Goals for next 3 weeks:

• 4/12 to 4/18 — Create design system using 3-4 folds by end of this week (current have hinge fold and hybrid hard/soft setting nailed down, figuring out curves/curls)
• 4/18 to 5/2 — Based on design system, create a set of utensils. Refine cuts and prints

4/12 Experiment templates

The previous experiments showed affordances of the folding material that worked well with utensils. In our next steps we will test the three folds found above. The spoon would resemble more of a soup spoon than a regular spoon:

As we continue to experiment, we are exploring vocabulary that we can clearly represent, such as pinching, curling, curving, welding (connecting two separate pieces).

The fold in this video is interesting because we accidentally created a similar form in our previous folds from last week:

4/9

4/7 Experiment videos

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-6zYD63fin145T9aUP5bLwhA9XgGtmms?usp=sharing

Printed Templates

4/5 Experiment

4/1 Experiment Heat as Adhesive and Form Creation

1. Two zig-zag overlapping
   • this created semi-flexible hinges depending on which portion set first

1. Two strips overlapping

3. Adding pressure to touchpoints to create hybrid joint

Exploring New Design Affordances

As our fabrication has begun to show curves in the folds, we began to explore new types of forms that their would enable.

Two notable resources:

http://graphics.stanford.edu/~niloy/research/folding/folding_sig_08.html

A team from Stanford explored designing curve forms from single sheets of material. This allowed them to create unique forms such as the ones shown below. An interesting exploration is looking into how these can be designed in a two dimensional process as well.

Another exploration in the design of our folds has been the potential of actuation. This was inspired by this video, which shows a person bending a curved origami form:

Although the material we are working with is much stiffer than the one found in the video, it can still be possible with many smaller folds throughout the surface that encourage bending. An early prototype I’ve explored for these curved/bent origami forms include these:

3/29/21 Buying List

3/24/21 Experiments

Takeaways:

• shrinky dink material curls and morphs unpredictably on the hot plate as the heat comes from one direction vs. in an oven where there’s less movement in the process
• Pre-folded hinges are reinforced in the opposite direction on the hot plate
• How the folded material is placed on the hot plate doesn’t reinforce the folds but impacts the dynamicism of how it writhes and moves in the process
• The hot plate usually results in unpredictable folding patterns
• There’s a sweet spot around 3 minutes in where the desired fold or shape is retained without curling/morphing to a crisp

Pre-experiment:

• Induction Cooktop doesn’t go to 194 degrees but we set it to 200
• Not very stable, keeps bouncing from 90-100

Notes:

First, we started the experiment by cutting out 2-inch pieces of shrinky dink paper and we put it on the hot plate at 200 because that’s what the paper originally specified. We found that the hot plate wasn’t hot enough so we set it to 350F based on the shrinky dink instructions to see what type of results we would get. We started a timer to see if there was a specific sweet spot where the shrinky dink begins to transform.

Our most interesting finding is that the shrinky dink paper curls and tends to form air pockets when the heat is coming from one direction. Typically in an oven, shrinky dinks don’t morph as much in the process. Referring to the exhibit A and B below, we found that once the shrinky dink paper forms a convex pocket where only the edges are touching the surface, the transformation stops or requires some intervention (i.e. a flip) in order for new shapes to form. Overall, the final solidified form takes around 3 minutes per piece.

In the end, we also tried to reinforce some of the folds when it came off the hot plate to see if it would still bend or be a bit cleaner as it set.

Although we didn’t have the heat lamp in our supply yet, we wanted to see if marking the shrinky dink paper with a black marker would change anything about the way or efficiency of how the material folds. We actually initially saw that the plastic was bending along the markings but when we tried to flip the stagnant unmarked pieces, we found that it was also curling in various ways so overall, we didn’t find the marked pieces to be any more significant in its folds.

Testing Pre-bent Hinges

Instead of marking a flat sheet of shrinky dink, we decided to bend the plastic in half to see if the folds would get reinforced. We found that the fold was actually reinforced in the opposite direction and the corners curled. Once it folds, there seems to be a sweet spot of when to remove the sheet otherwise it might continue to morph. Not a super predictable material.

