phd thesis:
human-scale personal fabrication

(4 full papers)

advised by prof. Patrick Baudisch at the Hasso Plattner Institute - Human Computer Interaction lab.
PDF (DOI:https://doi.org/10.25932/publishup-55539)

Trusscillator: a System for Fabricating Human-Scale Human-Powered Oscillating Devices

ACM UIST’21
Robert Kovacs, Lukas Rambold, Lukas Fritzsche, Dominik Meier, Jotaro Shigeyama, Shohei Katakura, Ran Zhang, Patrick Baudisch Trusscillator is an end-to-end system that allows non-engineers to create human-scale human-powered devices that perform oscillatory movements, such as playground equipment, workout devices, and interactive kinetic installations.

Best Demo Honorable Mention Award

ACM publication page

TrussFormer: 3D Printing Large Kinetic Structures

ACM UIST’18
Robert Kovacs, Alexandra Ion, Pedro Lopes, Tim Oesterreich, Johannes Filter, Philip Otto, Tobias Arndt, Nico Ring, Melvin Witte, Anton Synytsia, and Patrick Baudisch TrussFormer is an integrated end-to-end system that allows users to 3D print large-scale kinetic structures, i.e., structures that involve motion and and are subject to inertial forces.

CHI’19 Best Visual Communication Award

ACM publication page

TrussFab: Fabricating Sturdy Large-Scale Structures on Desktop 3D Printers

ACM CHI’17Robert Kovacs, Anna Seufert, Ludwig Wall, Hsiang-Ting Chen, Florian Meinel, Willi Müller, Si-jing You, Maximilian Brehm, Jonathan Striebel, Yannis Kommana, Alexander Popiak, Thomas Bläsius, and Patrick Baudisch TrussFab is an integrated end-to-end system that allows users to fabricate large scale structures that are sturdy enough to carry human weight. TrussFab achieves the large scale by complementing 3D print with plastic bottles.

ACM publication page

Protopiper: Physically Sketching Room-Sized Objects at Actual Scale

ACM UIST ‘15
Harshit Agrawal, Udayan Umapathi, Robert Kovacs, Johannes Frohnhofen, Hsiang-Ting Chen, Stefanie Mueller, Patrick Baudisch Protopiper is a computer aided, hand-held fabrication device that allows users to sketch room-sized objects at actual scale. The key idea behind protopiper is that it forms adhesive tape into tubes as its main building material, rather than extruded plastic or photopolymer line.

UIST Best Demo Award

ACM publication page

internship @Microsoft_Research

Haptic PIVOT: On-Demand Handhelds in VR

ACM UIST’20
Robert Kovacs, Eyal Ofek, Mar Gonzalez Franco, Alexa Fay Siu, Sebastian Marwecki, Christian Holz, Mike Sinclair
PIVOT is a wrist-worn haptic device that renders virtual objects into the user’s hand on demand. Its simple design comprises a single actuated joint that pivots a haptic handle into and out of the user’s hand, rendering the haptic sensations of grasping, catching, or throwing an object – anywhere in space.

ACM publication page
US Patent US11003247B1

Virtual Reality Without Vision: A Haptic and Auditory White Cane to Navigate Complex Virtual Worlds

ACM CHI‘20 (best paper honorable mention)

Alexa F. Siu, Mike Sinclair, Robert Kovacs, Eyal Ofek, Christian Holz, Ed Cutrell How might virtual reality (VR) aid a blind person in familiarization with an unexplored space? Exploring the design of immersive VR experiences accessible to blind people with the goal of facilitating orientation and mobility training.

ACM publication page

R&D collaborative robotics

LEROSH: training robots for crafts

(at interactive-scape & werk5) The Lerosh project is about exploring how machine learning can help artisans to work with collaborative robots on unique artifacts. In particular, training robots with the "master's movements" that can be later generalized to any object, geometry, or material. The key challenge here is to extract the high-level skills from the craftsman's demonstration and to replicate the fine-motoric movements using multi-sensory feedback loops. project page: LEROSH.de

latest publication at UIST

AirTied: Automatic Personal Fabrication of Truss Structures

ACM UIST’23
Lukas Rambold, Robert Kovacs, Conrad Lempert, Muhammad Abdullah, Helena Lendowski, Lukas Fritzsche, Martin Taraz, and Patrick Baudisch AirTied is a device that fabricates truss structures in a fully automatic fashion. AirTied achieves this by unrolling a 20cm-wide inflatable plastic tube and tying nodes into it. AirTied creates nodes by holding onto a segment of tube, stacking additional tube segments on top of it, tying them up, and releasing the result. The resulting structures are material-efficient and light as well as sturdy, as we demonstrate by creating a 6m-tower. Unlike the prior art, AirTied requires no scaffolding and no building blocks, bringing automated truss construction into the reach of personal fabrication.