The motion of the dancing strandbeest is derived from two rotational movements: one within the part, and one between parts. The internal movement is the same that Theo Jansen utilizes for his strandbeest, with a simplified geometry extracted from the sketch to form the solid leg. The twisting of the solid is controlled to yield a slight concave taper below the bend.
A second part mirrors the single leg and modifies it to generate a bifurcated, differentiated pair of legs. All parts are chamfered at their ends to create a visually piecemeal assembly.
A third part acts as a connector.
Parts connect together end-to-end via three constraints: contact, coincidence, and angular. The angular constraint is driven by an angle parameter, which is then tied to the "theta" parameter within the bifurcated part. When the bifurcated "theta" = 320°, the angular constraint equals 320°, and the single leg part "theta" is 100° less (220°). The result is a form that does not repeat itself within the first three iterations of theta from 0° to 360°. A new result is created every single frame of the animation, and the looping period has not yet been determined.
mark keller: 03_dancing strandbeest
DANCING STRANDBEEST