Next steps: ZigZag

At the end of our experiment, we were curious how the placement of material on the hot plate affected the fold. We found that in doing so, it didn’t necessarily create a particular shape but it created a lot of dynamic movement in the process.

For Wednesday: Understanding how the material behaves

• Temperature control (attaching thermocouple)
• Seeing if there are any tricks in the plate to see if there are gradient hot and cold spots of the plate
• If there are holes, concave edges, fringe, sharp corners, internal angles, pre-folded (lightly creased or all the way down), or star shapes, how does it behave
• Deliberately going over temperature to see what happens
• order a heat lamp
  • light doesn’t need to be white for black lines, an infrared heat bulb plugged into a desk lamp should work as well.
    

Design System

After the initial fabrication tests, it was suggested that an orthodox approach to paper folding would be a missed opportunity. The shrinking is able to produce unique curves in the material that introduces new designs.

Exploration and research of more complex forms. At this point it is unclear if we have enough fine control of the material to produce a form as complex as this.

Before getting ahead of ourselves, we will document our tests on these simple folds. As some of us fabricate and test, we’ll also begin designing new forms that incorporate the curvature that we observed in the initial experiments.

Expectation of Roles
Ray – documentation of patterns and folds
Sophie/Dorcas – in-person test of folds/patterns

Overall Milestones

Equipment

• completing the light source LED equipment
• completing the heat source LED equipment

Process

• hinge fold (single valley)
• tubular triangle fold
• single mountain fold
• two-sided or two-phase heat folding process

Long-term goal

• develop three disparate examples of origami design language
• embed origami pattern in a booklet page
• embed paper in a booklet

source:

http://seven-oaks.net/self-folding-plastics-shrinky-dinks-the-next-generation/

Heat Lamp Experiment Videos (4-5)

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1FsMt18GmJQSh9USKcjFZobfQOR_m7_QN?usp=sharing

4/7 Experiment Printed Templates

4/5 Experiment

4/1 Experiment Heat as Adhesive and Form Creation

1. Two zig-zag overlapping
   • this created semi-flexible hinges depending on which portion set first

1. Two strips overlapping

3. Adding pressure to touchpoints to create hybrid joint

Exploring New Design Affordances

As our fabrication has begun to show curves in the folds, we began to explore new types of forms that their would enable.

Two notable resources:

http://graphics.stanford.edu/~niloy/research/folding/folding_sig_08.html

A team from Stanford explored designing curve forms from single sheets of material. This allowed them to create unique forms such as the ones shown below. An interesting exploration is looking into how these can be designed in a two dimensional process as well.

Another exploration in the design of our folds has been the potential of actuation. This was inspired by this video, which shows a person bending a curved origami form:

Although the material we are working with is much stiffer than the one found in the video, it can still be possible with many smaller folds throughout the surface that encourage bending. An early prototype I’ve explored for these curved/bent origami forms include these:

3/29/21 Buying List

3/24/21 Experiments

Takeaways:

• shrinky dink material curls and morphs unpredictably on the hot plate as the heat comes from one direction vs. in an oven where there’s less movement in the process
• Pre-folded hinges are reinforced in the opposite direction on the hot plate
• How the folded material is placed on the hot plate doesn’t reinforce the folds but impacts the dynamicism of how it writhes and moves in the process
• The hot plate usually results in unpredictable folding patterns
• There’s a sweet spot around 3 minutes in where the desired fold or shape is retained without curling/morphing to a crisp

Pre-experiment:

• Induction Cooktop doesn’t go to 194 degrees but we set it to 200
• Not very stable, keeps bouncing from 90-100

Notes:

First, we started the experiment by cutting out 2-inch pieces of shrinky dink paper and we put it on the hot plate at 200 because that’s what the paper originally specified. We found that the hot plate wasn’t hot enough so we set it to 350F based on the shrinky dink instructions to see what type of results we would get. We started a timer to see if there was a specific sweet spot where the shrinky dink begins to transform.

