element14 Community
element14 Community
    Register Log In
  • Site
  • Search
  • Log In Register
  • Members
    Members
    • Achievement Levels
    • Benefits of Membership
    • Feedback and Support
    • Members Area
    • Personal Blogs
    • What's New on element14
  • Learn
    Learn
    • eBooks
    • Learning Center
    • Learning Groups
    • STEM Academy
    • Webinars, Training and Events
  • Technologies
    Technologies
    • 3D Printing
    • Experts & Guidance
    • FPGA
    • Industrial Automation
    • Internet of Things
    • Power & Energy
    • Sensors
    • Technology Groups
  • Challenges & Projects
    Challenges & Projects
    • Arduino Projects
    • Design Challenges
    • element14 presents
    • Project14
    • Project Groups
    • Raspberry Pi Projects
  • Products
    Products
    • Arduino
    • Avnet Boards Community
    • Dev Tools
    • Manufacturers
    • Product Groups
    • Raspberry Pi
    • RoadTests & Reviews
  • Store
    Store
    • Visit Your Store
    • Or choose another store...
      • Europe
      •  Austria (German)
      •  Belgium (Dutch, French)
      •  Bulgaria (Bulgarian)
      •  Czech Republic (Czech)
      •  Denmark (Danish)
      •  Estonia (Estonian)
      •  Finland (Finnish)
      •  France (French)
      •  Germany (German)
      •  Hungary (Hungarian)
      •  Ireland
      •  Israel
      •  Italy (Italian)
      •  Latvia (Latvian)
      •  
      •  Lithuania (Lithuanian)
      •  Netherlands (Dutch)
      •  Norway (Norwegian)
      •  Poland (Polish)
      •  Portugal (Portuguese)
      •  Romania (Romanian)
      •  Russia (Russian)
      •  Slovakia (Slovak)
      •  Slovenia (Slovenian)
      •  Spain (Spanish)
      •  Sweden (Swedish)
      •  Switzerland(German, French)
      •  Turkey (Turkish)
      •  United Kingdom
      • Asia Pacific
      •  Australia
      •  China
      •  Hong Kong
      •  India
      •  Korea (Korean)
      •  Malaysia
      •  New Zealand
      •  Philippines
      •  Singapore
      •  Taiwan
      •  Thailand (Thai)
      • Americas
      •  Brazil (Portuguese)
      •  Canada
      •  Mexico (Spanish)
      •  United States
      Can't find the country/region you're looking for? Visit our export site or find a local distributor.
  • Translate
  • Profile
Industrial Automation
  • Technologies
  • More
Industrial Automation
Blog Engineers develop LiftTiles, a scale shape-changing interface
  • Blog
  • Forum
  • Documents
  • Events
  • Polls
  • Files
  • Members
  • Mentions
  • Sub-Groups
  • Tags
  • More
  • Cancel
  • New
Industrial Automation requires membership for participation - click to join
Blog Post Actions
  • Subscribe by email
  • More
  • Cancel
  • Share
  • Subscribe by email
  • More
  • Cancel
Group Actions
  • Group RSS
  • More
  • Cancel
Engagement
  • Author Author: Catwell
  • Date Created: 25 Oct 2019 2:55 PM Date Created
  • Views 908 views
  • Likes 7 likes
  • Comments 1 comment
  • japan
  • hmi
  • robotics
  • robot
  • on_campus
  • motion control
  • cabeatwell
  • university
Related
Recommended

Engineers develop LiftTiles, a scale shape-changing interface

Catwell
Catwell
25 Oct 2019

Engineers from the University of Colorado Boulder, Keio University, and the University of Tokyo have developed LiftTiles, a modular shape display that fits inside a room.

 

image

LiftTiles can inflate and rise up as a unit through an inflatable actuator. (Image Credit: Ryo Suzuki, YouTube)

 

The lightweight, compact LiftTiles contain an array of actuators that can inflate and extend up to 1.5m in height before retracting. Inflatable actuation gives a sturdy structure that can support heavy objects, up to 10kg.  All the inflatable actuators are assembled with a plastic tube and constant springs. The tubes extend when inflated and retract with the force of the spring when it deflates. Height control is also maintained by the volume of air inside each actuator.

 

There are some differences when comparing the team’s actuators with a reel-based one. For instance, the team’s design employs force springs to improve stabilization, simplified fabrication, and stronger retraction force. This allows a larger sized actuator to expand from 15cm to 150cm.

 

Each unit of LiftTiles has an inflatable plastic tube with two constant force springs. The flat side of the spring is attached to the bottom plate, and the rolled side is attached to the top end of the tube. It also contains a laser-cut base plate with two holes. The first hole is for air supply, and the other is for air release. The Ebowan Plastic Solenoid valve found in the plastic tube is responsible for supplying it with air. Meanwhile, the air release hole contains a T-shaped silicon tap, which can open and close the release valve by using a 3D printed rack and pinion gear installed on a TowerPro SG90 servo motor. The team also mounted a telescopic enclosure made of flexed plastic sheets, which lets the user step or sit on it.

 

Each modular actuator can also be connected to each other. This is done from the end of the solenoid air intake valve of each actuator connected to a T-shaped plumbing joint.  Adjoining actuators are then pneumatically connected through a silicon tube between the T-shaped joints, which allows an array of actuators to share the air between each other through a shared pressurized line.

 

In the future, the team hopes to further develop this technology in other applications by adding mobility in each unit to give it an autonomous shape display and by actuating larger objects that can use shape displays.   

 

You don't have permission to edit metadata of this video.
Edit media
x
image
Upload Preview
image

 

Have a story tip? Message me at: cabe(at)element14(dot)com

http://twitter.com/Cabe_Atwell

  • Sign in to reply
  • dubbie
    dubbie over 4 years ago

    I always find it amazing that new ideas and concepts, such as this, keep being created in the area of robotics and automation. This is a great concept, although I'm not so sure about the implementation.

     

    Dubbie

    • Cancel
    • Vote Up 0 Vote Down
    • Sign in to reply
    • More
    • Cancel
element14 Community

element14 is the first online community specifically for engineers. Connect with your peers and get expert answers to your questions.

  • Members
  • Learn
  • Technologies
  • Challenges & Projects
  • Products
  • Store
  • About Us
  • Feedback & Support
  • FAQs
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Legal and Copyright Notices
  • Sitemap
  • Cookies

An Avnet Company © 2023 Premier Farnell Limited. All Rights Reserved.

Premier Farnell Ltd, registered in England and Wales (no 00876412), registered office: Farnell House, Forge Lane, Leeds LS12 2NE.

ICP 备案号 10220084.

Follow element14

  • X
  • Facebook
  • linkedin
  • YouTube