ActuBoard: An Open Rapid Prototyping Platform to Integrate Hardware Actuators in Remote Applications
Günther, Sebastian and Müller, Florian and Hübner, Felix and Mühlhäuser, Max and Matviienko, Andrii
Abstract: Prototyping is an essential step in developing tangible experiences and novel devices, ranging from haptic feedback to wearables. However, prototyping of actuated devices nowadays often requires repetitive and time-consuming steps, such as wiring, soldering, and programming basic communication, before HCI researchers and designers can focus on their primary interest: designing interaction. In this paper, we present ActuBoard, a prototyping platform to support 1) quick assembly, 2) less preparation work, and 3) the inclusion of non-tech-savvy users. With ActuBoard, users are not required to create complex circuitry, write a single line of firmware, or implementing communication protocols. Acknowledging existing systems, our platform combines the flexibility of low-level microcontrollers and ease-of-use of abstracted tinker platforms to control actuators from separate applications. As further contribution, we highlight the technical specifications and published the ActuBoard platform as Open Source.
@inproceedings{guntherActuBoardOpenRapid2021,title={{{ActuBoard}}: {{An Open Rapid Prototyping Platform}} to Integrate {{Hardware Actuators}} in {{Remote Applications}}},shorttitle={{{ActuBoard}}},booktitle={Companion of the 2021 {{ACM SIGCHI Symposium}} on {{Engineering Interactive Computing Systems}}},author={G{\"u}nther, Sebastian and M{\"u}ller, Florian and H{\"u}bner, Felix and M{\"u}hlh{\"a}user, Max and Matviienko, Andrii},year={2021},month=jun,series={{{EICS}} '21},pages={70--76},publisher={Association for Computing Machinery},address={New York, NY, USA},doi={10.1145/3459926.3464757},urldate={2024-01-09},isbn={978-1-4503-8449-0},keywords={actuators,haptics,hardware,open source,rapid prototyping,tinkering,virtual reality},}
