artistic beach robot

The adorable Beachbot artistic mobile robot can turn an ordinary beach into an artist’s canvas.   Watch the video…

The Beachbot little bot conceived by Disney Research and working in partnership with a student team at ETH Zurich.

Thanks to its innovative balloon wheels, the robot is able to traverse sandy beaches without leaving any noticeable tracks.

Beachbot mobile robot

Drawing is achieved using a controllable rake at the rear of the robot, with individually controllable pins that can be raised and lowered to create thick or thin lines in the sand.

The drawing area on the beach is defined simply using four vertical poles that define the corners of the desired sand canvas. The Beachbot can then determine its position on the canvas to a high degree of accuracy using depth sensing and IMU (inertial measurement unit) technology. Artwork can be pre-programmed as the robot can draw lines or create block-filled areas. Alternately manual remote can be used to turn a beach into a live sketchpad.