FlowIO Pneumatiikan kehitysalusta by Ali Shtarbanov

Hopea Tieteelliset instrumentit · 2021

FlowIO Pneumatiikan kehitysalusta

by Ali Shtarbanov

Hopeapalkinto A' Design Award 2021 in Tieteelliset instrumentit
CLIENT: Ali Shtarbanov, MIT Media Lab
Estimated Number of Design Views: 727,602
Verification code F791D67654 · Verify this award

Visit Site View at A' Design Award Press Release

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About FlowIO Pneumatiikan kehitysalusta

FlowIO on pneumatiikan kehitysalusta pehmeiden robottien ja ohjelmoitavien materiaalien ohjaukseen, toimintaan ja tunnistukseen. Päämoduuli yhdistää venttiilit, anturit, mikro-ohjaimen, akun ja laturin. Pumppumoduulit liitetään magneettisesti, ja niitä voidaan vaihtaa käytön aikana, ja saatavilla on pieniä, keskikokoisia ja suuria vaihtoehtoja eri paineille ja virtausnopeuksille. Moduulit on suljettu 3D-tulostettuihin napsautuskiinnitteisiin koteloihin. Ohjelmistotyökalupakki lisää mobiili- ja työpöytäkäyttöliittymät, Bluetooth-ohjauksen sekä ohjelmointirajapinnat. FlowIO soveltuu sekä työpöytä- että puettaviin projekteihin.

About the Hopeapalkinto A' Design Award

FlowIO Pneumatiikan kehitysalusta on Hopeapalkinnon A' Design Award -voittaja, äärimmäisen arvostettu tunnustus, joka myönnetään huippuluokan, upeille ja vaikuttaville designeille. Hopeavoittajat ovat äärimmäisen loistavia ja erittäin luovia teoksia, jotka havainnollistavat suunnittelijoidensa erinomaista asiantuntemusta, lahjakkuutta ja terävyyttä. FlowIO Pneumatiikan kehitysalusta:n odotetaan olevan ihana, esimerkillinen teos, joka on huomattavan ammattimainen ja syvästi innovatiivinen. Tämä Hopeapalkinnon A' Design Award -voittajadesign on erittäin merkittävä, ihailtu keksintö, joka hyödyttää taiteen, tieteen, designin ja teknologian rajojen laajentamista. FlowIO Pneumatiikan kehitysalusta on laajalti kadehdittu luomus, joka herättää haluja, tuo myönteisiä tunteita ja sytyttää hämmästystä ja ihmetystä.

Press Kit

Unique Properties: FlowIO is a fully-integrated, general-purpose development platform for control of soft robots and programmable materials. With magnetically connected pump modules that are swappable on-the-fly, FlowIO can satisfy diverse project needs of researchers, artists, and makers. A software toolkit with mobile and desktop graphical interfaces, Bluetooth controls, and APIs for Arduino and JavaScript — enable users from any technical background to get started and unleash their creativity with FlowIO.
Dimensions & Packaging: Five pneumatic I/O ports, each capable of 7 actions, and three swappable pump modules (small, medium, large) can satisfy different needs for pressures (-26 to 30 psi), size, and flow-rates. FlowIO with small pumps has dimensions 59x55x28 mm and mass of only 114g. Expansion modules and accessories enable additional sensing, control, and mounting options for both wearable and nonwearable applications. BLE Capability, multiple APIs, and a GUI enable diverse options for interacting with FlowIO.
Tags: Development Platform, Toolkit, Pneumatic Control System, Soft Robotics, Programmable Materials, Shape Change, Tangible User Interface, Wearables, Arduino, Raspberry Pi
Production Technology: FlowIO contains a main module, different pump modules, expansion modules, and accessories. The main module integrates 7 valves, 2 custom PCBs, sensors, microcontroller, and a battery with charger. Each pump module has 2 pumps, a custom PCB, and a battery with integrated charger. Auxiliary modules also consist of custom PCBs. The modules connect magnetically and are enclosed in 3D-printed snap-fit enclosures, that can be printed in any color. All hardware designs are made public and open-source.
Design Challenge: The main challenge was making FlowIO highly energy-efficient and miniaturized yet fully-integrated with pumps, valves, sensors, electronics, batteries. and even charging circuits. Other pneumatic platforms with far fewer capabilities are 5-10 times larger than FlowIO and they still require external pumps and/or power sources. Over a dozen design iterations were dedicated towards finding clever ways of reducing size. Developing multiple APIs and a cross-platform GUI was another major challenge.
Research: Over a dozen people have used FlowIO to date, from PhD researchers and high-school students to makers and artists. It has enabled people to develop projects in various categories including interactivity, artistic expression, locomotion, telepresence, haptic feedback, and assistive technologies. Feedback was collected from existing and prospective users continuously to inform many of the design iterations. FlowIO was also used as a teaching tool in a graduate digital fabrication course at MIT.
Inspiration: Arduino and Raspberry Pi democratized electronics and computing. FlowIO aims to democratize soft robotics and programmable materials in a similar way. The lack of development platforms for soft robotics makes the field highly inaccessible for most people and stifles innovation. The FlowIO platform was developed with the goal to democratized the emerging field of soft robotics and make rapid prototyping more accessible for researchers, artists, designers, and makers.
Project Duration: FlowIO originated out of necessity as a system I made for my own research in soft robotics and morphable interfaces at MIT Media Lab. As many other researchers, makers, and artists showed strong interest and asked to use FlowIO in their own works, in late 2019 the idea was born to augment FlowIO into a truly general purpose pneumatics development platform suitable for everyone. FlowIO has now undergone over 20 prototype iterations, with numerous new features added during those iterations.
Operation Flow: FlowIO enables users to rapidly bring soft robotics projects to life and to focus on developing actuators and experiences instead of spending time designing pneumatics, electronics, or writing control software. Miniature size, battery operation, and various modules and accessories make FlowIO suitable for both desktop and wearable applications involving inflation, vacuum, release, pressure sense, and flow variability. Multiple APIs and GUI make it possible for anyone to use the device with ease.
Image Credits: Ali Shtarbanov