Pop-Pop's Conveyor Belt

Artist: Kelly Kantala

Project Description:
Plastic bottle caps are attached to a conveyor belt that is positioned on the edge of a balcony 10 feet above floor level. The plastic caps are filled with Pop-Pops so that once they reach the end of the conveyor belt, the cap empties out and the Pop-Pops fall to the floor, creating an unexpected 'explosion' for the people standing at the drink table below.

The timing of the conveyor belt was randomized so the explosions were unpredictable.

We are thinking of patenting this process as consumption of drinks quadrupled after every pop.

System:
One Teleo Multi IO Module controls a geared DC motor connected to the PWM out. A light sensor with a laser pointer was used to sense when people walked by. The input was sent into a Max patch that generated random numbers of which only a few triggered the motor.

Kelly filling up the bottle caps with the pop-pops

Closeup of caps.

The pranksters from above.