Today in Mechanical Screensaver news:

8 years ago

Bruce Shapiro: Sisyphus

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Tags: art, balls, mpegs, toys, xscreensaver

7 Responses:

1. Pavel Lishin says:

   8 years ago at 8:54 am

   I'm not sure I understand what's happening here. Magnets underneath the sand?

   • yuubi says:

     8 years ago at 12:43 pm

     It looks like it tilts slightly. The photos page includes a view from below [1], which looks like mechanism to tilt the sand tray, and the videos page includes a real-time video [2], which looks like the whole tray moves.

     [1] http://www.taomc.com/sisyphus/2015/5/9/1lbyvxxz3dcytnfjko7w9ecr3fccx0

     [2] http://www.taomc.com/sisyphus-videos-1/2015/4/29/img-1038

     • Julian Calaby says:

       8 years ago at 12:08 am

       I'm not convinced, I don't see how they can have two balls moving if the table tilts.

     • Jeremy Leader says:

       8 years ago at 9:02 am

       If you watch the video closely, the table and the background stay in alignment as the camera moves. If the table were tilting, wouldn't the sand and the ball tend to move together? If you look at the underside view, the 6 support arms are attached only at the edge of the table, leaving a gap under the sand tray where an arm with a magnet could move.

       • Jeremy Leader says:

         8 years ago at 9:06 am

         "[The paths] are then read by the control program and translated to position commands sent to two motors arranged in a polar coordinate system, which positions the magnet beneath."

   • Kyle Huff says:

     8 years ago at 3:45 pm

     F*cking magnets. How do they work?

2. neal says:

   8 years ago at 12:01 pm

   this is so cool! I want one!