Datagraph

Educate the general public about new technologies using a robot that draws with data.

Date

2018

Results

Used by Twitter France in 2018 during its ‘Best of Tweets’ public party.

Datagraph is a low-tech robot that draws data visualizations on large vertical surfaces. This creative installation combines 3D printing, mechanics, geometry and Arduino commands to give data flows a physical existence.

Problem

Algorithms and databases are, by their nature, abstract and difficult for the general public to grasp. To allow inexperienced audiences to use these new technologies, we wanted to present them with more of a human dimension.

Solution

The system works with an Arduino board. It includes a hardware part: pulleys, servo motors, structure, power supply. Its software includes motor controller firmware and tracking optimization software to reduce movement time. Finally, we added a status display in order to monitor current and upcoming drawings, as well as the estimated time remaining.