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New Elements Were Added to the Novel Chinese Writing Robot

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First of all, two sets of rail slider and an electrical cross slider formed the main structure of the robot. One set was installed at the top, while the other set was affixed at the bottom. The rail slider located at the top of the Control Freak writing robot is a manual structure. It is in the shape of an H and controls the forward and backward movements of the brush with the rail sliders on two sides. The rail slider in the center controls the side at movements of the brush. The movements of the electrical cross slider at the bottom of Control Freak writing robot, on the other hand, is controlled by the computer. It is a tabletop structure hidden under the rice paper. The artist uses computer software to control the movements of the electrical cross slider. With the use of computer software, the strokes of the character ‘heart’ is first transformed into g-codes that can be deciphered by computer chips. When the order of strokes of the character has been inputted into the computer chip, an instruction will be sent by the chip to the electrical cross slider that has been connected to the computer software, so that it would move according to the order of strokes for the character ‘heart’. A tailor-made round magnet is installed in the center of the tabletop, and when the electrical cross slider under the rice paper and the magnet move, the brush hanging in midair on top the of table will follow the  movements of the magnet under the paper. When the user pushes the start button of the writing robot, the computer software located beneath the table will automatically run the preset order of strokes of the character ‘heart’ once. The magnet under the rice paper will guide the magnet on the front end of the brush, and the participant can maneuver the brush freely at will in all directions. While exploring controllability and uncontrollability,  and using the wrist to resist the magnetic forces, the participant is able to create a calligraphic character that is truly unique to oneself.

 © 2021 by HUNG Keung + imhklab

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