Servo rotary indexing units incorporated in sculpture

As one of Europe's leading manufacturers and suppliers of rotary indexing technology, Weiss is presented with new and challenging applications almost every day. However, even Weiss' engineers were surprised when they found themselves involved in the world of art, supplying twelve freely programmable, servo rotary indexing units for incorporating into the engineering sculpture Metalmorphosis.

Czech artist David Cerny was commissioned to design the revolving super-sculpture by the American Asset Corporation, a USA estate agent in North Carolina. The Metalmorphosis sculpture has the form of a human head and comprises a number of revolving stainless steel elements, each of which is controlled separately, providing the effect of dissecting the sculpture's features. The individual rotating elements are driven by twelve Weiss NR15000Z rotary indexing rings.

This highly individual piece of art stands 10m tall, weighs 14 tonnes and has seven revolving stainless steel elements. Water flows from the mouth of the sculpture into a fountain at the base. Software controls the array of motors within the sculpture, enabling the movement of the separate rotating elements to be choreographed by the artist himself, via the internet. A live stream video of the moving sculpture can be viewed online at www.metalmorphosis.tv.

The complex construction process was undertaken by the Czech company Deimos. Construction began in late 2006 and the sculpture was officially unveiled by dignitaries from the Czech Republic at the end of September 2007. For David Cerny, this is the continuation of his artistic work in which he combines mechanical engineering and data technology as an integral part of his design.

Weiss is delighted to have been part of this innovative and interesting project, and the reliability of the Weiss indexers will ensure that Metalmorphosis keeps heads turning for a long time to come.