In the near future, brainwave-controlled motorized prosthetic arms will replace antiquated hooks and restore people’s natural mobility. For Wired magazine. Leo Jung, art director.

My whiteboard-drawing robot intern, InternBot, and I would like to take a moment to say thanks. Thank you for all the amazing projects, inspiration, creativity and collaboration in 2011.

I feel truly fortunate to be doing what I love to do, and if InternBot had feelings, I’m sure he’d feel the same.

All the best to you & yours in the new year.

There was some interest in my robot intern, so I’ve put together a brief video explaining him. InternBot was inspired by projects like Hektor, AS220 Labs’ Drawbot and Make: Magazine’s Drawing Robot. The hardware consists of a whiteboard & marker, binder clips, fishing line, two stepper motors, an Arduino with Adafruit’s MotorShield, and a computer running Processing. The software was adapted from other open-source projects.

Like any intern, I’ve been giving InternBot the most menial, mundane tasks. But I’ve decided to put his time, if not his talent, up for your exploitation entertainment.

If you have an assignment you’d like to shirk on InternBot, email him at internbot@jamesprovost.com or tweet me with the hashtag #internbot.

Cutaway illustration of Boston Dynamics’ quadruped robot, BigDog showing internal components.

After seeing my Cult of Done Poster, compulsive Maker extraordinaire Bre Pettis asked me to collaborate on MakerBot, a low-cost, modular, open-source 3D rapid prototyping printer kit. The build-it-yourself robot prints physical objects designed in 3D software using extruded molten plastic. Builders are encouraged to share the objects they design via Thingiverse and even contribute to the development and improvement of MakerBot itself! My contribution to the project was of course the visuals. Together we developed an identity and imagery for MakerBot – a bold, playful retro-futuristic reality where a lunar office worker can email his son at home on Earth a toy he designed, and his son can remix and share it with friends. To learn more, check out MakerBot Industries.