GTGraffiti Honors GVU Center’s 30th Anniversary with Interactive Art Installation in Tech Square
As part of the GVU Center’s two-day event celebrating their 30th anniversary, GTGraffiti, the first graffiti-painting robot system that mimics the fluidity of human movement, set up their pully-operated spray painting machine in the Tech Square courtyard as an interactive art exhibit, encouraging community members to stop by and participate.
On a slightly windy early November day, attendees were invited to join GTGraffiti for an interactive, high-tech art installation showcase by drawing on an iPad and seeing the “GraffitiBot” (as the team calls it) bring their artwork to life on a 10' x 8' steel framed canvas.
As participants engaged with the robotics they also learned more about the system and how it uses “motion capture technology to record human painting motions and then composes and processes the gestures to program a cable-driven robot that spray paints graffiti artwork.” The creators involved in making this exhibit – Gerry Chen, Juan-Diego Florez, Frank Dellaert, Seth Hutchinson, and Sang-won Leigh – chose graffiti in particular because it’s an art form accessible to almost everyone. It is creative and simple, and being as easy as drawing on a tablet makes it even more so.
Following the event, we sat down with Tim Trent, Research Technologist at the GVU Center, and discussed how GTGraffiti picked their setup spot and how this demonstration compared to previous ones in terms of both performance and location.
For historical reference, Tim shared this album of photos and videos taken during some equally windy times. As told by Tim:
In each of the videos/photos, you can see the tarp or plastic blowing around, indicating these were windy days.
In each of the videos/photos, there is no evidence at all of overspray, with the spray painted lines going down very solidly, and the tarp/plastic completely free of any paint.
The tarp/plastic in these videos is not as comprehensive as I would do at Technology Square Research Building (TSRB), since that site was not as concerned about overspray, but you can see in the photo a more representative way that I would shield the TSRB area from paint, which I think is pretty secure. It covers the full back, and 2.5 feet out on the bottom, left, and right sides.
In the 1:11 long video, you can see at the 0:06 mark that there is a gust of wind so violent it shakes the entire 150 pound steel frame. Although the robot is not painting at this exact moment, there are similar gusts throughout the painting session, but it’s unclear whether the frame shakes are caused by the wind or the robot, so it’s harder to tell how strong exactly the wind is.
In the “GT” videos, you can see a wider spray nozzle which is more likely to have overspray.
Finally, although it’s not really visible due to resolution, during the cleanup of each paint session I inspect the tarp/plastic and the areas surrounding for any very fine overspray only visible up close, but never observe any (aside from the places on the plastic where I intentionally paint the plastic to check the nozzle isn’t clogged).
Next, Tim shared his thoughts on how previous sessions compared to the event in the Tech Square courtyard, with the following being his analysis of the results of his anemometer readings:
Note: today was relatively still wind.
The highest wind areas around TSRB that I noted (from measurements) were on the bridge near Square on Fifth (SQ5) and under the breezeway near the stairs leading towards the parking at 2 m/s peak and 1.8 m/s peak, respectively. Readings at the sidewalk were also notably high in the 2 m/s range for peaks.
By comparison, in the courtyard in front of the Centergy sign and near the TSRB sign, I noted only about 1.1-1.5 m/s peak and, when on the benches at the West side of the courtyard, could not get any noteworthy readings
Based on the above, the least windy area in the courtyard would be oriented E/W near the center of the courtyard.
I also took readings at Acuity brands plaza where the researchers had the installation last week. These peaked around 1.1 m/s, roughly the same readings I was getting near the Centergy sign.
Lastly, he shared his overall conclusions and recommendations:
When comparing the two courtyards together, the center of Centergy courtyard and the center of Acuity Brands plaza are not significantly different during the same conditions.
Based on the level/direction of wind today, the installation would be best suited to setup facing East near the benches along the West side of the Centergy courtyard.
My readings today are not absolute. The weather varies day-by-day and, while today was relatively still, there could be stronger gusts in any area based on the overall wind strength or the differing direction.
The data supports my hypothesis: the courtyard is the windiest where there are relatively open areas for wind to enter, but sturdy barriers to concentrate the gusts. The bridge is open N/S and from the East, so wind can blow through, but then it hits the bridge/covering itself and gets concentrated. By comparison, the courtyard near the benches is blocked on the N/W/E by buildings and the wind that comes in from the South is able to blow through the trees and lose speed. As you get closer to the Centergy building, more of the wind bounces off that building and we have more noticeable gusts.
I propose that we keep an eye on the wind and make sure it's not gusting significantly the day of the event. In the event of rain or high wind, we will cancel the demonstration. I will recommend to the researchers that we have a wind meter on hand and keep an eye on things, ideally with more tests done beforehand to determine the level of air velocity that would lead to known failures. Ideally I'd grab the speed of a spray can and figure how fast those droplets move to give a firm number but, generally speaking: if the distance of spray can from the canvas is three inches, then as long as the aerosol from the can is faster than the wind, the paint will not travel more than three inches out of line before it hits the canvas. This is a simplification of the full situation, however.
We at Tech Square ATL (TSQATL) Social Club were ecstatic to be involved in an event where a community of researchers are advancing globally-focused computing solutions and it was clear our participants were as well, based on the smiles on their faces!
Would you participate in a future interactive art installation? Let us know in the comments below.