ShapeBots: Shape-changing Swarm Robots
This work addresses the problem of enabling dynamic and distributed shape-changing interfaces for applications in ubiquitous computing, though it is incremental as it builds on existing swarm and shape-changing robot concepts.
The researchers tackled the challenge of creating versatile physical interfaces by developing ShapeBots, a swarm of self-transformable robots that can individually and collectively change shape to display information, actuate objects, and provide tangible interactions, with each robot using thin (2.5 cm) and highly extendable (up to 20 cm) linear actuators.
We introduce shape-changing swarm robots. A swarm of self-transformable robots can both individually and collectively change their configuration to display information, actuate objects, act as tangible controllers, visualize data, and provide physical affordances. ShapeBots is a concept prototype of shape-changing swarm robots. Each robot can change its shape by leveraging small linear actuators that are thin (2.5 cm) and highly extendable (up to 20cm) in both horizontal and vertical directions. The modular design of each actuator enables various shapes and geometries of self-transformation. We illustrate potential application scenarios and discuss how this type of interface opens up possibilities for the future of ubiquitous and distributed shape-changing interfaces.