Programmable Polarities: Actuating Interactive Prototypes with Programmable Electromagnets

This demo introduces a framework that uses programmable electromagnets as a method to rapidly prototype interactive objects. Our approach allows users to to quickly and inexpensively embed actuation mechanisms into otherwise static prototypes in order to make them dynamic and interactive. Underpinning the technique is the insight of using electromagnets to interchangeably create attractive and repulsive forces between adjacent parts, and programmatically setting their polarities in a way that allows objects to translate rotationally and linearly, respond haptically, assemble, and locomote.