This is not exhaustive. Edit this post with more.

• The Ball
  • Size/Design/Color.
    • Solid to help hide lack of how it rotates
    • (Victoria) Fluorescent colors could also help visibility–I found neon colored golf balls on Amazon
  • Control Method
  • ideas: ball on a stick. We need to make this. Soon. It’s a third character and deserves thought and iteration. We need to have an operator and determine where the operator is, who it is, and what they will wear (all black)
• Robot Dressing
  • Skin, ‘Chasis’, Color
  • Covering or Coloring (painting) the non-diegetic parts of the robot (the cone’s arm) black
  • Ultra-Violet effects?
    • Getting the paint, painting
    • Deciding on thematic use of UV
• Stage Dressing
  • Clearly separating the stage from the audience area since we are using a stage that doesn’t automatically differentiate between the two. (-Nitesh)
  • Lighting (different day cycles, etc). This may feel trivial but it is important to remember that it takes time. We also need to determine who will operate the lighting console, if that is even the route we take.
    • (Victoria) Lighting cues would also be important and should be included in the storyboard.
  • The Road/Pedestrian Path
  • Background dressing
    • Projected image/images?
  • Traffic light hanging/connections
• Sound Design
  • Aquiring/recording/getting sounds. legally.
    • (Victoria) AudioMicro has free sound effects. We just need to make accounts
  • What narrative trouble will we hit that sound design may be an easy support (yet not total fix) to? Indicating mood/how the audience should be interpreting the robots emotions.
  • How much control over the robot’s sound do we have (…little)
  • What can we do to on the hardware side to muffle robot sounds coming from the pneumatics (-Nitesh)
  • Background sounds (ie: sound of the city, muffle robot operation, etc)
    • Non diegetic sounds:
      • Music.
    • Diegetic sounds
      • “Extra” robot noises/characterization, if any (!)
      • Sounds of the city, the city cycle
      • Sound and/or music indicating the attitude (in a hurry?) of businesspeople
  • Control/Operation method for sounds
• Performance/Staging
  • Geting/Setting chairs
  • When can/do we set up without disrupting classes in the media lab? Do we have to tear down between performances? How much tear down? Do we have a place in the corner to keep things?
  • Where do we put the air compressor? getting that wired set up
  • Muffling any sounds we want to be muffled (valves and compressor?). Getting and putting thick blankets (last one matte black) over any on-stage hardware…?
  • Can we try to have the robots take a bow along with us after the performance? (-Nitesh)
  • traditional first-show post-show Q&A after? Do we all wear matching black turtlenecks?

• Documentation
  • Video of the performance. Editing video for internet. (some titles over b-roll of guests filing in, etc)
  • Collecting all video and images we have, assembling into a page/project
  • Interviewing audience members after the show for reactions, feedback, test for understanding/effectiveness, and critique. Getting audience permission to film/interview them, depending.
  • Audience questionaire (with well-designed questions. and a control group who sat in the hallway for 15 minutes)
• Marketing/Publicity
  • How long will the show last?
  • Finalizing and publishing performance dates
  • Assembly/Design of marketing materials
  • Estimating audience size, getting (informal) RSVP’s from those invited, etc.
  • Getting word out.
• (Victoria) Blocking and timing
  • We should come up with a series of plan diagrams to show the positions of everyone and robots, as well as the timing of different story beats.
  • Stage directions are also important for human actors as well as robots. Robots won’t obey stage directions but it would help us program them
• (Job) Last-minute Hardware fixes
  • GateBot Base Pan Joint
  • ConeBot Knee Joint

Many decisions to make/things to clear up still.

# Minimum Outline

Gate is mean to cone, just wants to enjoy it’s hobby.
Because of being mean, it loses the golf ball.
Nobody wins.
Cone forgives the gate, and they get the golf ball back with teamwork.
They are friends.

