Disco lamp: An interactive robot lamp

When watching a Pixar movie, we are always amused by the cute and sprightly lamp hopping up and down to replace the letter “I” of the word “PIXAR” before the movie starts. A simple movement, but a touching one. Here, motivated by wondering what other functionality a lamp can have, we report on the design and development of an interactive robotic lamp. It can sense hand gestures, thus either providing appropriate lighting to the area where the hand resides, or changing its mode between lighting and music. The movable and reactive lighting permits the operator to work freely in front of a bench with a large area which needs intensive lighting. When the lamp is in music mode, it becomes a robot dancer which follows the rhythm of the music and provides disco-style dynamic lighting.