Servo - October 2010

GEERHEAD

SuperConductor

SuperConductor directed an original piece titled SuperPiece, composed by Brett Taylor — one of the students on the SuperConductor team.

This non-humanoid conducting robot is a square board with four LED lights. The conductor's baton lies in the center of the board. The baton rotates clockwise around the face of the board. The LEDs light up as the baton passes a metallic fabric across their circuits in order, temporarily completing each of those electric circuits.

A four-armed contraption rotates independent of the LED lights behind the conductor's face. As the arms rotate, the LEDs move closer to and then farther away from the center of the board. All the movements correspond to the tempo changes and dynamics of the music.

Final Notes

The students involved in the Conducting Robots course truly orchestrated three original builds, all accomplishing the task at hand. It is amazing how students from different disciplines can come together to innovate. Truly music to the future’s ears.

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