Tote Bag Art Made With a Robotic Arm

This project is created as a course assignment at the California State University, Long Beach; taught by Behnaz Farahi: DESN 551: Materials, Tools, and Techniques of Prototype. This project was made in collaboration with Narges Goshayeshisafa and Lizzy Jaime

Today we'll be teaching you how to paint artwork on a tote bag using a robotic arm.

-Industrial Robot Arm, UR-10E model

-Rhino & Grasshopper Desktop Software

-Mondo Llama Multi-surface paint

-Dispensing Kit that fits into robotic arm attachment

We first went to Pinterest to find a simple line drawing that we would like to see on our tote bag. We found this image of an abstract face and decided to run with it.

To develop our image as an editable line drawing in grasshopper, we first brought the image into illustrator and made it a PNG with a transparent background. This is important so the line is one unit when brought into Grasshopper next. Once the curve was developed in illustrator we imported the .ai file into Rhino.

We brought the line drawing into Grasshopper and then lined it up with our tote bag to center the abstract face. This is where we control the robotic arm and dispenser.

We did a few test runs to see how the dispenser and it's pressure interacted with our material and the surface. The paint hardens over time but as it comes out of the dispenser, it's the same consistency as acrylic paint. Our initial pressure setting was too high, pushing out the material into one blob. After adjusting and turning the pressurizer down in it's setting, we were able to draw as a straight line, much more alike our image.

Before using a tote bag, we tested our pattern on a plain white piece of paper. First using a regular pen and then incorporating the dispenser. Once it was successful, we moved on to our totes.

We first started out with one color to draw the face, filling up the syringe with paint about half an inch high. Then we moved the tote to the right to create a more interesting, 3D like design with another color. In between colors we rinsed the syringe fully to clear out the first color. Make sure when you are done, to fully rinse the syringe to get all the leftover residue out for the next user. Soaking the needle tip in acetone is another helpful cleaning tool to get everything sanitized.

Our final result was four different color schemes on four different tote bags! Made to use, made to wear.