RYAN WISTORT
Welcome,
Wistort Labs is a collection of work from Ryan Wistort.
The design experiments below show Wistort's unusual blend of design and engineering. The goal of Wistort Labs is: experimentation in the space where engineering and design intersect - as a mechanism to extend the reach of design and the power design has to enable, liberate, express and illuminate.
RYAN WISTORT
Ryan Wistort is a designer and engineer who uses a mixture of disciplines to explore the links between emerging technology, creativity, fabrication and experience. His work experience and skill set include: industrial, graphic, and interaction design, as well as mechanical, electrical and software engineering.
He has worked internationally on projects which include a mix of design and engineering. He has developed Mars rover technology for NASA, maintained robotic musical instruments for björk, invented robot hands for Intel Research, and consulted for Toy companies such as Hasbro on the future of human robot interaction.
Ryan received a Master's degree from the MIT Media Lab, where he built and studied robots as a human interface in the Personal Robots Group. He also holds a BS is Electrical Engineering from the University of Washington, where his interests included automated fabrication, mechatronics and control systems.
CV
[ EDUCATION ]
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge MA
Masters of Media Arts and Sciences (Personal Robots Group)
Graduation Date: August 2010
University of Washington, Seattle WA
Bachelors of Science in Electrical Engineering
Graduation Date: August 2007
[ SKILLS ]
Computer Languages: Java, Ruby, Python, C, HTML/CSS, MatlabOperating Systems: MacOS X, Linux, UNIX, Windows
EE: PCB layout, Labview, Verilog, FPGA (Altera & Xilinx)
Embedded systems: PIC, dsPIC, x86, AVR, TI DSP
Mechanical: Avid machinist, proficient in SolidWorks and Mastercam.
[ EXPERIENCE ]
2011, Bjork Robot Harp Selected as on-site robot opperator for "Gravity Harps" as part of Biophilia Tour.2010 - 2011, Theranos Project lead for robotics development. Strong focus on electromechanical medical device systems.
2008 MIT Media Lab Graduate student and Research Assistant at the MIT Media lab under Cynthia Breazeal in the Personal Robots Group.
2007 – 2008 Intel Research Seattle Intern developing low level hardware and software systems for mobile manipulation robotics applications.
2006 Insitu Group intern developing software and hardware subsystem for controlling engine temperature of a semiautonomous UAV.
2005 Founded company RyBOTS as a developer of small walking robot kits for educational use. End to end development from napkin drawing to documented product.
2004 JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratories) intern - robotics specialist for mission design team - focusing on Mars mission scenarios.
2002-2004 Undergrad researcher developing software and mechanical systems for robotic power cable inspection system.
[ HONORS ]
2009 IDC New Technologies for Learning and Play - Nominated Presenter2004 International Student Paper Contest, IEEE Transmission and Distribution, 2nd place
2003 NASA Space Grant Scholarship
2003 Mary Gates Research Scholarship
2002 Intel ISEF science and engineering fair – third place in international engineering division.
[ SELECTED PUBLICATIONS ]
Wistort, R (2010). TofuDraw: Choreographing Robot Behavior through Digital Painting. Masters Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts
Ryan Wistort. 2010. Only robots on the inside. interactions 17, 2 (March 2010), 72-74. DOI=10.1145/1699775.1699792 http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1699775.1699792
W. Stiehl, A. Chang, R. Wistort, C. Breazeal, "The Robotic Preschool of the Future: New Technologies for Learning and Play" in 8th International Conference on Design and Children (IDC2009) Como, Italy, 2009
R. Wistort, C. Breazeal, “TOFU: A Socially Expressive Robot Character for Child Interaction,” in 8th International Conference on Design and Children (IDC2009) Como, Italy, 2009
Smith, J.R., E. Garcia, R. Wistort, G. Krishnamoorthy. "Electric field imaging pretouch for robotic graspers," Proceedings of IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, IROS 2007, pp.676-683, Oct. 29 2007-Nov. 2 2007.
