From Dances To Theatre

This past spring, the HIVE Lab worked to develop a new autonomous scenic unit for the Nevermore musical. Though the musical did not run, we learned several important lessons through the development process!

• Performing on a large stage needs to be treated like an off-road navigation challenge. The gaps between trap doors and solid groups provide tricky spots for the robot to traverse.
• Our designs were solid in isolation, but the coupling of the scenic wagon to the robot amplified the issues with uneven floors.
• Incorporating additional sensors in a mecahnically modular way remains a challenge.

We plan to iterate on the robot design this summer and fall and hope to try again with a one Act demo play in Spring 2027.