Robot Calligraphy using Pseudospectral Optimal Control in Conjunction with a Novel Dynamic Brush Model

Abstract

Chinese calligraphy is a unique art form with great artistic value but difficult to master. In this paper, we formulate the calligraphy writing problem as a trajectory optimization problem, and propose an improved virtual brush model for simulating the real writing process. Our approach is inspired by pseudospectral optimal control in that we parameterize the actuator trajectory for each stroke as a Chebyshev polynomial. The proposed dynamic virtual brush model plays a key role in formulating the objective function to be optimized. Our approach shows excellent performance in drawing aesthetically pleasing characters, and does so much more efficiently than previous work, opening up the possibility to achieve real-time closed-loop control.

Multi-Pen Robust Robotic 3D Drawing Using Closed-Loop Planning

“…For example, Yao et al [13] proposed an approach to deformable brush control and developed a painting robot that was able to draw bamboos by using a writing brush. Wang et al [14] developed a Chinese calligraphy robot using a dynamic model of a writing brush. Drawing on non-planar surfaces is also a popular topic and received much research interest.…”