Pop up! 3D form display with coil-type shape memory alloy

We developed a display for presenting 3-D shapes using a pin-rod matrix. Due to a wide range of movement, the display is capable of presenting large-scale, dense objects such as human faces or geographical features. We used a coil-type shape memory alloy as a pin-rod actuator for building our display. We first designed and evaluated the system components. We then constructed three different prototypes. The first prototype has a 1×64-pin-rod matrix, and each of the other two has a 16×16-pin-rod matrix. The prototypes have a 30-mm range of motion and a 5-mm pin interval. The prototypes are sufficiently accurate for presenting subtle surface structures. Our goal is developing a dynamic display that moves in real-time and that also works as both an output and input interface.