Kinetic “Strandbeest” Sculptures That Move And Live On Their Own #ArtTuesday
Dutch Artist Theo Jansen creates, “Strandbeests”, lifelike sculptures that move and survive on their own. via Wimp.com and youtube
Dutch artist Theo Jansen makes kinetic sculptures out of PVC that can move on their own using wind power. He hopes to one day create an “artificial intelligence” for his creations that can overcome any obstacle in their environment and move forever.
Every Tuesday is Art Tuesday here at Adafruit! Today we celebrate artists and makers from around the world who are designing innovative and creative works using technology, science, electronics and more. You can start your own career as an artist today with Adafruit’s conductive paints, art-related electronics kits, LEDs, wearables, 3D printers and more! Make your most imaginative designs come to life with our helpful tutorials from the Adafruit Learning System. And don’t forget to check in every Art Tuesday for more artistic inspiration here on the Adafruit Blog!
Theo Jansen’s Strandbeest walks around leisurely, propelled naturally by the wind flowing through its turbines. Now you can build and enjoy your very own miniature version – a small Strandbeest that glides gracefully across surfaces without electricity or batteries.
The Strandbeest is a kinetic, wind-propelled sculpture that was designed by physicist/artist Theo Jansen. While the original was designed for the beach (strandbeest is Dutch for “beach beast”), this do-it-yourself version will work equally well on any flat surface. It’s perfect for kids or adults and isn’t too hard so it won’t take more than an afternoon to put together.
While the instructions with this product come in Japanese, we’ve included the English Manual so you can quickly set up your own.
Gakken is a Japanese publishing company founded in 1946. In the 1970s, they began selling educational toys, books, magazines, and electronic kits. Their kits are known for their smart design and relative ease
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Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
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