In a post long ago I promised to show a history of robotic heads used by my painting art robot, Zanelle. Here it finally is. Below are pictures of the first three robotic heads that were used to hold a brush and apply brush strokes to canvas. None of these are being used any longer. They have been replaced by my fourth and fifth robotic head, the fifth one is pictured even further below.
The first head was absurd (top). A hand wrapped electro magnet that worked so poorly I had to have counter weights on the opposite side of the brush. But it made cool strokes. Unfortunately it only lasted a couple of weeks before I replaced it.
The second head was awesome (middle). Completely hand made primarily with wood, this robotic head painted for over a year without failure. I just retired it today and replaced it with a new head. Its only problem was that it would overheat and loose electromagnetic strength the longer it was in operation.
The third head was acceptable (bottom). It worked O.K., but didn’t have the style of the second. Also, it would jam occasionally. That is why when the fourth robotic head was constructed, I replacedis one with it instead of the second.
The fourth robotic head (unpictured), looks very similar to the fifth robotic head which is pictured below. It was designed and fabricated by Jacobus McKenzie. It does a majority of my paintings these days.
The fifth robotic head (above), was just installed on one of my painting robots. It too was designed and fabricated by Jacobus McKenzie. I worked with him to make a couple of improvements over the fourth one. I do not know how well it works yet as it is currently in the middle of a test run.
Will keep you updated…
Pindar