The Billund Table: When Art meets LEGO Mindstorms

The Billund Table: Sand Art with LEGO MINDSTORMS

LEGO® MINDSTORMS® can be used to create humanoids and rovers, machines of various kinds, and even beautiful works of art. Andreas Baumgart proves this with his project, the Billund Table. The Billund Table is a design that uses LEGO MINDSTORMS to move a magnet under a glass plate using rotary and linear motion. A steel ball and fine sand is placed on top top of the glass plate The magnet moves the steel ball over the plate through the sand, creating beautiful harmonious movement and impressive patterns. In order to ensure the ball’s smooth movement over the table, the construction, the magnetic forces and the resistance of the sand had to be coordinated.

The goal is to keep the design as simple as possible, directing the viewer’s attention to events on the table. The code makes the ball draw continuous patterns into the sand. The speed is set so that the ball makes its tracks almost silently and, thus creating a calming, almost meditative, effect for the viewer.

Andreas Baumgart was inspired by Bruce Shapiro’s "Sisyphus Table" to create this project. He has other exciting projects that you can see on his website

Acknowledgements: Edited by Asha Seshan

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