroller. So I have 4 "spots" with different color lights (a color filter on the LED's) to dramatize the scene and automatically create different moods according to the moment.

I got the plastic flexible contraption to where I attached the light base from one of my many "possible useful things" boxes. I wish I knew what it is or where it came from, maybe someone does becasue it is extremely practical for this and I am sure, other, applications. I suspect that it might belong to some fluid dispensing system.

The following are the very first tests with my new lighting system. I love it! absolute and precise positional and intensity control.

Stage Hands

Assembling the motion section and adjusting the elements so they fit.

I love that time when you have to finally begin working on the stage for a play. It means the performance is imminent (unless the producer pulls out!). It is also time to listen carefully to the director, designer, performers, lighting and sound people and stage hands and riggers to make sure all points of view are represented and taken into consideration. (if only it was like that in real life...)

Since the hole pattern in the VeX system is not really well designed (unless someone proves the contrary) I had to notch and cut lots of pieces so that they overlapped correctly in the configuration I needed. As I said before, I think the engineer/s who designed the system probably did it with a preset number of projects in their mind.

I would go back to the drawing board. It seems strange to me that in this age of CAD and relational tools, they could not test at least a few thousand combinations and optimize the design for that. So anyway, the metal is soft enough that it doesn't take that long to adjust.

The Vex control modules, servos and power supply.

Except for Lorena, who is the human performer, choreographer and costume designer for the project and who makes sure her needs and demands are met:-), the rest of the crew is me with occasional help from my friends, like Philip who is working on a Flash interface to control the microprocessors and sensors. I have my doubts about the speed of the image processing functions in the new Flash, but it is worth a try.

For now I am using VeX to build the stage support and to prototype the motion and control system. Ideally I would like to use a faster microprocessor, perhaps Propeller by Parallax which is a multi processor where each one of the 8 processors can operate simultaneously giving you the ability to respond in real time to performer actions, which is what I need to do.

Easier said than done, since programming is not my forte, but my friend Philip, who is in his final year in Architecture, loves coding and we have done great work together. I need to complete the prototype so that we can start programming and optimizing. Everything simpler, easier, faster. Like Ars Electronica 2006 theme said, SIMPLICITY - the art of complexity.

The Creator's new feet

I am also getting so much more familiar with the marionette I've created, since while you are whittling away at blocks of wood and dealing with joints, balance and many other issues, it is difficult to meet the creature on its own terms. Although it is not awake yet I can already see a bit of its character. This is an experience which every puppeteer, or for that matter any artist goes through as it transitions from production to contemplation or analysis and finally to understanding or appreciation.

This process is not so familiar to the engineering folks, since for them, in the majority of cases, everything must be defined or though in toto in advance and there is usually little room for improvisation