This is my storyboard which shows one way that my project can be used in the real world. The possibilities are endless!

I have added the new openings to the box construction and have constructed the mechanisms that I am going to use in the box with the vacuum pump I recieved.

Great job!

To do next:

- Prototype different design ideas in order to choose one. For example, will you use vacuum jamming to stiffen your bridge? 

- Make final prototypes to finalize designs for each individual component.

- Try planning out the time you have left before the deadline. What are the major tasks that you need to do? What are the sub-tasks that need to be done? Estimate how much time each of these tasks will take. 

Summary:

Add as much detail as you can to your design outline. For example: What materials will you use? Which mechanisms will allow you to achieve the behavior you want. 

If your prototypes work, great! It doesn't have to be perfect, this is version 1, we will optimize it later! 

Time is limited - Ask questions whenever you are stuck.

Daria's Brief: Inspired by the movement of a gecko, the Soft Gecko is a soft robot that can walk and climb up walls and is powered using only air pressure. Many roboticists base robot designs on animals, but they tend to use hard materials, like motors and rigid plastics. Most animals, on the other hand, are invertebrates made of soft tissues. Soft robots are robots made of soft materials and powered by air and water, and they can easily be used to copy the movement of a "soft" animal. The hope is that the Soft Gecko will inspire roboticists in the future to make robotic animals using soft robotics. The robot itself is slightly larger than a gecko and can be mounted with a camera in order to explore places not accessible by humans or bulky hard robots. Also, since the robot runs on air, it does not require the complex and damage-prone hardware of hard robots. It could be especially helpful to the military or scientists operating in remote areas without access to power. 

The Soft Gecko is powered by increasing and decreasing the air pressure in flexible, 3D-printed legs that are heat-sealed inside plastic bags. Because of the accordion shape of the legs, they contract when the air pressure is decreased and expand when the pressure is increased again. Combined with silicone-molded suction cups that allow the robot to stick to the wall or floor and pull itself up, these legs allow the Soft Gecko to walk and climb. The legs were created using technology developed by Harvard, but they have never been used to power a robot. The user will control the robot by controlling an air compressor that powers the legs and suction cups instead of having to deal with complex electronics.

Daria's Brief: Inspired by the movement of a gecko, the Soft Gecko is a soft robot that can walk and climb up walls and is powered using only air pressure. Many roboticists base robot designs on animals, but they tend to use hard materials, like motors and rigid plastics. Most animals, on the other hand, are invertebrates made of soft tissues. Soft robots are robots made of soft materials and powered by air and water, and they can easily be used to copy the movement of a "soft" animal. The hope is that the Soft Gecko will inspire roboticists in the future to make robotic animals using soft robotics. The robot itself is slightly larger than a gecko and can be mounted with a camera in order to explore places not accessible by humans or bulky hard robots. Also, since the robot runs on air, it does not require the complex and damage-prone hardware of hard robots. It could be especially helpful to the military or scientists operating in remote areas without access to power. 

The Soft Gecko is powered by increasing and decreasing the air pressure in flexible, 3D-printed legs that are heat-sealed inside plastic bags. Because of the accordion shape of the legs, they contract when the air pressure is decreased and expand when the pressure is increased again. Combined with silicone-molded suction cups that allow the robot to stick to the wall or floor and pull itself up, these legs allow the Soft Gecko to walk and climb. The legs were created using technology developed by Harvard, but they have never been used to power a robot. The user will control the robot by controlling an air compressor that powers the legs and suction cups instead of having to deal with complex electronics.

Chiara Blissett: The Bio-Actuation Interactive Interface

The 'Bio-Actuation Interactive Interface' is a tangible re-imagination of urbanism for all to engage with, reshape, and burgeon the capacity of their engaged senses. Actuated by human presence, the installation responds to motion and physical interaction, unveiling how the body can construct the environment surrounding them, in contrast to physical boundaries restricting a person's movement and ability to engage with their surroundings.

Permanently fixed frameworks and outlined trajectories construct urban environments, through apparent, unambiguous forms and stationary walls. Humans are forced to adapt themselves to the predefined route in which physical barriers constitute, muffling the ability to be present and perceive the world through the full scope of our senses. In cities, masses of individuals cooperate to travel within pre-established trajectories of motion; the vessel, or city, is unresponsive to each existence. Individuals muted by the city's bustle inevitably seek a sense of presence, an amplification, and rejoicing in their uniqueness.

By nature, organic landscapes emanate from the entities inhabiting it and are reformed and reconstructed by mutual interactions, and around the needs of living organisms in its ecosystem. Organic landscapes also embody subjective decisions as microcosms in each natural ecosystem or macrocosm. In natural environments, the presence of each individual is amplified as each step leaves a unique impression, the space recognizing individual existence.

Curated to break down barriers between everyday objects and biology, the 'Bio-Actuation Interactive Interface' allows humans to 'communicate' with bacteria and watch the space around them morph. The bacteria showcased are genetically engineered to secrete color, the output of a chemical reaction, in this case, as a result of agitation. The interface enhances the user's state of mind as the color that is secreted is programmed for specific times of the day, evoking certain feelings, responses, and emotions, formulating a positive image for biotechnology.

International Young Researcher's Conference

• September 19-20, 2020
• The conference will be held virtually
• Email chiara_blissett@yahoo.com if you have questions

This presentation is a work in progress and will be updated.