Proposal of Reel Actuator for 3D Shape Forming

Abstract

For the purposes of information presentation and entertainment use, several devices that can mechanically change their shapes have been proposed. However, they present a problem in the fact that their range of movement is proportionally fixed to the size of the unit. To address this challenge, we devised and have developed an extension actuator named "reel actuator." The current model of this actuator has the ability to extend its rod up to approximately 27 times the unit's body height (4,000mm stroke against 150mm storage space). And we implemented some 3D shape forming system using reel actuators.