Robots Have Learned to Paint in Second Year of Robotic Art Contest

It was just announced that Google has developed AI that can sketch images. It should, therefore, come as no surprise that dozens of robots from around the world are now also painting with a brush, and many of them are quite skilled.

SEATTLE, April 21, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- It was just announced that Google has developed AI that can sketch images. It should, therefore, come as no surprise that dozens of robots from around the world are now also painting with a brush, and many of them are quite skilled.


The Robot Art 2017 competition returns for a second year with over 39 painting robots, more than twice the participants it had in its inaugural year. In addition to more robots, there is more artwork. More than 200 paintings have been submitted. With regards to the quality of the artwork, the event's sponsor and organizer, Andrew Conru, sums it up best:

"The quality of the paintings for many of the teams has reached levels that are comparable with human artists. Many of this year's entries are expressive, layered, and complex."

The creativity of the teams and robots was evident not only in the artwork they produced, but also in how they went about making the art. Of the 39 painting robots, no two teams took the exact same approach. The Manibus Team captured the movements of a ballerina and painted it to canvas. HEARTalion built a robot that paints based on emotional interactions with humans. share your inner unicorn used brainwaves to control a mark-making mobile robot. Other teams built custom robots that capitalized on their innate lack of precision to make abstract work such as Anguis, a soft snake robot that slithers around its canvas. Other robots were built to collaborate with their artistic creators such as Sander Idzerda's and Christian H. Seidler's entries.

Two returning entries that were notable for their skilled approach to representational paintings in last year's contest have gone abstract. e-David submitted multiple abstract self-portraits not of a human, but of the robot itself. Each of its works was a collaboration between an artist and the machine, where most of the decisions were actually made by e-David as it continually watched and optimized its own progress on the canvas with multiple external cameras. CloudPainter also submitted multiple abstract portraits. Its subjects were taken from photo shoots performed by the robot itself. For several of CloudPainter's paintings, the only artistic decision made by an artist was to schedule the photo shoot. The robot then used artificial intelligence and deep learning to make all other "artistic" decisions, including taking the photos, making an original abstract composition from its favorite, and then executing each brushstroke until it had calculated it had done the best it could to render its original abstract composition.

The Robot Art 2017 competition will be running between now and May 15th, when more than $100,000 in awards will be given to the top painting robots. Winners will be determined based on a combination of public voting, professional judges consisting of working artists, critics, and technologists, and by how well the team met the spirit of the competition — that is, to create something beautiful using a physical brush and robotics. The public can see the artwork and vote on their favorite robotic paintings at https://robotart.org/artworks/.

Featured Product

Model TR1 Tru-Trac

Model TR1 Tru-Trac

The Model TR1 Tru-Trac® linear measurement solution is a versatile option for tracking velocity, position, or distance over a wide variety of surfaces. An integrated encoder, measuring wheel, and spring-loaded torsion arm in one, compact unit, the Model TR1 is easy to install. The spring-loaded torsion arm offers adjustable torsion load, allowing the Model TR1 to be mounted in almost any orientation - even upside-down. The threaded shaft on the pivot axis is field reversible, providing mounting access from either side. With operating speeds up to 3000 feet per minute, a wide variety of configuration options - including multiple wheel material options - and a housing made from a durable, conductive composite material that minimizes static buildup, the Model TR1 Tru-Trac® is the ideal solution for countless applications.