SwarmCube Workshop
A workshop and installation of autonomous LED cubes that communicate using phone dial-tones, exhibiting collective swarm behaviour — Art on Wires Festival, Oslo 2011.
Swarm Cubes are 4×4×4 LED cubes — each 6×6×6 cm — operating as multiplexed displays. Individual units connect via Mini-USB or run autonomously through embedded Arduino systems. What sets them apart is how they communicate: inter-cube signalling uses DTMF tones — the same beep-beep sequence you hear when dialling a phone number.
Grouped together, the cubes display emergent, swarm-like behaviour — "just like birds do." Visitors interact with the group; the cubes react collectively. Control is possible via PC (disabling the onboard Arduino) or directly through the Arduino IDE. Toublo handles animation. Open-source schematics and firmware available via the repository.