SoRo Responsive Wall - Soft robotics for human-oriented architecture

Abstract

Designing and making an interactive architecture that is able to respond to the environment and human behavior generally requires a variety of mechanical and electronic devices, different kinds of joints and components, and sometimes dangerous equipment that may harm users. They mostly consist of rigid materials which usually need to be covered or modified to be more appealing and pleasant. What if the structure itself feels comfortable and friendly, and moves gently in order to create a bonding with people? In this research, we propose a soft architecture that can interact and respond using soft robotics principles. We have designed a human-friendly soft robotic wall, that can function as a shelter in urban spaces and changes its form by human presence. Utilizing pneumatic actuation along with soft materials using simple mechanisms results in a safe and soft architecture. Through several prototypes within which the movement of the module is studied and analyzed, we used cloth and air balloons instead of silicon in the 1:15 model to create an inexpensive module that is feasible on a 1:1 scale.