[ INVITED TALKS ]
MIT Creativity Discussion and Activities Series 4.20.10
Confessions of a Compulsive Builder - Reflections on Design and Creativity
Future of Health technology Summit 9.29.09
Exploring New Types of Human-Machine Interaction
Intel Research Labs Seattle 7.8.09
Personal Robots - Why Social Interaction is Important
Interaction Design and Children, 6.4.09
Preschool of the Future and Robot Interaction
RWISTORT at MIT dot EDU
- or -
TOFU
A minimal social robot for child interaction.
MOCHI
Design exploration - for a mobile, wireless, robotic character for children.
BUOYANCY
Large scale kinetic sculpture in a chandelier form factor.
Millenium Falcon
Linux, Lasers, Python, and the Millennium Falcon. A computational geometry and fabrication experiment.
TOFU
Recently as part of my MS thesis, I developed a series of robots for child interaction to explore the links between robotic characters and interaction. The first robot I developed was TOFU, who utilizes 2D animation techniques as a means of expression. By using such techniques as a roadmap, it is possible to create highly expressive robotic characters at low complexity and cost. My research interests included ways that such robots can be used as a social agent to enable different interactions with children. Of particular interest, using expressive robotic characters as a social proxy between children and adults in educational settings. Some other possible applications include therapy, distance communication and entertainment.
The robot could be controlled from a variety of sources including autonomous, but for most applications TOFU has simply been puppeteered using a game controller. Multiple motors inside the robot's body are used to compress the foam body into different expressions. The eyes of the robot are small OLED displays to achieve dynamic eye motions.
"If cute was the goal then we'd call this project a success"
-Engadget
"Meet the new king of the cute robot dance-a-thon"
-Boing Boing
"...if our robotic future is to be peopled (roboted?) with artificial entities as cute as this, then I say bring it on."
-Fast Company
MOCHI
Mochi is the second in a series of robots I made, as part of my MS thesis. Although not as polished looking, Mochi is wireless mobile and has a two degree of freedom articulating neck. The robot was made primarily as a design study to see what mobility and neck movement would offer the character in terms of expression. Some of the body language possible with these added degrees of freedom is shown in the video below.
BUOYANCY
Buoyancy is kinetic sculpture in a chandelier form factor. The form and motion of the robot has been designed to trigger different responses depending on the observer. Each arm moves at a speed that is right on the edge of perception, making the motion almost undetectable to the casual observer. At closer observation the motion of the piece emerges in the movement of the robot's arms.One prototype arm has been made out of wood as a feasibility study and proof of concept. The final arm design will be constructed out of a combination of high density foam, carbon fiber, aluminum and delrin.
Millenium Falcon
The press fit Millennium Falcon is the result of an experiment in computational geometry and fabrication. As part of the amazing class "How to Make Almost Anything" at MIT, I wrote a small python script to process arbitrary 3d models into a lattice structure. Once in this form, the structure can be assembled out of any fabrication technique that adheres to a grid. The Falcon (amazing Star Wars space ship for the uninformed) could have also been made out of legos using this technique. In this case, the program was used to make a 5.5 ft long version out of strips of cardboard that are all press fit together without a drip of glue.Not knowing what to do with the cardboard ship after creating it, some good friends and I decided to fly it through the MIT infinite corridor, and then stuff it with Christmas lights and hang it.
MISO
Expressive, compact and mobile robot character for child interaction.
CHANDELIER
A weekend laser cutter experiment - where cardboard and murano meet.
WAM ARM
A collaboration with Intel Research to develop next generation care robots that respond to real time sensor input.
INTEL HAND
A collaboration with Intel Research to explore remote actuation and active compliance in robotic grasping applications.
