Caterpillar and Woodpile

Reuben Margolin created this sculpture of a caterpillar with nine electric motors ascending a woodpile. A micro-controller with a file storing a quarter-million angles is housed within the caterpillar’s body. The caterpillar can enter the woodpile because the motors progressively follow these angles. The woodpile is not as haphazard as it appears but rather follows a prescribed polynomial spline within specific convex and concave curvature constraints. It was constructed entirely of scrap wood and took around one week to complete.