The research paper that I chose to read about from Scott Hudson was Robotic Metamaterials: A Modular System for Hands-On Configuration of Ad-Hoc Dynamic Applications. Even though this was one of the very first papers from the link that we saw in class I went through all 12 webpages and didn’t find anything as interesting off the bat. Simply seeing the words, robotic, metamaterials, and Ad-Hoc was enough for me to read this paper.
The primary product for the research paper was a passive lattice that houses rigid and active cells. These active cells act as the moving mechanisms for the lattice to emulate movement and to allow the lattice to distort and move in specific directions and angles. The rigid cells help keep the lattice stiff to reinforce the direction in which the active cells are actuating. The system utilizes a pneumatic design where the active cells are operated through the inflation and deflation of their air pockets. This creates the movement within the active cells. By implementing this pneumatic movement along with manual deformation the active cells are able to record and playback movement that any user would like to simulate with the lattice structure. By implementing layers and layers of these lattice structures you are able to create more in-depth movement that can be used for a multitude of applications. One application that was discussed was simulating a miniature Moby Dick play and deforming the three layers of lattices to create a moving wave layer, a moving layer for Moby Dick, and the final layer to show movement for a captain and his ship. Now because the lattices are able to be reused the user can use them for as many ideas that they can come up with. In order for the lattice to recreate the movement and angles in which they move all the active cells are fitted with a rotary sensor to sense the angle in which they are meant to bend.
After reading it through, I liked how resourceful they were by 3D printing their materials so they had easily replicable pieces that they could print over and over for testing purposes and expanding upon their design. To allow overall movement the lattice structure is made up of 3D printed flexible joints and rigid edges that attach to them, and this combined with the active cells allows the metamaterial to create movement through the use of pneumatic actuation. I was really amazed with them not only being able to create this device, but creating a software component that could take a movement design (a heart for example) and create an output for the lattice structure and how to arrange the cells in order to build the physical model that can recreate the movement. The possibilities are essentially endless for this product, however, my favorite application for the lattice structure was to create a crawling robot that through the movement of the active cells and the pneumatic actuation it was actually able to physically move itself using the cell movement.
I think this project can be greatly related to Scott Hudson’s seminar today. He primarily discussed the topic of Moore’s law and how we are only in the beginning stages of inventions and creations when it comes to engineering, research, computation. It seems we are just barely scratching the surface when it comes to the creation of metamaterials and the integration of software and robotics to create dynamic movement. I think this type of product could be used to create dynamic movement within all objects like doors, beds, tables, and create more “living” environments and buildings within our society. This would make all objects in our lives have more universal design that we as users can change and manipulate to our needs. Now not everyone is going to have an air compressor for all of their desk or coffee tables, but this shows that we can hone in on this research to create moldable items that we can change at will and even create simple and non-metal robots and devices in our life that are more lightweight and able to be easily 3D printed. I’m not sure if this work is similar to the surface changing table that was presented in a previous colloquium, but I believe that HCI project would pair very well with this one if they were able to create a larger scale lattice structure and an object that had multiple pneumatic pumps to acuate the cells.
Hi Andrew,
As I was reading your summary of this article, I also was reminded of the “living table” that was discussed in a previous colloquium. I feel like it is definitely along the same lines of research–at least the same spirit.
I agree about the resourcefulness of using 3D printers to create modular designs. It’s kind of like what we’re doing in our tiling assignment, to a certain extent!
I’m glad I read this! I think you summarized well, and it really does get me thinking about all the unexplored potential applications for robotic metamaterials! I also didn’t know what robotic metamaterials were before now, and now I know. Super cool. Very fascinating!