FlowIO Jukwaa la Uendelezaji wa Nyumatiki by Ali Shtarbanov is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2021 Tuzo ya Fedha ya A' Design Award in Usanifu wa Vyombo vya Kisayansi na Vifaa vya Utafiti Competition Category.
FedhaChombo cha Kisayansi· 2021
FlowIO Jukwaa la Uendelezaji wa Nyumatiki
Client: Ali Shtarbanov, MIT Media Lab
Tuzo ya Fedha ya A' Design Award Winner in Chombo cha Kisayansi Category
Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #122452The Design
About FlowIO Jukwaa la Uendelezaji wa Nyumatiki
FlowIO ni jukwaa la uendelezaji wa nyumatiki kwa ajili ya kudhibiti, kuendesha na kutambua roboti laini na vifaa vinavyoweza kupangwa programu. Moduli kuu inajumuisha vali, vitambuzi, kidhibiti-vidogo, betri na chaja. Moduli za pampu huunganishwa kwa sumaku na zinaweza kubadilishwa wakati wa matumizi, zikiwa na chaguo dogo, la wastani na kubwa kwa shinikizo na viwango tofauti vya mtiririko. Moduli hizo zimefungwa ndani ya vibweta vilivyochapishwa kwa uchapishaji wa 3D vinavyofungana kwa kubonyeza. Kifurushi cha zana za programu huongeza violesura vya picha vya simu na kompyuta ya mezani, udhibiti wa Bluetooth na violesura vya kuprogramu. FlowIO inafaa kwa miradi ya mezani na ile inayovaliwa.
The Recognition
About the Tuzo ya Fedha ya A' Design Award
FlowIO Jukwaa la Uendelezaji wa Nyumatiki ni mshindi wa Tuzo ya Fedha ya A' Design Award, utambuzi wenye heshima kubwa ya ajabu unaotolewa kwa miundo ya hali ya juu kabisa, ya kupendeza na ya kuvutia. Washindi wa Fedha ni kazi zinazong'aa mno na bunifu kupita kiasi zinazoonyesha utaalamu bora, kipaji na busara ya wabunifu wao. FlowIO Jukwaa la Uendelezaji wa Nyumatiki inatarajiwa kuwa kazi nzuri ya kuigwa ambayo ni ya kitaalamu kwa kiasi kikubwa na yenye ubunifu wa kina. Muundo huu ulioshinda Tuzo ya Fedha ya A' Design Award ni uvumbuzi unaojulikana sana na kupendwa, unaonufaisha na kupanua mipaka ya sanaa, sayansi, usanifu na teknolojia. FlowIO Jukwaa la Uendelezaji wa Nyumatiki ni kazi inayotamaniwa mno inayochochea hamu, huleta hisia chanya na huzua mshangao na mastaajabu.
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
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