Creepy Keyboard Cat is a puppet that can move his hands pretending he is playing a piano. The music comes from the computer that has a digital keyboard created with Processing. Some keys on the computer are associated with a movement and a prerecorded sound of the cat to simulate he is playing his own keyboard. In this project I used one Arduino and two motors to move the mechanism able to move the cat's hands. Also this cat can play music generated by data, in order to perform generative music by himself.

Background
I have been trying to understand how mechanisms work, and this was an excellent opportunity to work with mechanisms and motors to move something through a digital device. Also it was an opportunity to apply what i learned about prototyping with legos in a previous class: mechanisms and things that move.

Audience
any kind of audience, specially kids.

User Scenario
A Stage for the cat and a backstage where the user can use the computer.

Implementation
The Cat was made with fabric and scraps from the shop, the mechanism with legos and pieces made with the laser cutter. The mechanism allows two movement directions using two servo motors connected to an Arduino board that is plugged in a computer from where an user can control the motors using a Processing interface.

Conclusion
i learned that animate an object using motors it's harder than animate it using our hands or our body. However the technology help us to produce more interesting kind of interactions.