Actuator is a dance work about the meeting of human and machine. The piece seeks to explore our inborn tendency to view machines as living, even personal creatures. How quickly will we begin to sympathize with an industrial robot that dances along with a human - or seems to react to the person's gestures and movements? Choreography and programming: Thomas Freundlich Dance: Thomas Freundlich and ABB IRB 1600 industrial robot Lighting: Mia Kivinen Robot and software: ABB Oy Training and technical consulting: ABB Oy / Juha Mainio Production: Jutta Heikkilä / Loistomeininki Oy, Elina Pekkala / Zodiak Stage manager: Tuukka Törneblom Music: Material, Massive Attack, J.S. Bach, Billie Holiday, es, Tod Dockstader, electronic and shortwave audio collage Duration 30 minutes Premiere at Z-in-motion festival, Zodiak Centre for New Dance, Helsinki, Finland on May 14th 2008 Robots are used in countless tasks in all areas of industry. Typically, industrial robots are "arms" with 5 to 6 independent axes of movement that are attached to the floor or ceiling and equipped with different kinds of tools. In the arts, robots have occasionally appeared in various installations and performances. However, utilizing an industrial robot as an equal "performer" alongside a dancer is, for all practical purposes, an unexplored field. We are all familiar with the computer that "acts up" or the car that "refuses" to start in cold weather. How will we relate to a robot that dances with - or against - a person? "The integration of dance and technology has fascinated me for a long time. As a contemporary dance choreographer, I am fascinated by the unique movement quality of an industrial robot. "The movement accuracy of a robot is typically less than 0.05 mm. What is surprising is that the mechanism can move not only in a sharp and angular (literally 'robotic') fashion, but also with eerie, dreamlike grace. In slow sequences using simultaneous rotation of multiple axes, the heavy industrial machine sometimes seems to float weightlessly through the air. "On the other hand, the robot is capable of superhumanly fast and precise movements, punctuated by the aggressive buzz and whine of the motors. For a choreographer, all this opens up an exciting world of possibilities! "Creating a dance piece as a duet for human and robot also raises interesting questions about how we perceive dance. Is a choreographed movement sequence dance, if it is performed by a machine? Can a robot be considered a performer? Can a machine make the viewer smile, or touch him or her emotionally?" -TF

• published: 14 Jun 2009
• views: 4669

STORY: AMISOM ACTING FORCE COMMANDER COMMENDS TROOPS FOR DEFEATING AL SHABAAB DURATION: 3:50 SOURCE: AMISOM PUBLIC INFORMATION RESTRICTIONS: This media asset is free for editorial broadcast, print, online and radio use. It is not to be sold on and is restricted for other purposes. All enquiries to thenewsroom@auunist.org CREDIT REQUIRED: AMISOM PUBLIC INFORMATION LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/AMHARIC NATURAL SOUND DATELINE: 10/JUNE/2016, HALGAN, SOMALIA SHORT LIST 1. Wide shot, AMISOM Acting Force Commander, Maj. Gen. Nakibus Lakara, visiting the Ethiopian troops Halgan base in central Somalia 2. Med shot, captured ammunition from a recent Al Shabaab attack 3. Med shot, Ethiopian soldiers 4. Close up shot, captured ammunition 5. Med shot, captured ammunition 6. Wide shot, captured ammunition 7. Med shot, magazines 8. SOUNDBITE (English) Maj. Gen. Nakibus Lakara, AMISOM Acting Force Commander “Let me congratulate Col. Ayenom and the troops for doing a very commendable job. We have learnt lessons from previous attacks. Al Shabaab has been exploiting AMISOM weaknesses but over time we have been able to learn lessons and share the experiences and I think this is evidence of the troops being able to pick those lessons from previous experiences. We have come a long way and we shall ensure those weaknesses are addressed. So the troops have done a very commendable job.” 9. Close up shot, guns 10. Wide shot, captured ammunition 11. Close up shot, bullets 12. Close up, captured ammunition 13. Wide shot, AMISOM Acting Force Commander, Maj. Gen. Nakibus Lakara, inspecting the captured ammunition 14. SOUNDBITE (English) Maj. Gen. Nakibus Lakara, AMISOM Acting Force Commander “This is a big catch, very big catch. You know the communication gadgets, machines guns and the B10’s. It is a big catch, and of course the human catch as well. You have seen the bodies. It is massive.” 15. Wide shot, structure that was destroyed during the attack 16. Close up shot, Maj. Gen. Nakibus Lakara talking to the Ethiopian commanders 17. Wide shot, destroyed structure 18. SOUNDBITE (Amharic) Col. Ayenom Mesfin, AMISOM Sector Four deputy commander “We were attacked by about 400 enemies from four different fronts at dawn and the fight ended after 9:30am.” 19. Close up shot, captured ammunition 20. Wide shot, captured ammunition 21. Close up shot, guns 22. SOUNDBITE (English) Maj. Gen. Nakibus Lakara, AMISOM Acting Force Commander “I am going to report to the Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission for Somalia and Head of Mission that you have done a commendable job. I have seen the evidence on the ground.” 23. Wide shot, AMISOM ENDF troops clapping 24. SOUNDBITE (English) Lt. Col Joe Kibet, AMISOM Force Spokesperson “The claims by the Al-Shabaab are ridiculous. We have seen with our own eyes and it is pure propaganda to say that they overran this camp.” 25. Wide shot, soldiers singing 26. Close up shot, soldiers singing 27. Med shot, Maj. Gen. Nakibus Lakara clapping as the soldiers sing 28. Wide shot, soldiers singing 29. Close up shot , a soldier singing AMISOM ACTING FORCE COMMANDER COMMENDS TROOPS FOR DEFEATING AL SHABAAB Hiiraan, June 10, 2016 - The AMISOM Acting Force Commander, Maj. Gen. Nakibus Lakara, today commended Ethiopian troops for thwarting an Al-Shabaab attack and inflicting heavy casualties on the Al Qaeda-linked militants. Maj. Gen Lakara visited the Halgan Forward Operation Base, in Hiiraan region, a day after troops from the Ethiopian National Defence Forces (ENDF), serving under AMISOM, thwarted a dawn attack by Al Shabaab, killing more than 100 militants. Maj. Gen. Lakara was received at the base by the AMISOM sector four Deputy Commander, Col. Ayenom Mesfin, who briefed him on the operation and took him on a guided tour of the camp where a huge cache of arms seized from the attackers was displayed. The battlefield was still strewn with bodies of slain Al Shabaab fighters. “Let me congratulate Col. Ayenom and the troops for doing a very commendable job. Al Shabaab has been exploiting AMISOM weaknesses but over time we have been able to learn lessons and share the experiences and this is evidence of the troops being able to pick those lessons from previous experiences,” he noted. The Acting Force Commander said AMISOM had come a long way and will continue to ensure the weaknesses are addressed. “This is a big catch; the communication gadgets, machines guns and the B10’s and of course the terrorists as well. It is massive,” he said in an interview moments after touring the battleground. Col. Ayenom revisited the bloody Thursday, saying Al Shabaab had attempted to overrun the camp but found AMISOM soldiers more than ready for battle, forcing the terrorists to flee after suffering major casualties. The fighting lasted more than four hours.

• published: 10 Jun 2016
• views: 1341