Project 3: Project Statement

 For this project, I wanted to create a sense of surprise in the viewer. I chose to make a robot head that, when approached, quickly whips around to look at the viewer, and has eyes that light up. Since this is an electronics project triggered by human interaction, my goal was to explore the moment when something inanimate becomes animate. The scene I created in my head was one where you are exploring an old abandoned room full of dusty electronics. Suddenly, you see motion out of the corner of your eye and you realize you've awoken something that was asleep for a long time.


To build this small project, I used a servo motor and two LEDs. I mounted the head onto the PICO without an enclosing box because I liked the technological aesthetic and the idea that the head was just sitting in a pile of junk, perhaps detached from its body for a long time. 

An important aspect of this project was the LED eyes. Since the LEDs needed to be within the head, I needed to solder the connections between the LEDs and the wires. I feel that the exposed electronics and soldering give the impression of an abandoned prototype or something only ever half finished. 

Overall, I would've liked to learn into the sinister / scary aspect a bit more. The robot doesn't actually come off as super scary, and the storytelling from its surroundings is a bit limited. But I definitely learned that even simple electronics can create a cool effect. 

 

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