Our most interesting finding is that the shrinky dink paper curls and tends to form air pockets when the heat is coming from one direction. Typically in an oven, shrinky dinks don’t morph as much in the process. Referring to the exhibit A and B below, we found that once the shrinky dink paper forms a convex pocket where only the edges are touching the surface, the transformation stops or requires some intervention (i.e. a flip) in order for new shapes to form. Overall, the final solidified form takes around 3 minutes per piece.

In the end, we also tried to reinforce some of the folds when it came off the hot plate to see if it would still bend or be a bit cleaner as it set.

Although we didn’t have the heat lamp in our supply yet, we wanted to see if marking the shrinky dink paper with a black marker would change anything about the way or efficiency of how the material folds. We actually initially saw that the plastic was bending along the markings but when we tried to flip the stagnant unmarked pieces, we found that it was also curling in various ways so overall, we didn’t find the marked pieces to be any more significant in its folds.

Testing Pre-bent Hinges

Instead of marking a flat sheet of shrinky dink, we decided to bend the plastic in half to see if the folds would get reinforced. We found that the fold was actually reinforced in the opposite direction and the corners curled. Once it folds, there seems to be a sweet spot of when to remove the sheet otherwise it might continue to morph. Not a super predictable material.

Next steps: ZigZag

At the end of our experiment, we were curious how the placement of material on the hot plate affected the fold. We found that in doing so, it didn’t necessarily create a particular shape but it created a lot of dynamic movement in the process.

For Wednesday: Understanding how the material behaves

• Temperature control (attaching thermocouple)
• Seeing if there are any tricks in the plate to see if there are gradient hot and cold spots of the plate
• If there are holes, concave edges, fringe, sharp corners, internal angles, pre-folded (lightly creased or all the way down), or star shapes, how does it behave
• Deliberately going over temperature to see what happens
• order a heat lamp
  • light doesn’t need to be white for black lines, an infrared heat bulb plugged into a desk lamp should work as well.
    

Design System

After the initial fabrication tests, it was suggested that an orthodox approach to paper folding would be a missed opportunity. The shrinking is able to produce unique curves in the material that introduces new designs.

Exploration and research of more complex forms. At this point it is unclear if we have enough fine control of the material to produce a form as complex as this.

Before getting ahead of ourselves, we will document our tests on these simple folds. As some of us fabricate and test, we’ll also begin designing new forms that incorporate the curvature that we observed in the initial experiments.

Expectation of Roles
Ray – documentation of patterns and folds
Sophie/Dorcas – in-person test of folds/patterns

Overall Milestones

Equipment

• completing the light source LED equipment
• completing the heat source LED equipment

Process

• hinge fold (single valley)
• tubular triangle fold
• single mountain fold
• two-sided or two-phase heat folding process

Long-term goal

• develop three disparate examples of origami design language
• embed origami pattern in a booklet page
• embed paper in a booklet

source:

http://seven-oaks.net/self-folding-plastics-shrinky-dinks-the-next-generation/

Heat Lamp Experiment Videos (4-5)

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1FsMt18GmJQSh9USKcjFZobfQOR_m7_QN?usp=sharing

In order to explore how to accommodate a hands-on learning style through visualization of tactile experiences, we are creating an interactive origami book with self-folding pages that portray each step of the process from the first fold to the last fold for the reader. In terms of the physical process,  the instructions would be printed on one side in the book and then the other side would be a cut out of the corresponding origami step on shrinky dink film. The reader should have their own paper to follow along and fold. The plastic will be printed on with an inkjet printer of different colored lines. With the light of a complementary color, the reader will shine it on the cut out to watch it fold in order to see where they should make their own folds. By having multiple corresponding colors, we can control the order of the folds. Our target demographic is 13 years old and older. We find the novelty of the self folding origami to be a heavy focus for our readers in the final result, but that novelty is followed with understanding of how an object is translated across 2D and 3D space. In general, we find that the application of self-folding material under light could be applied in other fields, especially in environments requiring sterility. In the entertainment space, we can also see how this application could be useful in film to create changes in scenery or sets naturally without manually moving equipment.

