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In the recent years a major change in the engineering process of mechatronics and robotics has taken place. In various design oriented laboratories around the world a shift can be recognised from a focus on analysis, simulation and modelling combined with outsourcing hardware design to the use of digital fabrication tools (laser cutter, 3D printer) allowing a cyclic (iterative) design process inside in the lab. This chapter aims to give an overview of the impact of this change, using many examples from various projects, and will share some insights and lessons learned for facilitating and implementing this process.

In this work we argue that tinkering can be a vehicle to gain knowledge and skills profitable for working in engineering, design and science. We analyse how to implement tinkering in an academic context and illustrate our findings with examples from our environment. In academic environments tinkering often has the reputation of playing around without plan, with unclear outcome. We argue that, when implemented and executed well, due to its practical and iterative nature, its high applicability and hands-on nature it can be a valuable contribution to design and engineering and other academic disciplines.

In the Interactive Inflatables studio, participants will create bio-responsive inflatable structures to amplify human behaviors. Methods to concept and craft unique expansive designs will be taught. The interactive inflatable structures will respond to special and biological sensors. The studio is organized in stages and will involve and introduction of materials and media, concept generation, hands on making within partners, and a display of new tangible embedded and embodied interfaces.

We live in a world of continuous information overflow, but the quality of information and communication is suffering. Single value devices contribute to information and communication quality by focussing on one explicit, relevant piece of information. The information is decoupled from a computer and represented in an object, integrated into daily life. The contribution of this paper is on different levels: Firstly, we identify single value devices as a class, and, secondly, illustrate it through examples in a survey. Thirdly, we collect characterizations of single value devices into a taxonomy. The taxonomy also provides a collection of design choices that allow one to more easily find new combinations or alternatives, and that facilitate the design of new, meaningful, effective and working objects. Finally, when we want to step from experimental examples to commercializable products, a number of issues become relevant that are identified and discussed in the remainder of this paper.

We present building blocks equipped with electronics for educational purposes. The blocks have changeable colors, a simple LED screen, and a mechanism for decentralized communication between blocks that touch each other. Using these simple elements, we introduced functionality to implicitly support the development of prenumerical skills of preschool children without detracting from the primary value of the toys: building towers and structures of blocks.

The TUlip robot was created to participate in the teensize league of Robocup. The TUlip robot is a bipedal robot intended for dynamic walking. It has six degrees of freedom for each leg: three for the hip, one for the knee and two for the ankle. This paper elaborates on the algorithm for the sideways control during gait. The algorithm uses the extrapolated center of mass (XcoM) to achieve limit cycle stability. The algorithm is tested in simulation using a linear inverted pendulum and, then, experimentally applied to the TUlip robot. The result is an adaptive behavior of the TUlip robot, promising for future application to legged robot stability.

This article discusses the progress in design and construction of a soccer playing humanoid robot. This robot has been used in the Humanoid RoboCup competition in Suzhou, China in juli 2008.