Worth a watch. She has built a home-made loom with automation using Arduino and 3D-printer parts. It is pretty brilliant!
Excerpt from the video description:
> A computer-controlled handloom is a hybrid fabrication tool: while the loom greatly speeds the process of weaving by precisely selecting threads for a pattern, a human weaver is present and involved for the entire process. Like any computational tool, such a loom can embody both expert precision and fluidly emergent outcomes; “the trick” is in crafting generative logics that mediate the material constraints of the weaving process to support technically elaborate outcomes, spur creativity, or generate delight. Lea will discuss historical and contemporary tactics for algorithmic and improvisational handweaving, including her own work on personal interactive jacquard weaving systems.
Excerpt from the video description:
> A computer-controlled handloom is a hybrid fabrication tool: while the loom greatly speeds the process of weaving by precisely selecting threads for a pattern, a human weaver is present and involved for the entire process. Like any computational tool, such a loom can embody both expert precision and fluidly emergent outcomes; “the trick” is in crafting generative logics that mediate the material constraints of the weaving process to support technically elaborate outcomes, spur creativity, or generate delight. Lea will discuss historical and contemporary tactics for algorithmic and improvisational handweaving, including her own work on personal interactive jacquard weaving systems.