Experiment steps:

Experiment:

We will be attempting to fold a thin polymer film according to predefined lines. Heating the pre-strained film relieves this strain, and areas with the black lines absorb more light/heat than the rest of the piece, so these lines should form creases.

1. Print folding pattern onto the polymer film, using a laserjet printer
2. Heat stove/hot plate to 90C. Make sure this temp does not exceed 105C
3. Place printed film onto hot plate/stove top and shine lamp directly onto sample, encouraging folding.

Sample folding patterns:

Bill of Materials:

Reference:

Liu, Y., Shaw, B., Dickey, M. D., & Genzer, J. (2017). Sequential self-folding of polymer sheets. Science Advances, 3(3). doi:10.1126/sciadv.1602417

We are creating an interactive DIY book for teenagers and adults with self-folding/actuating origami pages that aid the reader’s process of making. Our overarching goal is to accommodate a hands-on learning style by making it easier to visualize through tactile experiences. For example, a lesson in the book could be an “introduction to circuits and materials,” and the actuated paper could form different shapes. Another example would be a self-folding origami lesson made from thermoplastic that folds with heat or water.

Proof of concept experiment

• Question: Best paper material with right feel and properties
  • What material(s) should the pages be made of so that their properties align with the book’s goals (mentioned above)?
• Technique: form the same cuts and design on each piece of test paper and compare the outcomes: shape precision, durability, paper feel, reversibility, etc
• Materials: Different types of paper (Yupo, Printer paper, cardstock), thermoplastic, actuators (some sort of conductive deposit), scissors

Technical Papers:

• Koh, J, Kim, S, & Cho, K. “Self-Folding Origami Using Torsion Shape Memory Alloy Wire Actuators.” Proceedings of the ASME 2014 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference. Volume 5B: 38th Mechanisms and Robotics Conference. Buffalo, New York, USA. August 17–20, 2014. V05BT08A043. ASME. https://doi.org/10.1115/DETC2014-34822 
• Tolley, M. T., Felton, S. M., Miyashita, S., Aukes, D., Rus, D., & Wood, R. J. (2014). Self-folding origami: Shape memory composites activated by uniform heating. Smart Materials and Structures, 23(9), 094006. doi:10.1088/0964-1726/23/9/094006
• Kim, J., Yun, S., Mahadeva, S. K., Yun, K., Yang, S. Y., & Maniruzzaman, M. (2010). Paper Actuators Made with Cellulose and Hybrid Materials. Sensors, 10(3), 1473–1485. MDPI AG. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s100301473 

In this project, I want to explore the separation of body in space and how effectively can movements (both small, detail-oriented and grandiose) be translated by a machine to create art. I plan on using a soft sensing glove and a sponge ball along with a motion-tracking camera that targets the gloved hand in front of the participant. The primary input would be hand movement. Several feet away, there would be a robot with a paint tube in its core, moving on top of a flat canvas based on the participant’s hand movements and gestures. The paint will be dripping at a consistent rate but when the person squeezes the ball with a gloved hand, the pressure sensor will trigger a corresponding, gradual squeeze of the paint tube in the robot.

References:

Jung, Boyoon & Sukhatme, Gaurav. (2010). Real-time Motion Tracking from a Mobile Robot. I. J. Social Robotics. 2. 63-78. 10.1007/s12369-009-0038-y.

Huang, C. M., Andrist, S., Sauppé, A., & Mutlu, B. (2015). Using gaze patterns to predict task intent in collaboration. Frontiers in psychology, 6, 1049. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01049

Markovic, Ivan & Chaumette, François & Petrovic, Ivan. (2014). Moving object detection, Tracking and following using an omnidirectional camera on a mobile robot. Proceedings – IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation. 10.1109/ICRA.2014.6907687.

