Les voyages extraordinaires




THE ROBOTS
Technology The robots were made possible thanks to the cooperation of the Autonomous Systems Lab of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL). The development team, which was behind the world’s largest installation of autonomous and interactive robots during the Swiss National Exposition (Expo.02), was headed by Prof. Siegwart of the EPFL. The EPFL team worked together with a spin-off company from their group, BlueBotics, in order to create three sophisticated autonomous robots capable of interacting with the actors and the décor.	Design<< The three robots were designed by ECAL, the Vaud Cantonal School of Art at Lausanne. ECAL’s reputation extends well beyond Switzerland: the school and its students participate in most of the major design exhibitions, including those in Berlin, Venice and Milan. Their challenge was as simple as it was mind-boggling: turn the machines into characters.	Sensuality The machinery in the body of the most “feminine” of the robots, la danseuse, is the work of the precision-technician François Junod, one of the last people to practice the art of making mechanical moving figures. Mr Junod has succeeded in endowing this robot with a troubling, feminine grace.