Luxo Jr, the adorable little lamp that appears in the Disney Pixar logo, illustrates how animators can breathe life into mundane inanimate objects. Now, robotics technology allows us to do the same thing in real life, as shown by a trio from the Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Using a combination of readily available robotics and automated manufacturing technology, mixed with open-source software, they were able to grace a desk lamp with a little personality.
Pinokio, unlike its fairy tale namesake, needs strings to move – strings of code, that is. Its actions are driven primarily by Arduino and image processing software OpenCV, which searches for faces in the images from its web cam. When it finds a face, it attempts to follow it as if trying to maintain eye contact.
Programmer Shanshan Zhou ensured it would change its behavior with preset "moods" – introvert or extrovert – causing the lamp to recoil or stretch outwards, respectively. When switched off, Pinokio responds by flicking its power switch back on – similar to the most useless machine ever – further adding to its character.
Adam Ben-Dror, who worked out the mechanical details, found that it only took six servo motors to actuate the lamp's hinges. These hinges had to be replaced with ones he designed in CAD, which were then manufactured using a variety of techniques, from 3D printing, laser cutting, water jet cutting, and CNC lathing to good old-fashioned welding. He also had to work out how to fit the halogen bulb (covered with a mechanical iris), a hacked webcam, a microphone, and a pair of servos – including the necessary wiring – into the back of the lamp's shade.
As you'll see in the video below, the end result lives up to the concept sketches provided by the team's designer, Joss Dogget. Pinokio springs to life and engages its audience with seemingly effortless interaction.
FROM filing keys by hand to laser cutting, Rodney Graham has seen it all in the past quarter of a century. The RCG Locksmiths proprietor yesterday celebrated 25 years in the industry. He was just 16 when he embarked on a four-year apprenticeship with Bathurst Locksmiths.
"I finished school on the Thursday afternoon and started there on the Friday morning," he said. As a first-year apprentice, he took home $81 in his first paypacket. He said he's seen many changes in the industry in the past two decades, none bigger than the advances in machinery and technology.
"The mechanics of a lock haven't changed at all. But the technology we use to put that together has changed," he said. "We used to cut keys by hand with a file. You don't miss those days, but you do.
"You learn a lot by doing it the original way." Nowadays, Rodney works with key cutting machines worth over $40,000 each. "They have cameras in them now," he said. "We've got the best and the most advanced equipment in the Central West."
Rodney and his wife have been at the helm of RCG Locksmiths for almost five years. What started as a two-man operation has expanded to involve 11 staff, including three fully-qualified locksmiths and two apprentices, and two shopfronts, one in Bathurst and one in Lithgow.
On the side, Rodney and his wife also run Prestige Embroidery Bathurst and a commercial laundry, R and G Linen.
"When we opened, we were just doing residential work and key cutting," Rodney said. "Now we do residential, architectural, commercial, automatic doors, automotive locks and keys, roller and car remotes, and much more.”
"We just keep expanding. But I love what I do. I work between 70 and 80 hours a week, but at the end of the day, I love helping people and I love my job." he said.
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