F. L. Hammond, Y. Mengüç and R. J. Wood, “Toward a modular soft sensor-embedded glove for human hand motion and tactile pressure measurement,” 2014 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Chicago, IL, USA, 2014, pp. 4000-4007, doi: 10.1109/IROS.2014.6943125.

Ideal Outcomes:

Related Project: EGO by Klaus Obermaier

The interactive installation EGO re-stages and reverses the process of alienation by enhancing and deforming the mirror image by the movements of the users. Although an abstraction, it quickly becomes the self and reestablishes the tension between the real and the symbolic, the Ego and the It, the subject and the object.

Related Paper:
Automatic Wall Painting Robot Using Arduino: This paper is helpful in describing the mechanism and system map of how the robot is built. However, the application is more focused on construction and interior wall paint which covers quantity rather than smaller technical paintings.

Borhade, Ashish & Patil, Ankit & Patil, Srushti. (2019). Automatic Wall Painting Robot Automatic Wall Painting Robot. 10.13140/RG.2.2.36414.64323.

WeatherWorlds: Body & Space at the National Children’s Museum

https://www.design-io.com/projects/weatherworlds

Weather Worlds is an interactive installation that allows kids to immerse and experience a dynamic environment with “superpowers”. Using their body, children can conjure a storm, release a twisting tornado, or rain down bolts of lightning from their fingertips. The connection of visuals on the screen to the physical body makes the rain and experiences feel real. The museum’s intentions are not only to embody multiple senses but to showcase to kids that anything is possible and allows them to express their creativity.

In using soft technologies, I wonder if there could be some form of texture created on the walls that form movement as added depth to the moving storms. It would be interesting to see how natural movement of cloth or some soft materials could help this interaction also embody a sense of text rather than just movement in space.

The paper I chose discusses design and interaction considerations when designing for multisensory, telepresent experiences. In an art context, this is important because typically an art piece might focus on one or two senses of sight or sound, but when creating a multisensory experience, how do you integrate and balance each of the senses clearly and uniformly.

¹ Weather worlds – interactive installation. (n.d.)., from https://www.design-io.com/projects/weatherworlds

² Snibbe, Scott & Raffle, Hayes. (2009). Social immersive media: Pursuing best practices for multi-user interactive camera/projector exhibits. Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems – Proceedings. 1447-1456. 10.1145/1518701.1518920.

Iridescence is a 3D printed collar that responds to the movement and emotions of those around the wearer. The project was commissioned by the Museum of Science and Industry Chicago for the exhibit “Wired to Wear.” It explores how our clothing become a nonverbal form of communication through changes in texture and color.

Bering Christiansen, Mads & Jørgensen, Jonas. (2020). Augmenting Soft Robotics with Sound. 133-135. 10.1145/3371382.3378328.

—

The following form is a synthesis of typical review forms, although strongly influenced by the HRI process.

1. Do you have any conflict of interest in reviewing this paper? A “conflict of interest” is defined as follows:
   1. Ph.D. thesis advisor or advisee
   2. Postdoctoral advisor or advisee
   3. Collaborators or co-authors for the past 48 months
   4. Any other individual or institution with which the investigator has financial ties Yes/no. If yes, please disqualify yourself instead of proceeding. 
2. Expertise. Provide your expertise in the topic area of this paper.
   • 4 – Expert
   • 3 – Knowledgeable
   • 2 – Passing Knowledge
   • 1 – No Knowledge

1. Summary. Please summarize what you believe are the paper’s main contributions to the field of soft robotics. Please write a short paragraph. 

Augmenting Soft Robotics with Sound proposes the use of internal and external sounds within soft robots as a form of communication. The paper explores how movement and sound can be coupled to form expressive soft robots that can guide human interaction in the future.

1. Strengths and Weaknesses. What are the main strengths and weaknesses of this work? Does the paper have strengths in originality and novelty?Please write a short paragraph. 

