Stanford Seminar - Towards Shape Changing Displays and Shape Changing Robots

February 10, 2023 Sean Follmer of Stanford University Morphological change can afford both information transfer (through both vision and touch) as well as functional adaptation to the environment or the task at hand. In my research, I explore the design, development, and modeling of shape changing systems in both haptic user interfaces and robotics. Towards a goal of more human-centered computing, I believe that interaction must be grounded in the physical world and leverage our innate abilities for spatial cognition and dexterous manipulation with our hands. By creating interfaces that allow for richer physical interaction, such as bimanual, whole hand haptic exploration, these systems can help people with different abilities (e.g., children, people with visual impairments, or even expert designers) better understand and interact with information. The first part of my talk will discuss a central challenge in the widespread adoption of such haptic user interfaces – how can we create physical interactive displays that update dynamically, and what are the interaction techniques and enabling technologies necessary to support such systems? In a parallel domain, Robotics, these same technologies and approaches can support new multifunctionality and adaptation. In the second part of my talk, I will detail our recent progress in large shape changing truss robots. I will present methods for high-extension and compliant actuation in truss robots and explore how the compliance can be utilized for unique behaviors. This shape change can be applied to locomotion, physical interaction with the environment, and the engulfing, grasping, and manipulation of objects.