April 24, 2008

How Might Dancers Contribute to the Movements of Autonomous Robots?

Summary: Germany-based Festo has created autonomous robots based on the structure and movement of jellyfish. The videos below highlight the elegant shapes and propulsion system of these digital creations. How might choreographers and dancers contribute to the movements and communication patterns of such artificial life forms that mimic biological processes? At the end of this post, I ponder this question while watching a wonderful video about choreographer Luciana Achugar that I highly recommend.

AcquaJelly and AirJelly, from Germany-based Festo, are autonomous robots that are based on the "structure and kinematics" of "their biological model, the jellyfish." (Source)

Excellent Videos of Robotic Jellyfish in Motion

To watch AcquaJelly, click the following image:

To watch AirJelly, click the following image:

Two good write-ups about these robotic jellyfish are in Roland Piquepaille's Technology Trends and Design News.

What Would a Dancer's Perspective Look Like?

I'd like to quote a bit from the write-up about AquaJelly. I'm struck by how the creative explorations of dancers dovetail with the characteristics and capabilities of this autonomous robot. Phrases below such as "wave-like contractions," "controlled by shifting its weight," and "act like a shoal with the behavior pattern of a more highly developed system" jump-out at me. What would happen if a group of choreographers and dancers joined with the robot's creators in a dance studio and did some experimentations? What types of exercises and explorations would actually take place? And what would result from such a cross-disciplinary collaboration? I think the end result could be quite beneficial and might lead to some intriguing insights.

Here's the technical passage:

AquaJelly is an artificial autonomous jellyfish with an electric drive and an intelligent, adaptive mechanical system...It moves with the aid of a peristaltic propulsion system, or wave-like contractions, based on the reaction thrust principle used by its biological precursor. The motion of the AquaJelly in three-dimensional environments is controlled by shifting its weight... When a pendulum moves in a certain direction, the centre of gravity of the jellyfish changes in this direction.

Each jellyfish decides autonomously which action to carry out on the basis of its current condition. This central electric drive, combined with an adaptive mechanical system and intelligent autonomous electronics, opens up possible new applications for self-controlling systems. If a large number of AquaJellies were equipped with communicative abilities, these could act like a shoal with the behavior pattern of a more highly developed system. If one applies this principle to automation, then numerous autonomous or semi-autonomous intelligent systems might be able to work together. In this way, large problems could be solved by small systems working together in harmony.

Luciana Achugar on the Possibilities of Robotic Movement

Imagine what might happen if choreographer Luciana Achugar collaborated with the roboticists from Festo. I came across a wonderful video (actually, one of my favorites) this morning on dance-tech.net of Achugar's choreographic fellowship at Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography at Florida State University. I find her focus, energy and commitment captivating:

It strikes me that dance-makers like Achugar would bring an artistic approach, sensibility and curiosity that would be invaluable to the growing number of researchers and developers exploring new forms of technologically-driven movement.

(By the way, I don't know Achugar and I don't know if she or the folks at Festo would have any interest whatsoever in such a collaboration. I just like to give specific illustrations of what I have in mind in order to provide concrete examples of what might be possible).

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