Movable architectural modules are inspired by nature. They are based on the aggregation of cells. The goal is for the modules to be able to organize themselves in a bottom-up manner. They are capable of moving to adjacent neighbors, thus reorganizing themselves as a whole structure. Together, they create a cohesive thin membrane that can be inflated by the modules, forming space. The architectural principle is based on an inflatable hall. Protection from sun, wind, and rain is intended to be created. Together, they form a “living” organism that reacts like a slime mold to changing circumstances and seamlessly integrates into the cycles between humans and nature.
Principle

Each robot is surrounded by a ring with zipper teeth. With these, the robots can be connected to each other. Each robot has the ability to move independently along the zipper using a geared motor and open or close it, as is familiar with any piece of clothing. In this way, the robots move along the ring of their neighboring robot. In total, the entire structure can reorganize and react to changing conditions. A special challenge lies in translating from one ring to the next, which is solved with a specially developed principle.
Current Status

Several modules are currently being built to demonstrate the principle. From a software perspective, there is a basic simulation method to interactively simulate the behavior in virtual space. This simulation model and the geometry of the robots were generated and simulated in Blender3D using Python. Additionally, there is a top-down control system that can access the functions of all modules via UDP and visualize them. The modules themselves are programmed in MicroPython and already cover the basic functions. The focus of the presentation is on the simulation model and the interaction with the Micropython boards. The aim is to show how we could rethink our build environment and what python has to do with this.