FabNavi: Support system to assemble physical objects using visual instructions

Last Update: 2014/09/17　

Abstract

In this FAB age, people can easily duplicate physical parts through personal & social FAB technologies. However, assembling these parts is still troublesome especially when creating complicated items. To solve this problem, we propose a new system, FabNavi, which helps people to assemble physical objects in remote places using visual instructions. FabNavi mainly consists of a pair of a camera and a projector set above the tabletop. People can easily record the assembly processes by pictures and share these instructions on the web. Then other people can re-assemble them just by following the visual instructions projected on the remote tabletop. The goal of FabNavi is to create a framework for recording and sharing new universal instructions through the FabLab network. We had many workshops and exhibitions using FabNavi to explore its possibilities and limitations in Tokyo, London, and Taipei since 2013. For detail and latest information, please check the paper and FabNavi official web (currently in Japanese only).


Figure 1. The basic usage of FabNavi.	Figure 2. The system architecture of the FabNavi.

Figure 3. The basic flows of the FabNavi: the sets of recorded pictures, visual instructions, are shared on the web, and then other people in remote places can re-assemble it just by following the instruction projected on the tabletop.

Figure 4.　Attendees in the workshops & Exhibitions of the FabNavi. Mozilla Festival London (Left), FabCafe Tokyo, FabCafe Taipei, and Niconico Chokaigi Tokyo (Right).

Publication

Koji Tsukada, Keita Watanabe, Daisuke Akatsuka, and Maho Oki, FabNavi: Support system to assemblephysical objects using visual instructions, Paper presented at Fab10, Barcelona, 2-8 July (2014) [PDF]