I participated in a collaboration studio that worked with artist Angelo Vermeulen to design and install an interation of his Biomodd project at the New York Hall of Science.
Biomodd is an ecosystem of plants and electronics that take care of each other. For example, Algae is pumped through computers, keeping the hardware cool in place of traditional fans. In turn, the heat from the computer creates a greenhouse-like environment for the algae and other plants to grow in.
This particular instance of Biomodd consisted of a main tower as well as a window farm. Our class was in charge of designing hardware and small robots that would contribute to the care of the plants in the farm. The software that powered our robots was hooked up to an interactive game to create a mixed-reality where factors in the digital world influenced the functionality of the hardware (and vise-versa).
I contributed to the development of the interactive game by brianstorming with Angelo how input from the player and sensors embedded into the window farm could affect the game mechanics.
I also worked with a friend to create a tool for harvesting and pruning plants. We hacked some electric scissors to respond to input from an external button and enabled them to be triggered by the interactive game.
The contraption was to be mounted along the edge of one of the structures. As the plants got taller they would grow right between the blades, putting themselves at risk to be chopped. We wanted to play up the dystopian aspect of our robot and create an element of danger in an otherwise nurturing environment.
We used an Arduino to power the scissors. Here’s how they worked: