Furniture | EPFL Graph Search

Furniture refers to objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (tables), storing items, working, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Furniture is also used to hold objects at a convenient height for work (as horizontal surfaces above the ground, such as tables and desks), or to store things (e.g., cupboards, shelves, and drawers). Furniture can be a product of design and can be considered a form of decorative art. In addition to furniture's functional role, it can serve a symbolic or religious purpose. It can be made from a vast multitude of materials, including metal, plastic, and wood. Furniture can be made using a variety of woodworking joints which often reflects the local culture. People have been using natural objects, such as tree stumps, rocks and moss, as furniture since the beginning of human civilization and continues today in some households/campsites. Archaeological research shows that from around 30,

Design and Evaluation of a Graphical iPad Application for Arranging Adaptive Furniture

Jérémy Blatter, Stéphane Bonardi, Pierre Dillenbourg, Julia Fink, Auke Ijspeert, Patrick Jermann, Rico Möckel

We present the design and evaluation of an iPad application that will be used to operate the modular robots “Roombots”. Roombots are the building blocks for adaptive pieces of furniture. The application allows a user to arrange adaptive furniture within a room. We conducted a user study with 24 participants to evaluate our approach and to freely explore people’s interaction. Data suggests that the ability to move with the device leads to a better precision of the furniture arrangement. No significant difference has been observed between using the application through a virtual representation of the room in contrast to an augmented reality environment, even if participants mentioned in a post-study questionnaire their preference for the augmented condition. Users described the interface as intuitive and easy to use.

2012

The Impact of Light Distribution and Furniture Layout on Meeting Light Exposure Objectives in an Office – A Simulation Case Study

Marilyne Andersen, Megan Nicole Danell, Steffen Lutz Hartmeyer, Siobhan Francois Rockcastle

The present simulation case study compares the impact of electric lighting distributions in relation to work-desk location and orientation on work-plane and eye-level illumination within a small private office. The aim of this study is to better understand the implications of lighting and furniture design decisions on ocular light exposure with consideration of work-plane illuminance based on current recommendations by the IES and the International WELL Building Institute. Five electric lighting configurations, 3 occupant seating locations, and 3 view directions were simulated and compared. No conditions met work-plane and eye-level illumination targets at the same time. Only by adjusting the spectrum and output intensity were both illumination targets achieved. Overall, vertical wall illumination when seated close to the illuminated wall resulted in the highest eye-level light exposure. These results indicate that vertical plane illumination can act as an effective lighting design for both horizontal and vertical illuminance when furniture configurations are selected accordingly.

2021

Roombots: Design and Implementation of a Modular Robot for Reconfiguration and Locomotion

Alexander Spröwitz

In this thesis we present the design and implementation of a novel self-reconfiguring modular (SR-MR) robotic system: Roombots. We are aiming at three main applications with Roombots; locomotion through self-reconfiguration in the regular cubic 3D-lattice on structured surfaces, locomotion in non-structured environments applying central pattern generators (CPG) as the locomotion controller, and self-assembly and reconfiguration of static objects of the day-to-day environment, such as furniture. Robot assemblies from self-reconfigurable modular robots have the ability to adapt to a given task and working environment by altering their shape through a series of reconfiguration moves, and attachments and detachments between the modules. We are interested in self-reconfiguring modular robots for their shape-changing capabilities, and their distributed characteristics. We envision the following applications for Roombots: First, self-reconfiguration in a structured 3D lattice, i.e. a floor and walls equipped with connectors. Embedded connectors can provide pivot points for locomotion of SR-MR assemblies, and docking and recharging places for our adaptive furniture pieces. Second, our proposed concept for locomotion control of modular robots on non-structured ground are central pattern generators. Third, we would like to build adaptive and versatile furniture from modular robots and light-weight elements. In the following we are able to count more than 60 modular robotic systems, developed over the last two decades. However we were unable to identify an existing system which could provide us with all desired kinematic and geometric capabilities. This led us to design and implement a novel self-reconfiguring modular robotic system: Roombots. To tackle the module design we attempt to identify both meaningful design parameters from existing modular robots, and essential features for our applications. The combination of both leads to the kinematic and geometric description of the Roombots modules, and eventually to its implementation. In order to be able to assemble furniture from our Roombots units in the future, we need a reconfiguration framework which supports the specific requirements of Roombots. Metamodules made of two units attached in-series are attracted and guided by a virtual force-field, they use broadcast signals, look-up tables of collision clouds and simple assumptions about their near environment to reach their seeding positions, which are currently hand coded. For the task of locomotion in non-structured environments we propose a framework for learning to move with modular robots using central pattern generators and online optimization. The distributed implementation of CPGs offers an ideal substrate for producing locomotion patterns and for online learning, and an optimization framework for fast learning.

EPFL2010

Roombots: Design and Implementation of a Modular Robot for Reconfiguration and Locomotion

Alexander Spröwitz

EPFL2010