FlowIO FlowIO: Tlanamacaloni tlen Ehecayotl Pneumatica by Ali Shtarbanov

FlowIO FlowIO: Tlanamacaloni tlen Ehecayotl Pneumatica by Ali Shtarbanov is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2021 Mahuizolli A' Design Award Iztacteocuitlatl in Tlamatiliztepoztli ihuan Tlatemoliztli Tequitilli Tlachihchihualiztli Competition Category.

IztacteocuitlatlTlamatiliztepoztli· 2021

FlowIO FlowIO: Tlanamacaloni tlen Ehecayotl Pneumatica

by Ali Shtarbanov

Client: Ali Shtarbanov, MIT Media Lab

Mahuizolli A' Design Award Iztacteocuitlatl Winner in Tlamatiliztepoztli Category

727,602
Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #122452

Visit Site View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

Colors

The Design

About FlowIO FlowIO: Tlanamacaloni tlen Ehecayotl Pneumatica

FlowIO ce tlanamacaloni pneumatica tlen mochihua inic quiyacana, quiollinia, ihuan quimati in yolcatepoztin yamancayoh ihuan in tlacentlaliltin tlen huelli mopohua. In hueyi tlacotontli quicentlalia tzacualoni, tlamatiloni, ce microcontrolador, ce tlapopozoquiliztli ihuan ce tlachipahualoni. In tzoquipopozoquiliztli tlacotoni monepanoa ica tepoztlahuiltequiliztli ihuan huel mopatla ihcuac motequitihua, ica tepitzin, tlanepantla ihuan huehcapan tlanotzaliztli inic occequi tlapechtiliztli ihuan olinaliztli. In tlacotontin motzacua ipan tlaquentli tlen omochiuh ica 3D tlacuiloliztli tlen monepanoa. Ce tequipanoliztli tlachihualoni quicempohua tlixamitl ihuan huehcapan tlamachtiloni graficos, Bluetooth tlayacanaliztli ihuan tlapohualiztli tlamachtiloni. FlowIO cualli ic in tlacuilolpechtli ihuan in tlatquilizyo tequihuil.

The Recognition

About the Mahuizolli A' Design Award Iztacteocuitlatl

FlowIO FlowIO: Tlanamacaloni tlen Ehecayotl Pneumatica ca in quicuic in Mahuizolli A' Design Award Iztacteocuitlatl, hueyi tlamahuizoliztli tlen momaca in huel yectli, tlanextic ihuan mahuiztic tlachihualli. In quicuicah Iztacteocuitlatl ca cenca cualli ihuan cenca yancuic tlachihualli in quinextia in tlamatiliztli, toltecayotl ihuan ixtlamatiliztli intlachihuanime. Ca quinequi in FlowIO FlowIO: Tlanamacaloni tlen Ehecayotl Pneumatica ca cenca cualli, cenca motequiuhtia ihuan yancuic. Ni dizayno in quicuic Iztacteocuitlatl quihuelitia in toltecayotl, tlamatiliztli, dizayno ihuan teknolohia. FlowIO FlowIO: Tlanamacaloni tlen Ehecayotl Pneumatica quiyolchicahua in tlacah, quipaquiltia ihuan quitlamahuiztiltia.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

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.
Team Members: Ali Shtarbanov
Hyejun Youn
Ozgun Afsar
Advisor: Dr. Joseph Paradiso of MIT Media Lab
Image Credits: Ali Shtarbanov