Sunday, April 22, 2012
A CNC machine for drawing drawing machines
Geek.com: Depicted in the video above is a computer numerical controlled (CNC) machine hard at work drawing other machines. A project developed by Pittsburgh-based spatial-artist Pablo Garcia, the machine’s task was to draw twelve different pictures of historical drawing machines. A professor of architecture at Carnegie Mellon University, Garcia also runs a collaborative and multidisciplinary studio called POiNT.
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9 comments:
Machines drawing machines... so it has begun. It's pretty impressive the amount of detail that the machine is able to get in the drawings. Since usually we use the CNC machine to make broader strokes to cut out bigger pieces, and we don't have bits that will run in that machine as small as a pen tip, we don't get to see it do the detailed work it can do with this pen attachement that Garcia has come up with. It'd be interesting to see how they got the drawings into G-Code for the CNC machine, since to get that level of detail would be a long and time consuming process in most traditional programs. Also, looks like a pretty similar (albeit larger) machine to the one we have down in the shop from CNT. Maybe we can try out doing some of those things on our CNC machine!
Ah machine inception. I agree that it is impressive the amount of detail that this program is able to produce. I never really thought that a CNC machine could be adapted in this manner. Since I know nothing about programming I am completely clueless when it comes to how to do this. I would be curious to know how long it took to draw one drawing. I am interested to know what other things the CNC machine will be able to do.
Like Kerry, I think this machine inception is crazy! This is a fantastic example of how we can use CNC technology to help use with a multitude of tasks- including reproducing drawings! I would love to know what Garcia's process was for making this work. I can only imagine how complicated setting up that tool path must have been! I'm sure that just setting up the pen as as a "bit" took a lot of time and minute adjustments as well. Realistically if these drawings were, say, becoming a prop, they could just be plotted with an inkjet plotter, but if you specifically needed something replicated with a ballpoint pen and ink this is a pretty fantastic way to do it!!
This is fascinating. I watched the middle of the video before I watched the beginning. I thought it looked just like our router but I could not figure out how they controlled the direction of the pen. I figured they added a 4th axis just for pen control. How clever of them to orientate it so that the point stays in same place while the gantry leads it about. Basically he created a giant AutoPen, technology that has been around since the 1803. The next step would be to put a paintbrush in the machine and let it recreate some painting. I see this as a project for pre-college or next year. It would be fun. I want to draw a picture of myself only taller.
this machine is truly fascinating and greatly illustrates just what cnc machining is capable of as technology continues to improve. the idea though that not a computer can be told to draw better then me is a little unsettling. but just as the development of photoshop helped photographers change and improve their drawing creations this just means that there is more opportunity for people like me to use technology to bridge the gap of creativity and skill
So awe inspiring! The drawings themselves are gorgeous, the entire process of watching such technology recreate something so humanly reproduced is truly mesmerizing. I only wonder- is this a depiction of what the machine was able to interpret or did these series of codes dictate stroke for stroke the outcome of this piece? If the earlier, I think this matter begs us to rethink what art is, is it something that only humans are capable of creating, or is it a bi-product of something that can be created by machines and materials?
This is quite impressive. Thinking back to Scenic Fabrication class and talking about the possibility of the CNC machine painting a full size drop, we might almost be there. This could be the next wave of printing, instead of using ink cartridges and print heads, why not just pop a pin in the machine. It would be interesting to have a completely dedicated CNC class for SoD members, especially one that later lets you manipulate or make adjustments to the machine to create different things such as pen drawings. Soon we will all be able to CNC anything, its getting close to that era!
i think this is silly. i really like pablo and i think that he has some really cool projects. he has a really cool guerrilla project right now where he is using different reflective curved surfaces to view otherwise distorted and obscure images. i really like that and a lot of his other projects but i think having a cnc draw a picture is somewhat contrived. what's the difference between a cnc with a pen in its chuck and a plotter or a ink jet printer.
I think that this is an amazing innovation, but is almost stealing away the pureness of art made by hand. With the machine you could simply remake anything that you find on the internet. You are loosing so much originality and creativity. Sure, this is great to make duplicates of things that you need mass quantity of, such as a prop for a show that gets ruined during each performance, but I believe that this machine will cause many controversies over original vs true copies.
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