Vinny

Vinny is a Fairino FR5, a six-axis collaborative robot. I am teaching it to paint. It is a long-term side project that I return to in phases, sometimes after months of rest. The goal is not to automate painting. I want to find out what it means when a machine makes a mark.

Much of the work is in the software. I built tools that turn SVG drawings into strokes that make sense for a brush. I also wrote my own toolkit to control the robot over Ethernet: speed, orientation, tool height and timing.

I have tried pens, markers, syringes and brushes. With pens it is about pressure, speed and angle. For acrylic paint I use syringes made for glue or solder resist, driven by compressed air. Brushes are the hardest. They bend, drag, soak up paint and run dry.

I am not after perfection, but after interesting behaviour. Some of the most surprising results come from failure: when the brush runs dry, or the robot hesitates. The videos show some of the tests. Some are messy. Some are beautiful.