Clock Control Gains
For the warmup exercise, we explored the following clock control gains:
- When there is no delay in the hands reaching their final position-
To achieve this state, we assigned P_Gain as 1 and D_Gain to 0.1. This resulted in both the hands reaching their final positions immediately with very slight or no oscillation. - When the hands rarely come to rest-
To achieve this state, we assigned a positive value to P gain and a negative value to the D gain. We set P_Gain to 0.1 and D_Gain to -0.1. This resulted in the hands spinning at a very fast speed and the oscillation rarely coming to rest.
The Ballet Bots
The simulation is a performance between a pair of robots. The physical form of the robots resembles the posture of a ballet dancer with their arms extended in the form of a C, also known as the first position in ballet dance.
The arms of the robot rotate on their axis on either side at irregular angles. The rhythmic pattern created by the repetition of a sequence of rotations, allows us to perceive the robots’ as dancing face to face and side to side.
The robots are programmed to perform a controlled sequence and to respond to the behaviour of one another. They interact with each other using distance sensors attached to each of their arms. As the robots rotate, their arm comes in contact with the arm of the other robot. The distance sensors are programmed to cause slight oscillation in the arms’ movement when they are close to each other. As the arms slow down upon the touch of other robot’s arm, a dialogue between them happens and they appear to be holding hands and dancing.
The objective of our simulation is to explore collaborative interaction between two robots using distance sensors and understanding how slight reactions can generate an expressive performance.
The concept of the simulation is inspired by the dancing glass globes and intends to deliver a joyful and relaxing experience.