Sunny Side Up Is a Sundial That Replaces That Pesky Sun with a Robotic Lamp

Sundials are a pretty ingenious way of telling time using just a shadow being cast by the sun. It’s hard to imagine a way to measure the passage of time in a way more simple than just jamming a stick into the dirt. But, a key component of the sundial is right there in the name: the sun. What if it’s overcast outside or nighttime? Or, you’re in a cave — or, more likely, in a building?

That’s what Sunny Side Up addresses with a light held by a robot arm. Of course, it’s about 99% art and only 1% practical. As AATB, the studio that built it, says “Sunny Side Up raises questions on our current disconnect from the planet and circadian rhythms. In a future where cities get more and more polluted, will our current disconnect from starlight and the night sky permeate to daylight and the sun’s position?”

I have my doubts about the ability of Sunny Side Up to fix any of that, but it sure does look cool! The sundial portion of the piece is a simple steel rod turned on a lathe and placed perpendicularly to a wall. A Universal Robots UR10 robotic arm is placed above the rod, and is programmed to move around the rod in a controlled manner to maintain its distance. An Arduino-based controller handles the brightness of the LED lamp, so that it brightens and dims as it crosses the arc.

Sunny Side Up was created for the U-JOINTS art exhibition and was displayed during the Milan Design Week in 2018. Whether it will achieve the goal of raising questions about our relationship with the planet is yet to be seen. But, the parts look well made, and the execution of the design is beautifully minimalist and industrial.