FlowIO Sethala sa Ntshetsopele ya Pneumatics by Ali Shtarbanov

Silevera Sesebediswa sa Saense · 2021

FlowIO Sethala sa Ntshetsopele ya Pneumatics

by Ali Shtarbanov

Moputso oa Silevera oa A' Design Award 2021 in Sesebediswa sa Saense
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 Sethala sa Ntshetsopele ya Pneumatics

FlowIO ke sethala sa ntshetsopele ya pneumatics bakeng sa taolo, ho tsamaisa le ho utlwisisa dirobots tse bonolo le disebediswa tse ka hlophiswang. Karolo e ka sehlooho e kopanya di-valve, di-sensor, microcontroller, betri le charger. Di-module tsa pompo di hokahana ka makenete mme di ka fetolwa nakong ya tshebediso, ka dikgetho tse nyane, tse mahareng le tse kgolo bakeng sa dikgatello le dikgahlano tsa phallo tse fapaneng. Di-module di kwaletswe ka matlong a hatisitsweng ka 3D a snap-fit. Sesebediswa sa software se eketsa dikopano tsa graphical tsa mohala le tsa desktop, taolo ya Bluetooth le dikopano tsa mananeo. FlowIO e loketse merero ya desktop le e apereng.

About the Moputso oa Silevera oa A' Design Award

FlowIO Sethala sa Ntshetsopele ya Pneumatics ke mohapi oa Moputso oa Silevera oa A' Design Award, kananelo e hlomphehang haholo e fuoang meralo e phahameng ka ho fetesisa, e ntle le e tsosang maikutlo. Bahapi ba Silevera ke mesebetsi e khanyang haholo le e nang le boqapi bo ikhethang e bontšang botsebi, talenta le bohlale ba baqapi ba eona. FlowIO Sethala sa Ntshetsopele ya Pneumatics e lebelletsoe ho ba mosebetsi o motle, oa mohlala, o nang le boprofeshenale bo bonahalang le mehopolo e mecha e tebileng. Moralo ona o hapileng Moputso oa Silevera oa A' Design Award ke mohopolo o hlokomelehang haholo le o ratoang o tlisang molemo mme o sutumelletsang meeli ea bonono, mahlale, moralo le theknoloji. FlowIO Sethala sa Ntshetsopele ya Pneumatics ke mosebetsi oo batho ba bangata ba o lakatsang, o tsosang litakatso, o tlisang maikutlo a matle le o tsosetsang ho makala le ho hlolla.

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