WHAT IS IT?

The MisB Kit is an open source building blocks kit that allows you to quickly build and animate physical objects without requiring any previous experience in engineering, coding or robotics..

WHY A MISBEHAVIOR KIT?

The kit has been developed in the frame of a bigger research project entitled The Behavior of Things conducted by Emanuele Quinz and Samuel Bianchini. This project is interested by the ways everyday objects (tables, chairs or lamps) or simple abstract shapes (cubes, spheres, cylinders) can express a certain behaviour through movement. (More info here) How to give the impression that such objects hold a certain personality and act on their own and/or according to the surroundings ? How to design objects that disobey and misbehave ?
Through the development of quick prototypes of animated “behavioral” objects this kit also allows a practice-based research method that explores the potential of a misbehaviour aesthetics.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

The MisB Kit is like a “high-definition” Lego, combining basic robotics - actuators such as servo motors, sensors and micro controllers (CM9 and Xbees), different structural elements covered by velcro and carbon sticks that are entirely compatible and extremely easy and fast to assemble. A more detailed description of how this toolkit works can be found bellow.

FOR WHOM?

This toolkit developed by artists and designers at Ensadlab was firstly conceived as a research tool for the Behavior of Things project. Although, during several public and research workshops it revealed strong potential usages for other artists and designers. As such, the MisB kit is mainly addressed to artists, designers and makers. Although this tool has been successfully used as a learning tool in scholar and workshop contexts with children between the age of 6 to 12 years old or older persons.

BY WHOM?

The MisB Toolkit is developed by the Reflective Interaction team from Ensadlab, under the direction of Samuel Bianchini, by Didier Bouchon, Cécile Bucher, Martin Gautron, Benoît Verjat, Filipe Pais and Alexandre Saunier, in the context of the project The Behavior of Things, coordinated by Emanuele Quinz on behalf of Labex Arts-H2H.
All elements of the MisB KIT, hardware and software, are under an LGPL license, with the exception of the proprietary Bioloid modules, principally the Dynamixels motors, and parts from the K’Nex construction game, used here as structural elements. This toolkit was initiated with the Sociable Media team (led by Rémy Bourganel) with Émeline Brulé and Max Mollon in particular, for the workshop “The Misbehavior of Animated Objects”, TEI 2014, with support from Labex Arts-H2H and the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation and its Chair for Innovation & Expertise, and with the participation of Jean-Baptiste Labrune and Nicolas Nova.
We are grateful to Génération Robots for their sensible advice, as well as to Marie Descourtieux, Hiroshi Ishii, Emmanuel Mahé, and Élodie Tincq.

WHERE/HOW CAN I FIND IT?

We are working hard to make this kit available to you. By now we can provide you a list of materials so you can fabricate your own kit. Please consult the DIY section.
Another solution we can provide consists in organising a workshop. We have been delivering different kinds of workshops in different contexts. Please consult the Workshops section for further information.