Tens of thousands of people have visited Renishaw’s ‘Gromitronic’, one of the innovative interactive sculptures in Gromit Unleashed 2 — the third sculpture trail organised by the Bristol Children’s Hospital charity
The Grand Appeal.
A team of young engineers from Gloucestershire-based engineering company Renishaw (including apprentices and
graduates) designed and built Gromitronic using a range of engineering skills and technologies, including software engineering, mechanical engineering, electronics and metal additive manufacturing.
Visitors to the trail at Bristol’s M Shed museum, which ran for two months (and closed on 2 September), could interact with Gromitronic by touching his plasma ball nose, pressing buttons on his back and controlling the light sequence across the sculpture.
Some features, such as his moving tail and collar, were additively manufactured from titanium and aluminium powder using Renishaw’s 3-D printing machines.
Visitors that looked closely would also have spotted some additively manufactured Bristol landmarks, such as the Clifton
Suspension Bridge and Bristol Cathedral, in the studs of his collar. Sarah Cannon, the project manager of the Renishaw team, said: “Gromitronic celebrated the history of electronics, as well as innovation and invention in Bristol.
“The sculpture was fully interactive so that it would excite visitors, but we also wanted to start conversations about the engineering skills required to build our character.”