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Introducing the 2022 CTF Design Contest Grand Prize Winner

FlowIO is a fully integrated, miniature pneumatic development platform for actuation, sensing, and control of soft robotics and programmable materials. The platform was developed at MIT and deployed globally to democratize programmable matter; to make prototyping, innovation, and research with soft robotics incredibly quick and easy; and to enable researchers, designers, and makers of all backgrounds to unleash their creativity and bring their ideas to life. In this interview, Ali Shtarbanov, Research Assistant at MIT Media Lab, discusses the impact and future potential of this innovation.

Topics:
Automation Electronics & Computers Manufacturing & Prototyping Robotics

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    Transcript

    00:00:00 Arduino and Raspberry Pi made electronics and portable computing accessible to everyone. We developed FlowIO to do the same for soft robotics and programmable materials. FlowIO is the first fully-integrated, and truly-general-purpose miniature pneumatics development platform for actuation, sensing, and control of soft robots... suitable for both wearable and non-wearable applications.

    00:00:23 FlowIO enables researchers, artists, and makers to bring their projects to life rapidly and easily. From interactivity and telepresence... ...to assistive technology... ...and artistic expression. FlowIO features 5 pneumatic ports, where each port supports: Inflation, Vacuum, Release, Pressure sense, Hold, and Flow rate variability. This platform is composed of a set of  magnetically connect modules that can be swapped within seconds to satisfy different user needs.

    00:00:52 There is a main module with valves and sensors, and 3 pump modules of different pressures and flow rates. Expansion modules and accessories provide additional sensing, control, and mounting capabilities. The main module contains 7 valves, custom driver boards, a microcontroller with Bluetooth, and over a dozen sensors. The pump module contains two pumps and power electronics.

    00:01:14 Each module also integrates a battery with charger.  The entire device weighs just over a hundred grams and can easily fit inside a pocket. Here is a real-time comparison of the inflation and vacuum capabilities between the small and the medium pump modules. Users can swap  modules within seconds and on the fly, without any interruption of the Bluetooth connection. FlowIO features a complete software toolkit with multiple APIs and a GUI

    00:01:43 to be accessible to people from diverse backgrounds. The GUI allows users to control FlowIO directly from their web-browser from any Bluetooth device,  and without having to install anything. Supported are both open-loop and closed-loop control options. Task scheduling is also possible as shown on this example.   An interactive graphic shows the state  of each internal component in real time.  FlowIO is fully Arduino-compatible

    00:02:09 and includes APIs for both Arduino and JavaScript. Python, Unity, and Scratch  are also partially supported SoftRobotics.IO is the community website for FlowIO  fearing projects, examples, and video  tutorials for replicating and using FlowIO.  Over 20 people have used FlowIO for projects  in diverse categories including Interactivity,   Art, Telepresence, Locomotion, and more. What will you create!...