Interactive art installation
Slewing ring bearings move owl sculptures
Austin, Texas has had a new public attraction since last year: two giant, three-metre-high owls that are illuminated from the inside and can be turned by anyone thanks to a clever mechanism. The rotating rings on which the sculptures rest play a key role.
The "Kempelen's Owls" are inspired by 18th century inventor Wolfgang von Kempelen's machines and will be permanently installed just steps away from the Austin Public Library and a bustling shopping district. "People will say, "Let's meet at the owls," explains Dan Sternof Beyer, founder and creative director of New American Public Art. The multidisciplinary studio oversees interactive projects from conception and design to production and installation.
Each owl sits on a dodecahedron, a geometric body with twelve sides. The special feature of Kempelen's Owls is a hidden mechanism that allows visitors to secretly turn the birds' heads themselves. "The mechanism is barely visible, but freely accessible," explained Sternof Beyer. "This will provide a few moments of surprise for passers-by."
Slewing ring bearing moves the head
The central component of the movement is a slewing ring from igus in Cologne. It makes the rotary movement of the owl's head possible in the first place. The PRT-01-300 slewing ring is lubrication- and maintenance-free, can withstand high loads and is highly resistant to wear. "The bearing that rotates the owl's head is one of the elementary parts of the project - both physically and conceptually," emphasizes Sternof Beyer.
"We had very specific requirements: the bearing had to be particularly wide so that the mechanical components and lighting elements could be guided through it. It also had to withstand high axial and dynamic loads so as not to pose a risk to the public and be as maintenance-free as possible despite various weather conditions. These specific quality requirements already ruled out 90 percent of the bearings available on the market."
High requirements
The sliding surface of the igus slewing ring is made of the high-performance polymer iglidur J, which is characterized by good chemical resistance, vibration damping and low moisture absorption. The slewing ring can withstand a static axial load of 27,000 newtons and a dynamic axial load of 7,000 newtons.
"Thanks to the large outer diameter of 450 millimetres, less support material was required for the sculpture. And the large inner diameter of 430 millimetres made it easy to lay fiber optic cables to light up the owl's eyes at night," explained Sternof Beyer. dsc
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