Modular robotics as tools for design

Abstract

Design is fundamental. In various forms, it permeates engineering, management, architecture and the arts. Design aptitude separates the visionary from the technician. Although many skills, like math or technical writing, are straightforward to quantify and teach, the creativity and processes inherent in design are both more difficult to instill and more difficult to understand.Unconstrained design is almost impossible. Noted late graphic designer Paul Rand speaks to the benefits of a constrained system as something without which fruitful and creative work is extremely difficult. [2] Papert addresses this with his concept of the Microworld, [1] a domain-specific constrained environment for experimentation and design education. Microworlds have been shown to be effective tools for design education in domains from creative art to mathematics.The advent of tiny microcontrollers and inexpensive rapid prototyping technologies has made it easier to create tangible Microworlds outside of the computer screen.My research focuses on the design of modular robotic systems that allow users to play and experiment freely in computational domains.roBlocks [3] (http://www.roblocks.org) is a computational construction kit that allows children as young as nine to design and build functional robots by snapping together magnetized plastic modules. roBlocks is a distributed system, with a microcontroller embedded in each 40mm cube. Assembling combinations of Sensor, Actuator and Operator blocks exposes young users to advanced ideas like feedback control, logic and kinematics before they learn to solder or program in C. Advanced users can reprogram the behavior of each module, exploring distributed control.StickyBricks is a mobile modular robotic system designed as a tangible tool to explore locomotion constraints. Each StickyBrick is a 30mm cube with two circumferential adhesive belts powered by a tiny geared DC motor. Users write simple Python instructions to control the movements of each module, exploring the integrity of various configurations and lattice structures.I developed the Egglet to enable musicians to add additional dimensions of expression to extant instruments of any type. Comprised of an 8cm plastic egg-shaped brain into which various sensors can be plugged, the Egglet is a wireless, battery-powered system that uses a microcontroller to synthesize input from a simple sensor network in order to control audio, video or MIDI data. Musicians with little technical knowledge snap together various sensors and use motion, light, and touch to control the parameters of audio effect.These three projects represent an effort to understand the design process -- on one hand, the design of modular robotic systems and on the other hand, designs within the constrained environments they create.