How to make 20 billion hot dogs: An exploration in human-machine virtuosity
by Yi-Chen Lee, Matt Prindible, Lizzee Solomon, and Gabriela Tellez
What’s the big idea?
The objective of the our project is to be able to create an interactive cycle between Lizzee, our collaborating artist and technology. Upon analysis of Lizzee’s different works of arts, we have decided to capture the molding and mass production of her hand sculpted models. Lizzee has a passion for creating models out of clay, then using the same mold to create a vacuum form model. With this process, the only variation she can make from one model type to the other is the color, making this process a little limiting. Lizzee would like to see some variation from model to model, while still being able to recognize which model it had originated from. To solve this problem, we plan to work with Lizzee and her models to introduce noise a little at a time, which, depending on her liking, she can add to the noise, or subtract from it.
When technology is incorporated, it can be very easy for the end product to lose the authorship and trademark that is unique to the artist. With this focus in mind, we have decided to go back and forth from Lizzee to the noise generating technology. Using either Kinect, a 3D scanner, or photogrammetry, which will be determined upon experimentation, we will capture Lizzee’s clay model to be analyzed in either Autodesk or Rhino. With that information, we will work on a program that given data, will generate noise, deforming or changing the shape of the original model. Then, using PLA, resin, or nylon powder, we will 3D print the updated model where noise was incorporated. We would then give Lizzee the new model, allowing to her to make any changes to her liking, still somewhat being in control of what the final product would look like. We would continue this this process until Lizzee is satisfied with the quantity and quality of the most recently produced model.
Since it can be challenging at times to use different software, will do a small scale version of the described process on a smaller cube to ensure that the technology works in the way that we need it to before working with Lizzee’s model. In addition to learning how this technology works, we plan to utilize the ABB robot to paint the created models. Since we plan to make multiple models in a limited amount of time, the robot would be able to add a nice layer of paint, more efficiently than humans can.
With our proposed process, we believe that we will produce an end product that is both appealing to LIzzee and is true to her, as well as including some technological input.
How does it work?
What does it (kind of) look like?
