For many years, I worked as an industrial designer for other artists, often brought in to solve design and fabrication challenges. This experience led me into a number of robotics projects. Highlights include collaborating with Max Dean and Raffaello D’Andrea on The Robotic Chair, and serving as an artist-in-residence at ETH Zurich with D’Andrea, where I consulted with master’s and doctoral students on complex robotic problems.
The Robotic Chair (Max Dean, Raffaello D’Andrea, and Matt Donovan) is an autonomous robot that collapses into six separate pieces, then drives across the floor to reassemble itself and stand upright—only to fall apart again and repeat the performance.
The Robotic Table (Max Dean and Raffaello D’Andrea) is an autonomous robot that attempts to have a relationship with visitors through movement. I was responsible for the mechanical design and fabrication.
The Balancing Cube is an autonomous robot that balances on a point. It was produced as part of a masters level project class at ETH Zurich. I consulted with students around mechanical design and fabrication issues.
The Distributed Flight Array is a group of autonomous robots that can fall apart, reconfigure themselves, and take flight again. It was produced as part of a masters level project class at ETH Zurich. I consulted with students around mechanical design and fabrication issues.