Press Release
PneuBots Soft Robotics by Hye Jun Youn Is Granted the Bronze A' Design Award in Education, Teaching Aid and Training Content Design
Hye Jun Youn acknowledged for education, teaching aid and training content design by the international grand jury of the 2021 - 2022 A' Design Award & Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 28, 2022 /DesignNewswire/ PneuBots Soft Robotics by Hye Jun Youn, designed for PneuBots, has been granted the Bronze A' Design Award in the Education, Teaching Aid and Training Content Design category, A' Design Award & Competition has announced. The result belongs to the 2021 - 2022 A' Design Award & Competition and was reached through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who scored anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
The Bronze A' Design Award Explained
The Bronze A' Design Award is given to outstanding designs that showcase a high degree of creativity and practicality. It recognizes the dedication and skill of designers who produce work that stands out for its thoughtful development and innovative use of materials and technology. These designs are acknowledged for their professional execution and potential to influence industry standards positively. Winning this award highlights the designer's ability to blend form and function effectively, offering solutions that enhance people's lives and wellbeing.
About PneuBots Soft Robotics
PneuBots is a modular soft robotics construction kit for learning and creative making. The kit contains seven types of self-foldable segments, three types of pneumatic connectors and splitters, and a custom box measuring 200 by 70 by 100 millimetres. Each module is made from two layers of PVC film sealed along origami-inspired patterns using CNC milling and heat pressing. The modules shrink, curl or bend when inflated through oral inflation valves. The kit lowers the barrier to entry for artists, designers, engineers and makers who wish to explore soft robotics.
About Hye Jun Youn
As a designer, researcher and developer, Hye Jun Youn pursue research into innovating interactive designs that extend the user experience by enabling the engagement of our various perceptions. she focuses on building toolkits for non-engineers, and developing psyche based artworks with soft robotics, digital fabrication, and human-material interfaces.
Award Record
Hye Jun Youn is a winner of 1 A' Design Award, including this recognition.
About the A' Education, Teaching Aid and Training Content Design Award
The A' Education Design Award is an international competition recognizing good education products and projects by leading designers and brands worldwide. It is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to education designers, teaching aid designers, training content creators and curriculum developers from all countries. Typical entries include textbooks, e-learning platforms, educational games, training manuals, instructional videos and interactive whiteboards. The awarded education designs are published at https://designers.org/design-category/education
About A' Design Award & Competition
Organized annually since 2008, A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The philanthropic mission of the A' Design Award is to advance society through good design, by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Nominations are peer reviewed and evaluated anonymously by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. Eligible laureates receive the A' Design Prize, which includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, uploading a work and receiving a preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. More information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://designers.org/137958
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/137958
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!137958
- Laureate Profile: https://designers.org/d/325737
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- PneuBots Soft Robotics
- Function
- Soft Robotics
- Category
- Education, Teaching Aid and Training Content Design
- Discipline
- Service Design
- Industry
- Education
- Colors
- Royal Blue, Medium Slate Blue, Lavender, Violet and Blue
- Images
- 5
- Client
- PneuBots
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Hye Jun Youn
- Country
- United States of America
- Recognition
- Bronze A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2021 - 2022
- Design ID
- #137958
Credits
- Team
- Hye Jun Youn, Ali Shtarbanov and Jooyoung Youn
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- PneuBots is a modular soft robotics construction kit consisting of seven types of self-foldable, quasi-inextensible segments, three types of pneumatic connectors and splitters, and a custom-designed box. The kit enables various assemblies to be made with the modular pieces, allowing creators to explore the world of soft robotics in playful ways.
- Inspiration
- Soft robotics is an emerging field with a very high potential for impact, which is also of strong interest to the Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and Haptic communities. Yet the barriers to entry for most makers are still very high, and they are even greater for those who come from nontechnical backgrounds. A constructive assembly kit in combination with carefully curated informational resources could significantly reduce the barrier to entry.
- Research
- A mixed method comprising of interviews and existing product reviews were used. The initial target user group was consisted of graduate students who are new to this field. Over the course of developing this project, we informally interacted with 20 graduate students from design and engineering background who provided feedback about the behaviors and interactions they want to achieve with soft robotic design concepts, and who also shared some of the barriers and obstacles that prevented them from realizing their goals.
- Challenge
- Some feedback from users mentioned the smooth surface of PVC film. Since the inflated modular blocks are slippery, the smooth texture may not be ideal for an interaction with objects with surface. Therefore, to extend PneuBots’ functionality, we are planning to create a layer of cloth such as an auxetic structure to generate friction between modules for more stable mobility. We will also eventually broaden the scope of our work to include more diversity in modular block design, and we are currently gathering data to determine the appropriate number of modular blocks to include in our basic package.
- Realization and Technology
- The modules of PneuBots were developed by a heat-pressing fabrication process, where two layers of PVC film were sandwiched together and then sealed along specific origami-inspired patterns. The CNC-milling plus heat pressing fabrication method achieves an accurate and smooth geometric pattern without wrinkles. Each PneuBots module has between one and five pneumatic ports with oral-inflation-valves. Modules can be connected to each other using three types of pneumatic connectors: Straight-shaped, T-shaped, and Cross-shaped.
- Operation and Interaction
- Seven PneuBots modules with different actuation patterns including shrinking, curling and bending were designed. There are three working shapes: line, diagonal, and diamond. A linear seam with a 5mm gap in the middle results in a shrinking mechanism. The diamond shape-hinge serves as the bending angle control. The diagonal line with a 5mm gap serves as the curling control. PneuBots allows seamless programmability of the different assemblies, enabling artists, designers, engineers, and makers to create dynamic, shape-changing, and interactive works that can be used for education, storytelling, and dynamic art.
- Project Duration and Location
- The project started in June 2021 in Korea and finished in January 2022 in the US.
- Specifications
- Toolkit Box, 200 mm x 70 mm x 100 mm
- Keywords
- Soft Robotics, Construction kit, Pneumatics, Shape changing, Learning, Playful, Design, Art, Interactivity, Education
