Hello everyone, my name is Jiahao Li from UCLA HCI Research
Today I want to talk with you about the paper, Romeo -
a design tool for embedding transformable parts in 3D models to robotically augment default functionality.
This work is a joint effort between UCLA HCI Research and Texas A&M University
Let me first ask you a question
How many of you have played with stealing-coin piggy bank?
Such as this kitty shaped piggy bank and the kaonashi piggy bank.
You just put a coin on the platform and some characters will take it.
What if we can design our own stealing-coin piggy bank using any customized shape?
For example, can we turn this minion into a stealing coin piggy bank?
With romeo, end-users are empowered to design a minion shaped piggy bank that could steal a coin from your hand.
However, such concept of design is not only about designing piggy bank.
It’s about designing transformables,
which are objects that could transform a part of its body to augment its original function.
Such transformables can make our lives a lot easier
such as these transformable furniture, multi cup holder and ipad cover.
But customizing such transformable is hard, it requires domain knowledge especially in design, robotics and mechanism.
Therefore, we propose Romeo to bridge this gap, by providing a design tool that can embed transformable part in objects’ 3D model to augment its default functionality.
Here are some examples showing a large design space that Romeo is capable of
Users can robotize a paper towel holder to pull sheet without contaminating others.
Users can transform a cup holder to attach to an armchair
A spatula can also be robotized to stirring the pot automatically while unattended
A stamp can become self-inking and self-stamping
And a flowerpot can water the flower according to a predefined schedule.
These are the results designed by the participants in our design sessions.
Here I will introduce the workflow of using Romeo
Romeo allows users to express at a high level which part of the object to be transformed, how it moves following motion points in space and the corresponding action to be taken.
The first step is to select a part of the object to be transformed.
Users can select the transformable part by sweeping the cross section area along one of the three major axes.
The second step is to specify the motion points and the corresponding action to be taken.
Users could define a task by specifying motion points to be followed in order.
Corresponding action is also specified at each point including pick/place, following a trajectory and attaching to a surface.
The third step is to generate an embedded robotic arm using a backend algorithm. The design result will be visualized and animated for validation
The final step is to generate components for fabrication and implementation.
Which includes generating joint connectors, screw holes and grippers for the components. The users could export those and send for 3D printing.
For more technical details and user study result, please refer to our paper.
In conclusion, Romeo is an end-to-end design tool that …