Drawbot - 2001 -

A Robotic Drawing Robot Built with Cups And Markers

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

If you are interested in using Drawbots in an educational setting, please contact me directly first.

Overview

Drawbot is a drawing system that anyone can use without having to learn electronics. It is a simple bot that mixes standard drawing materials (in this case magic markers) with weighted motors and plastic cups. When the cups vibrate, they draw circles and lines depending on their overall weight and power. The project teaches programming to kids through physical means or “Physical Programming”. By adjusting the weight distribution of materials in the cups, the bots draw different patterns on the paper and are thus changed through simple forms of augmentation.

Exhibitions / Workshops

PS 321
January 24, 2020, Brooklyn, NY.

PS 321
June 17, 2016, Brooklyn, NY.

PS 133
June 6, 2015, Brooklyn, NY.

Children’s Museum of Manhattan
April 14, 2014, NY, NY.

Dumbo Arts Festival
September 29, 2013, Brooklyn, NY.

Georges Sand public library
July 7, 2012, Palaiseau, France.

Home Shop
May 31, 2012, Beijing, China.

Montclair Art Museum
May 20, 2012, Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, New Jersey, USA

OFFF Cincinatti
October 27-28, 2011, Cincinatti, Ohio, USA.

Dumbo Arts Festival
September 24, 2011, Brooklyn, NY, USA.

Teachers as Makers Professional Development Academy @ New York Hall of Science
October 2, 2010, New York Hall of Science, NY, NY, USA.

Maker Faire @ New York Hall of Science
September 25-26, 2010, New York Hall of Science, NY, NY, USA.

Maker Faire @ Newcastle ScienceFest
March 13 – 14, 2010, Newcastle, UK.

Brighton Robotics 1st Birthday Party

January 28, 2010, The Skiff, Brighton, UK.

Discover (Arts activities for children with disabilities and their siblings aged 5 – 13, living in Essex,
organized by Damien Robinson, held at Theatre Resource, May 25, 2009, Great Stony, Essex, UK.

Going Nova,
organized by Horizon Scotland and Distance Lab, March 23, 2007
Horizon Scotland, Forres, Scotland, UK.

BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition, (Discover Science and Engineering Stand), January 9-13, 2007, Royal Dublin Society, Ballsbridge, Dublin, Ireland.

DO IT TOO (An Exhibition of Participatory Art),
10/5/06-12/2/06 @ YorkArts,
York, PA.

Drawbot Workshop at ANAT New Media Lab, 10/1-15/05, Melbourne, Australia.

ArtBots, 9/17-20/04, NYC, USA.
DrawBot Workshop @ The Ark, 8/11-13/04, Dublin, Ireland.

Simple.Tech, 2/10/04 – 3/5/04 @ Sheppard Fine Arts Gallery, Reno, Nevada, USA.

Drawbot Workshop at Transmediale.04, 1/23/04, Berlin, Germany.

Drawbot Workshop at DATA:BASE, 4/26/03, Dublin, Ireland.

Prototype

The prototype for Drawbot consists of cheap materials. The concept stems from a project I did in elementary school with simple parts and battery power. If you can create something compelling with simple means, then you have more justification to use complicated means.