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Concordia graduates use drones to make geometric art

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Concordia graduates using drones to make art
WATCH: Two Concordia grads have created a project that employs drones to trace artistic designs. As Global's Billy Shields reports, the drawings are created through special algorithms – Dec 27, 2017

Julia Zamboni and Bruno Carvalho have created a project that uses drones to trace designs in the air with the aid of algorithms more commonly used by airplane pilots.

It ropes in three departments at Concordia University in Montreal: robotics, engineering and art.

Sensors on the drones send and receive information to a computer, Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017. Billy Shields/Global News

According to Carvalho, even an experienced drone pilot would struggle to trace usable designs because of the need for precision.

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“I thought about different designs,” Zamboni said.

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“I thought that this kind of movement for the drones could have precision.”

An example of the “spirograph” style images produced by Zamboni and Carvalho. Photo by Natasha Vesper.
An example of the “spirograph” style images produced by Zamboni and Carvalho. Photo by Natasha Vesper. Natasha Vesper

By using sensors and cameras, the drone is controlled completely by a computer.

The drones can yield designs much like a complex spirograph — a geometric drawing.

The graduates said they can envision expanding the project to incorporate multiple drones — or those that would respond to live music.

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