# Minimum Viable Plot Beats

– Gate opens and closes for people as they pass.
– Cone alerts for obstacles.
– Gate looks left and right
– Gate Plays golf, alone. Enjoys itself.
– Cone ‘awakens’ and approaches gate. First, watching. Golf?
– Cone bothers the gate. Wants to play golf.
– People pass (visual punch line, freezing this ‘argument’ as they return to duty).
– Gate just wants to play golf alone.
– Cone harasses gate who tries to ignore it.
– People pass. One of the people finds the golf ball, and takes it. “oh cool!”
– Now both gate and cone are sad. Dejected.
– a few people pass. They do their jobs. Gate a bit ‘slow’
– Person who took golf ball returns, tossing the golf ball up and down, on the phone, pacing left/right.
– Person walks up to gate but gate doesn’t open. “Yeah, i don’t know, a defective unit or something, won’t let me pass. Yeah, I hate these things too”
– Gate stops the person and cone knocks into them as the person tosses up the golf ball, causing them to drop it. Gate lifts, the person passes, chased off by the cone.
– Golf ball is returned
– They play golf together, now friends.

Hardware details.

Software details.

Closed-loop position control test video.

The symmetric version:

The non-symmetric version:

The original 90-degree travel version:

While there had been some disagreement over how many robots to include in the performance, I still believe that if our story concept calls for it, we should have at least 2 robots. One could have more complex movements while the other could make simple motions in one axis and be attached to one pneumatic device.

A lot of us had agreed on having the robot perform some form of slapstick comedy, so currently I’m trying to figure out how to add humor to my initial ideas while taking into account other ideas that we had agreed on during our meeting.

I had seen a video of our robotic prototype cleanly hitting a golf ball, which I think is great progress and can definitely shape the story that would drive our performance. It’s awesome that just getting out there and making something regardless of how it may or may not relate to a story can strongly inform our concept with its motion. The simple movement of hitting a ball can tell a much larger story.

I have some suggestions to our story given the prototype’s kicking movement, most of which fall under the category of slapstick comedy and interactivity:

-This robot (which I’ve named Golfie) can accidentally kick another robot, which can give pain signals such as flashing colorful LED’s, distressed beeping (or any other sound effect that can indicate comedic pain). Golfie’s main job involves that “kicking” motion, so it could be a sweeper bot, a simple robot that just loves mini-golf, or a traffic-directing robot that somehow got caught up with the more complex robot character that disrupts its mundane activities. In this story, Golfie is not the protagonist but a supporting character. If Golfie ends up being the mini-golf fanatic, it could have a flashing number 4 on it as a nice little pun and indicator of its purpose and obsession with this activity.

-Maybe Golfie could indirectly teach the other robot (which I’ve unofficially named Student) how to play mini-golf. We wouldn’t have to build an entire mini-golf course, but we’d have to construct a basic course (the hole could just be a little wooden box) and a simple golf ball dispenser for each of the robots.

Story Beats

1. Golfie is introduced, with a 4 on front of it. It is about to hit a ball into the hole.
2. Student wanders onto the set and gets in the way of Golfie hitting the ball, taking the hit and showing signs of comedic pain.
3. Student whirs and spins out of the way.
4. Golfie dispenses a new ball and hits it. It makes a happy sound when the ball falls into the hole.
5. Student watches with fascination, then kicks a stray golf ball offstage.
6. Golfie whirs loudly, getting Student’s attention. Golfie makes some swinging motions, which Student copies, then with great finesse hits the ball into the hole.
7. Student finds another golf ball and hits it into Golfie.
8. Golfie makes angry sounds and goes offstage.
9. Student hits a golf ball into the hole and makes a happy sound.

The characters are simple: Golfie is a robot that is obsessed with mini-golf to the point of being oblivious and wants to spread the joy of playing this game. Student is confused by the rules of mini-golf and wants to learn, but is also very obnoxious. Student also may or may not want to get back at Golfie for accidentally hitting them.