ARTificial

Autonomous Robot for University of Applied Sciences Wuerzburg-Schweinfurt

This autonomous sculpture combines engineering and art in an attempt to demonstrate how machines can become artists - an ability only found in humans. Similar to a child, an algorithm trained itself for days until it was capable of generating realistic digital art. This program was coupled with an industrial robot and a novel algorithm designed to convert digital pictures into robot-movements. The resulting robotic sculpture is capable of generating non-human artworks, selecting a random motif, and painting it on physical canvas with acrylic without any human intervention.

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ARTificial by Titus Ebbecke

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Autonomous Robot by Titus Ebbecke

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Titus Ebbecke ARTificial

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Titus Ebbecke Autonomous Robot

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ARTificial Autonomous Robot Press Releases

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Unique Properties

This robot is among the first fully autonomous machines which create art with barely any human authorship. Upon starting the system, the installation generates a completely new portrait with artificial intelligence. A novel algorithm converts the digital AI art into coordinates and the robot then paints it on canvas with acrylic. The sculpture works without human supervision and challenges the belief of art creation as a property of human or artificial intelligence.

Tags

artificial intelligence, ai, generative art, robot, industrial robot, algorithmic, software engineering, installation, robot, gan, generative adversarial network

Production Technology

The images are created with a generative adversarial network. The algorithm is written in Python with OpenCV and NumPy. The KUKA robot and the computer are connected with an Ethernet connection. The custom made foundation has been created out of wood, concrete, and steel. A novel algorithm has been developed for this project. The robot is capable of painting unlimited images without human supervision.

Design Challenge

This project required contacting a robot manufacturer, getting funds, transporting the robot and installing its numerous control interfaces. A foundation needed to be designed and constructed, to ensure the safe operation of this dangerous piece of industrial equipment. Finally, the author had to learn how to program a robot, as well as training the artificial Intelligence for multiple days on the most powerful GPU in existence and developing a completely novel algorithm for converting an AI image into coordinates in a safe manner.

Project Duration

This bachelor thesis has been created from February 2019 to July 2019. It demonstrated its ability during a two-day exhibition in August 2019, where it painted over 10 hours in front of a hundred visitors.

Operation Flow

The key element of this project is its autonomy. The robot decides what to generate on a random basis and paints as it wishes. This is an attempt to emulate human artists and their creative freedom as much as possible. Two buttons need to be pressed and the robot will start to generate a random image, take paint, clean its brush and will continue to paint until the artwork is finished.

Research

This project is based on image synthesis with artificial intelligence and the combination of machine learning with robotics. A novel algorithm and method have been developed, to research whether art-creation can be linked to intelligence and if this sculpture qualifies as an authentic artist. This research has been conducted in cooperation with KUKA and was supervised under the head of corporate research. The algorithmic basis of this image-to-coordinate-translation will be published in 2020.

Inspiration

Intelligence and consciousness seem to be almost exclusive to the human species. Similarly, the creation of art appears to be strongly bound to the intelligence of its author. This exclusivity between art creation and intelligence is so strong, that proving whether machines can be artists, is an essential step towards true artificial intelligence. As Art and intelligence still lack definitions, this project provokes discussions on whether this machine has these attributes.

Project Overview

ARTificial Autonomous Robot has been a Bronze winner in the Robotics, Automaton and Automation Design award category in the year 2019 organized by the prestigious A' Design Award & Competition. The Bronze A' Design Award is given to outstanding designs that showcase a high degree of creativity and practicality. It recognizes the dedication and skill of designers who produce work that stands out for its thoughtful development and innovative use of materials and technology. These designs are acknowledged for their professional execution and potential to influence industry standards positively. Winning this award highlights the designer's ability to blend form and function effectively, offering solutions that enhance people's lives and wellbeing.

Image Credits

For design images and photos please credit Titus Ebbecke.

Bronze Recognition

Titus Ebbecke was recognized with the coveted Bronze A' Design Award in 2020, a testament to excellence of their work ARTificial Autonomous Robot.

Titus Ebbecke Press Releases

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Titus Ebbecke Newsroom

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