Chair 2 - Merging the mundane with the uncanny

"Created by Michael Candy, is a project exploring the mundane with the uncanny, where an ordinary chair "comes alive" through motion. Developed during a residency at New Lab, Detroit (Summer 2024), where Michael had access to advanced fabrication and prototyping facilities, Chair 2 is a revisit of one of Michael's earliest projects ( Chair, 2009) - a six-legged walking chair built from found materials. With over a decade's experience since then, he wanted to re-imagine the concept using refined methods, digital fabrication, and discreet engineering."

"Four-legged walking mechanism is driven by elliptical cams, creating a slow, deliberate gait. All electronics, motors, and power are hidden within the 70mm-wide seat frame of the chair. Powered by custom 30Ah battery packs, with an operating time of ~5-6 hours per charge. Movement control is handled by an Arduino paired with a RoboClaw 2x30A motor controller. Navigation uses a Pixy2 vision sensor which detects and follows/reverses from a boundary line made with electrical tape and allows the chair to stay confined to specific gallery spaces."

A project animates an ordinary steel chair by concealing robotic systems within a narrow 70mm seat frame so the object reads as everyday furniture. A four-legged mechanism driven by off-centre elliptical cams produces a slow, deliberate gait refined through extensive prototyping and scale 3D-printed models. All electronics and motors are hidden inside the frame and are powered by custom 30Ah battery packs delivering roughly 5–6 hours per charge. Movement control uses an Arduino with a RoboClaw 2x30A motor controller. Navigation relies on a Pixy2 vision sensor that detects and follows a boundary line of electrical tape to confine motion to gallery spaces. Two identical units were built to enable swap-outs for longer exhibitions.

Read at CreativeApplications.Net