top of page

FlowIO is provided under a Creative Commons License. 

Attribution required by citing the paper and softrobotics.io

​

 
> / = / > than 5 ports
​

Why 5 ports?

There are 2 unrelated reasons why 5 was the ideal number of ports for FlowIO. The first reason has to do with the fact that we have 5 fingers on the hand, and therefore a 5-port device is perfect for wearable applications that involve control or sensing of the fingers. The second reason is about the size. The width of microcontroller board is almost exactly the same as the width of the valve array. Thus, whether I have 5 or fewer ports will not result in a smaller device (unless a different microcontroller is used). 

​

Fewer than 5 ports

The modular design of FlowIO makes it incredibly simple and easy to make a FlowIO with anywhere between 1 and 5 ports. Moreover, the fewer ports there are, the cheaper the device is to make!

​

More than 5 ports

One of the best characteristics of FlowIO is that it is ultimately an IoT device. And the JavaScript API as well as the GUI allow you to connect to and control multiple FlowIO devices simultaneously. Thus, if you need more than 5 pneumatic ports, you can simply add extra FlowIO devices and then connect to them simultaneously and control them as if they were behaving as single device with the combined number of ports. 

There is much more documentation, tutorials, project videos, and other content that is slowly being added to this website. If interested in helping with any of these or other tasks, please consider volunteering. 

​

​

Find out how you can help

bottom of page