Programming Tangible World

Virtual intelligence has been dramatically advancing these days, catching up with or even surpassing the functional and cognitive capability of human, by the advances in computing power and new operation methodologies. On the other hand, tangible objects or machines in physical world try to mimic forms and functions of specific living organisms, such as human, cheetah, octopus, etc., but still lag behind them in terms of intelligent and adaptive functions necessitating to overcome traditional mechanisms and approaches.<br/><br/>Therefore, our group aims to develop integrated robotic platform capable of programming its morphology, physical property, interface and function <i>in situ</i>. This paradigm of robot requires the innovation in all levels of system including materials, components, architectures to integrate them, manufacturing process, data processing, and operation. In this talk, I introduce recent research outcomes in our group, such as autonomous magnetic material for robotic applications, tensegrity metamaterial capable of synergistically integrating rigid and soft materials, 4D printing method directly transforming 2D pen drawing into 3D structure, flexible robotic components and sensor group interface, novel robotic platform with the corresponding operation, etc., and try to share our visions to blur the boundary between virtual and tangible world, and more importantly between human and environment.