Light Dance: 3D printing robots march to the world
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September 21 07:37:23, 2025
A little over a year ago, a young inventor named Sarah Petkus, known as "Maker Girl," introduced her *Robot Army* project—a delta robotic system that captured the attention of many. With the help of Kickstarter, she successfully raised $25,000 to bring her vision to life. Not stopping there, Sarah and her partner Mark Koch continued to refine their creation, eventually developing the *Honeycomb Interactive Mini Delta Robot*, which is 3D-printed and more advanced than its predecessor.
For more on Sarah’s journey, check out: *"Girl's Robotic Army Road: From Hangers to 3D Printing."*
Their latest project, called *Light Play*, is an upgraded version of the original *Robot Army*. This summer, Sarah and Mark will be showcasing their light-and-dance robot army at the Maker Carnival in the California Bay Area on May 16th and 17th.
Sarah, the creative mind behind the project, describes herself as both a designer and a storyteller. She handles the aesthetic and structural design of the robots, while Mark, an electronics engineer, manages all the technical aspects—like circuitry and coding.
The duo first unveiled their light-dancing robot army at last year’s Maker Carnival. It was a formation of 30 delta robots capable of mimicking human movements with impressive precision. The performance was a hit, and Sarah hopes the next version will include even more robots and allow them to operate more independently.
In a recent blog post, Sarah shared her vision: “Imagine if every Delta robot is a leaf on the grass, and your movements are shaking their winds. Your bouncing and twisting will create a ‘robot wave’ of various complex patterns in the robot formation.â€
This year, the team is working hard to assemble 84 robots from 3D-printed parts for their *Light Dance Machine Army*. Last year they had 54, and their ultimate goal is to reach 1,000.
In addition to increasing the number of robots, they’ve also improved the design. They redesigned the honeycomb-like base to make it more durable and visually appealing. The modular structure allows the robots to adapt to different exhibition spaces easily.
For connectivity, the robots are linked via the DMX optical control protocol. Mark has been busy creating a new graphical interface using Netbeans to simulate and visualize how the robots behave. They're also looking for a better sensor input device than the Xbox Kinect used last year, aiming for more responsive control and interaction within larger environments.
With each iteration, Sarah and Mark are pushing the boundaries of what a robotic art installation can be—blending creativity, engineering, and interactive technology into one stunning experience.