Art Machines

SPRINT BRIEF

Use the art kit to design and build your own art machine. Explore how different parts move, connect, or interact to create patterns, marks, or textures. Experiment with motion, balance, and materials to see how your machine can make art in unexpected and creative ways.

to explore the innovative fusion of technology and art, enabling new forms of visual expression.

Why?

You will be utilizing this kit to explore different designs for your art machine model. The kit provides structure without limiting your creativity, encouraging you to experiment and make your own design choices.

Final Project Expectations

You will utilize the provided kit and explore multiple designs. Feel free to use additional materials.

Your machine must incorporate at least one mechanical and one electronic component in its design. Examples of mechanical components include gears, levers, or pulleys, while electronic components may consist of motors, sensors, or microcontrollers.

You must design and build a functional drawing machine.

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The design process will include 5 steps:

THE PROCESS

Look at past examples to get inspired

Precedent Research

Brainstorm ideas and sketch your machines movement in three frames

Conceptualization

Bring your prototype sketch to life by building a model that recreates your movement using the Art Machines Kit

Model Making

A good example of signals are "the launch of chatGPT" or "the fall of the iconic tunnel tree redwood" and good examples of drivers would be "artificial intelligence" or "climate change"

Add a touch of interactivity to bring your machine's movement to life.

Interactivity Integrated

Then, identify signals (glimpses of the future we already see today) and drivers (what made the signal possible)

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~10 min

~15 min

~60 mins

~ 10 mins

~10mins

Documentation

Take a video of your machine in motion and turn it into a gif

A precedent is a real-world example or project that you can research to better understand ideas related to your work.

Here are a few examples of drawing machines Think about how the movement works, which components are used, and what makes each one interesting. There are more examples in the Toolbox if you want to explore further.

Precedent Research

1.

In brainstorming, students collectively generate ideas that will shape the concepts for their group projects. They typically begin by listing ideas individually, then come together to share and discuss them using a pin-up brainstorming board filled with writing, drawings, Post-it notes, and lively conversation.

1 - ENCOURAGE WILD IDEAS

2 - SUSPEND JUDGMENT

4 - BUILD ON IDEAS

5 - BE VISUAL

3 - GO FOR QUANTITY

Wild ideas can often give rise to creative leaps.

Don’t shoot down someone else’s idea.

Aim for as many ideas as possible.

Build and expand on the ideas of others.

Sketch your ideas.

Brainstorming

A. Mechanisms

Which mechanisms will your project include?

Instructions: Look at the list of mechanisms examples and choose on or more to include in your machine.

B. Art inspiration

Which artists will you choose to inspire how your finished art will look?

Instructions: Select an artist whose work inspires you and for whom you wish to imitate with your drawing. bot.

Example

Scissor Lift and Mondrian

2.

Sketching in design thinking is a quick and visual way to explore, communicate, and develop ideas. It helps designers think through problems, test concepts, and share their thoughts with others—without needing polished drawings. Sketches can be rough, but they’re powerful tools for brainstorming, prototyping, and collaboration.

Sketching

Part of your brainstorming will involve sketching your ideas. These sketches can be more conceptual or more diagrammatic, but should help clarify your ideas and guide you towards a way to construct your drawing machine.

Prototyping is the process of turning your sketches and ideas into physical models that you can test and improve. It starts with drawing your concept, then building simple versions using materials to explore how it moves or works. Prototyping helps you test mechanisms (how parts move or connect) and kinetics (how motion happens), so you can find what works and what needs fixing.

CARDBOARD TECHNIQUES: JOINERY

Brads

Flanges

Brace

Skewer

Bend

Hinge

Slots

Butt Joint

CARDBOARD TECHNIQUES: Mechanism

Scissor lift

Grabbing

Waving

Tentacle

Curving

Sprin

Pulley

Cam & Follower

Model Making

3.

Start by choosing the mechanism(s) that your machine will use to create the art. Build the mechanism(s) using lo-fi materials.

For example

A swinging motion that can be used to drip or drag paint
Rotating Arm – A spinning part that can draw circles or spirals (e.g., like a spirograph or spinning marker).
Crank and Arm – A hand-turned crank that moves a pen back and forth (like an old sewing machine).
Sliding Track – A pen that moves in a straight line using a guided track (e.g., like a plotter).
Scissor Linkage (Expanding Arm) – A mechanism that opens and closes, pushing a pen in and out.

Example Bot Configurations

ACTIVITY MATERIALS

Cardboard

Colored Acetate

Bristol Papers

Zip-ties

Straws

Metal Ruler

Pencil

Markers

Cutting Blade

Masking Tape

Hot Glue Gun

String

Brads

Popsicles and wooden skewers

Model Making

Student Examples

Model Making

Student Examples

Model Making

Student Examples

Desk Critiques

Group Feedback

Kinds of Feedback

There are three forms of feedback. Understanding these can help us understand the conversations we have with our teams and improve our own ability to react to and use feedback to strengthen our designs.

Reaction-Based

Feedback

Direction-Based

Feedback

Question-based Feedback

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Feedback time!

Teachers are going to move around the class and give feedback to each group!

Make sure you have your research, sketches, and prototype.

Interactivity is when your design can respond to people or the environment. It means your project doesn't just sit still—it can move, light up, make sound, or react when someone touches it, presses a button, or gets close. Adding interactivity makes your design more engaging and dynamic, turning it into something that can communicate or perform.

Interactivity Integrated

4.

Next, you’ll add electronics to power your mechanisms and bring them to life—this is where interactivity begins, letting your project move.

Interactivity Integrated

4.

Learn about motors in the "electronics" folder in the toolbox.

؜ If your machine needs to shake, wiggle, or move randomly across the paper (like a dancing scribblebot)...

→ Use a vibration motor

Tape it to a lightweight base with markers as legs. The vibration will make it move on its own.

؜If your machine needs to spin something (like a rotating arm, spinning platform, or turning a marker)...

→ Use a DC motor

Attach the motor directly to the moving part's axis (like a cardboard wheel, platform, or marker arm).

Interactivity Integrated

4.

؜Mechanims that work with DC Motors (Spinning/Continuous Motion)

Rotating Arm: Great for spin art or drawing rotating patterns
A simple arm attached directly to the motor shaft
Crank and Slider: Good for making an arm draw waves or zig-zags
A crank attached to the motor turns, which pushes a connected sliding arm back and forth
Cam + Follower: Perfect for gentle bouncing or lifting motions
A cam (off-center disk) spins on the motor shaft, pushing a cardboard arm up and down as it rotates

Interactivity Integrated

4.

Examples for DC motor

Interactivity Integrated

4.

؜Mechanisms that work with Vibration Motor

Multi-Leg Marker Base
Several arms or markers attached to a round or square base

Interactivity Integrated

4.

Examples for Vibration motor

Document your work!

5.

Take a photo and record a video of your project moving and turn it into a gif.

End of Challenge!

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