Ratchair: furniture that learns to move itself

Displacements of large objects induced by vibration are a common occurrence, but the motion is generally unpredictable. Think for instance of an unbalanced front-loading washing machine. For controlled movement, wheels or legs are usually preferred.

In this work, we explore a strategy for moving everyday objects by introducing or harvesting random external vibration rather than using a mechanical system with wheels. We designed vibration modules that can be easily attached to furniture and objects. After learning how several random bursts of vibration affect its pose, an optimization algorithm discovers the optimal sequence of vibration patterns required to (slowly but surely) move the object to a specified position.