Robot monk

This work is a prototype robot built using micro:bit’s ability to generate sound in response to the amount of light detected by its sensors. When it receives a certain level of light, a servo moves the robot’s arm so that the mallet it holds strikes a chime four times, producing sounds reminiscent of those used by Tibetan monks for meditation.

The piece therefore plays with light, sound and interaction. The light supplied by a participant causes the robot to move its arm in a sequence of four repeated motions and strike the chime, inviting the listener into meditation and an altered state of awareness that, through greater self-awareness, increases their inner light. Light creates sound, and sound in turn increases inner light.

The micro:bit display also sends the participants outside the message “Gimme light to sound the chime”, leaving it in their hands to decide whether to increase the light received by the robot and thereby trigger the process that produces the sound.

The robot takes the form of a monk — the Robot Monk — recalling Tibetan monks who use percussion instruments in their meditative practices and for whom light and sound are central elements of spiritual practice.