I was looking at some of my reacent sketches and lamenting my lack of good-artyness when I remembered that dA is more than just drawing/painting. I've been making Gem Trees and Rose Bushes for a few years now, so I got out my current project in that genre. The RoBonzai!
The RoBonzai is kind a melding of the Gem Tree and another hobby of mine, BEAM Robots. BEAM is a philosophy of robot building that stresses creativity and the use of biological systems as models instead of "re-inventing the wheel" in robot design. BEAM stands for Biology, Electronics, Aesthetics, and Mechanics. Since solar cells are not able to directly power most motors and electronics, there are methods that have been developed to "bank" the trickle of electrons that solar cells produce until a useable level is reached. You can make artificial life forms using these techniques, make pulsating nite-lites, solar chimes, or whatever your devious mind can come up with. The popular toy "RoboSapien" was concieved and developed by the founder of BEAM, Mark Tilden.
The RoBonzai was made with #18AWG Magnet Wire, Silicone Photodiodes, an old SoundBlaster16 card that I had lying around, and a piece of wood that I got at Home Depot. I'll try to get a video of the tree in action on my YouTube this week. Never done that before, but I can give it a shot. How hard can it be?
I might consider doing some commissions on these peices, but need to figure out pricing and such.
[edit] I'm going to be doing some Robonzai Trees for some ppl. I could be persuaded into making a couple for my dA fiends, if there were interest.
Joy
Pain
Artistic
Cheerful