The work is definitely novel and original but is more based in curiosity and exploration through the design process rather than empirical data. One of the biggest strengths in this paper was the application of how sound has been implemented in other fields and how it can apply to robotics. For example, the concept behind the SONOS soft robot is based in science fiction movies, imitating the internal and external dialogue a creature might make.

1. Soundness. Are the ideas, algorithms, results or studies technologically/methodologically sound? Please write a short paragraph arguing for the strengths and weaknesses of the work. 

While novel and easy to replicate, one of the weaknesses of the study is the application of further work. SONOS is more of a passive robot that creates sound through manual inflation and deflation. If applying this to create more intuitive and emotionally engaging interactions, how can this manifest in a real life scenario. One of the biggest strengths in this exploration is the attempt to answer how soft robots can be used to portray expressions and strengthen the communication beyond mimicking gestures.

1. Related Work. Does the paper adequately describe related and prior work? Please write a sentence or short paragraph. 

The paper describes related prior work well in relation to the application of sounds in different fields. Could be a little more in-depth in any overlaps or differences.

1. Presentation. Is the paper well organized, well written and clearly presented? Please write a sentence or short paragraph. 

The paper is well organized and well-written.

1. Suggestions. Do you have suggestions for improving this paper? Please write several paragraphs detailing specific points of the paper which merit reconsideration. Be sure to address the text, figures and tables, mathematics, and grammar and spelling. 

The paper could be longer with why or how the work is meaningful. Section 2 talks about sounds in product design and then sounds in robots which seems to skip a lot of steps in between as the next section talks about using sounds from science fiction movies in SONOS. I think there could be more depth in discussing how sounds can aid the intended use of creating intuitive interactions along with effective/ineffective uses of sound.

There’s a small grammar mistake in 3.2.1 when describing the technicalities of how the robot works. The sentence is missing a comma which misconstrues the meaning. The exploration can be further grounded in numbers and figures to understand the impacts of different sources on the movement or sound of SONOS.

1. Comments to Committee (Hidden from authors). Does the paper have enough originality and importance to merit publication? Is the paper relevant to the field? These comments will NOT be sent to the authors: Please write one or more paragraphs as needed to justify your review judgment. 

The paper is definitely relevant to the field in terms of holistic creative robotics, focusing on the end user as well as the technology itself. This paper is applicable in many fields from filmmaking to assistive robotics and pushes new considerations of how soft robots can be implemented easily without super high-tech implementation methods. Overall, this paper breaks down soft robotics in a way that’s accessible to everyone

1. Overall Rating. Provide your overall rating of the paper (5 is best)
   • 5 – Definite accept: I would argue strongly for accepting this paper.
   • 4 – Probably accept: I would argue for accepting this paper.
   • 3 – Borderline: Overall I would not argue for accepting this paper.
   • 2 – Probably reject: I would argue for rejecting this paper.
   • 1 – Definite reject: I would argue strongly for rejecting this paper.

Root Paper:
[1] Degiorgi, Marzia & Garzotto, Franca & Gelsomini, Mirko & Leonardi, Giulia & Penati, Simone & Ramuzat, Noëlie & Silvestri, Jacopo & Clasadonte, Francesco & Kinoe, Yosuke. (2017). Puffy — An inflatable robotic companion for pre-schoolers. 35-41. 10.1109/ROMAN.2017.8172277.

Related papers:
[2] Bonarini, Andrea & Garzotto, Franca & Gelsomini, Mirko & Clasadonte, Francesco & Romero, Maximiliano. (2016). A Huggable, Mobile Robot for Developmental Disorder Interventions in a Multi-Modal Interaction Space. 10.1109/ROMAN.2016.7745214.

[3] Cabibihan, John-John & Javed, Hifza & Jr, Marcelo & Aljunied, Sharifah. (2013). Why Robots? A Survey on the Roles and Benefits of Social Robots in the Therapy of Children with Autism. International Journal of Social Robotics. 5. 10.1007/s12369-013-0202-2.