MISO
Miso is the third in a series of robots that include Tofu and Mochi. As the third robot in the Japnese food product naming streak, Miso was designed as a baby character to the popular Tofu robot. The challenge of packing the expressive abilities of Miso into such a small form factor, made the project a fun challenge. Between the head, body and mobility, the robot has five actuated degrees of freedom as well as an OLED display, used as the robot's eyes.
CHANDELIER
This project was a quick weekend experiment in lighting design using low cost materials. The chandelier is roughly 3 ft in diameter and uses a chopped up and rewired holiday bulb chain for illumination. The main structure is a combination of laser cut matte board and foam core.
WAM ARM
During a one-year stay with Intel Research, I spent a fair amount of time developing what falls into the "mobile manipulation" sector or robotics. The WAM arm involves the manipulation portion of this. My job on the team included a few tasks involving the programming of the arm, which is from Barrett Technologies. The video below shows the major software components I put together in action. These include a combination of inverse kinematics, streaming network interfaces, a programmable compliance control system and a realtime tracking system that uses non-contact electric field sensing to detect certain objects.
INTEL HAND
During a one-year internship with Intel Research Seattle, I put together a collection of technologies focusing on custom robot hand designs. Novel aspects of the project include 3d printed manipulator designs that allow for parametric gripper geometries. Using a simple cable mechanism, the grippers are also able to decouple the motor from the end effector to enable very small but powerful gripper designs. By modeling and sensing the cable actuation system, it is also possible to estimate the amount of touque being exerted on the grippers joints, by looking at the position of joints relative to the motor powering the joints. The project involved many prototypes of the system for the mechanical, electrical, and software architecture, of which I was the primary developer on.
S & P ROBOT ARM
Robotic seasoning automation - an experiment in small scale production as a holiday present.
CNC MILL
Servo actuation of a conventional milling machine to make a CNC, or computer controlled milling machine.
FPGA FROGGER
256 LEDs a FPGA and frogger, rolled into a digital design final project.
EARLY ROBOTS
A collection of robots I built as a hobby, starting at age 15.
S & P ROBOT ARM
As an experiment in doing a small production run of a holiday present, I decided to make 8 small robots as a first project on the CNC milling machine below. The project turned into a Christmas eve all- nighter, but the robots came together, resulting in nine robot arms that can salt and pepper food at the press of a button (one shake per press). The humor associated with automating the trivial minutia of life seems to be either completely shared or lost among people I show this contraption to.
CNC MILL
Being in a family of mechanics, machinists and engineers resulted in a ton of tools being around during my childhood, including this round column milling machine. In undergrad, I decided to retrofit the mill with servo motors - making the machine into what is known as a CNC, or computer numeral control. The project is one of my favorite from over the years, and has been incredibly useful for a number of projects.For those interested in the details, I replaced the acme leadscrews with rolled ball nut / screws. Permanent magnet DC motors provide power to the leadscrews through a timing belt and closed loop control is done though gecko drives and optical encoders on the ballscrews.
FPGA FROGGER
During my senior year of undergrad in electrical engineering, I took a class on digital design, which focused on theory and practice of digital logic gates. The practice side of the class involved programmable logic from the 80's in the form of GAL microchips for those who remember. The newer and higher density form of programmable logic is known as FPGA technology. In an effort to learn a more modern technology, I opted to use an FPGA for my final project instead of the PAL technology. To showcase the power of the FPGA, I decided to go all out, with a 256 LED array and frogger - all implemented in sequential logic gate structures.
EARLY ROBOTS
Building robots for me started in my teens, which was a natural progression of a SciFi fueled fascination with robotics and interest in technology. My educational background is in electrical engineering and eventually robotics at MIT, but my most valuable training came from countless hours spent as a youngster tinkering and building.During my high school years, I discovered robotics, or rediscovered - originally starting with Star War as a kid. During this time and into my undergraduate years, I spent thousands (yes thousands) of hours building and tinkering. Below are some of the things I made during this time.
