Kinetic Butterfly Installation

Robotic Environment and Interactive Product Design

Design Overview:

The Kinetic Butterfly Installation (KBI) is a large-scale robotic artifact emulating a butterfly wing's delicate, fluttering motion using rigid, mechanical materials.

The KBI has been accepted for publication as a Student Design Challenge submission at the 2025 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI 2025) in Melbourne, Australia this March!

Class: Robotic Environments Studio

Fall 2024, 4-month project

In collaboration with

Kinsey Norton and Mili Parikh


Special thanks to Dr. Yixiao Wang, Brandon Royal , and the

Hive Makerspace

So, why butterfly?

We were inspired by the beauty of butterflies that we saw outside the classroom, which ultimately led us to our chosen original concept for a robotic environment that combines art, engineering, and technology: The Shape-Shifting Butterfly Door

Current State-of-the-Art

Evolution Door - smoothly folds and slides using simplified shapes

Shape-Changing Door - conveys cues to the user using mosaic-like structures and design psychology

aeroMorph - using heat-sealed inflatable shapes programmed to create a moving shape

The Gap

  • Basic forms, shapeshifting without resemblance

  • Sole focus on the methods rather than the interaction or experience

Our Proposal

  • Intentional shape-shifting

  • Biomimicry focus

  • Creation of a unique, beautiful interaction

The Butterfly Door is an opportunity to create a unique and beautiful interaction that pushes the possibilities of mechanical design and spatial interaction, with a goal of researching Slow Design.

Where would this be?

The Hive Makerspace, (aka the Interdisciplinary Design Commons) is a makerspace that provides all students with an accessible engineering space and the resources to bring their ideas to life.

We were generously sponsored by the Hive and our project will be a permanent installation there.

However, after consulting with Hive staff and Brandon Royal (the Hive's mechanical expert), realistically, a functioning butterfly door would not be feasible to make at a full-scale while also being fire-law compliant. So we had to switch gears…

a robot, being inherently unnatural, mimic something beautiful in nature and offer restorative sentiments to people?

How might

Switching to an interactive wall art installation, our design objective now became

Grounded in the Attention Restoration
Theory (A.R.T.)

The A.R.T. hypothesizes that nature has the capacity to renew attention after exerting mental energy.

  • Clearer head, or concentration

  • Mental fatigue recovery

  • Soft fascination, or interest

  • Reflection and restoration

4 Cognitive States along the way to Restoration

4 Components Characterizing a

Restorative Environment

  • Being Away

  • Soft Fascination

  • Extent

  • Compatibility

Utilizing the A.R.T. as a conceptual framework, the goal of KBI is to mimic the movement and form factor of a beautiful butterfly in nature, aiming to relax and replenish one’s energy in a busy college space.

The Process: How we got to the KBI

Movement inspo

Stingray: The Kinetic Sculpture

by Apical Reform Studio

Ripple - Physical Computing

a project of Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia

Prototype 1: Skeleton Prototype

Curved rotating shafts to test different ripple amplitudes

Testing the shaft and ripple in a horizontal orientation

Following completion of the skeleton prototype, we conducted user testing with two focus groups to get their opinions on the movement and interaction of our project.


Questions we asked them:

  1. Do you think this is an engaging experience?

  2. How would you like to improve this design and why?

  3. Do any specific mechanisms come to mind?

  4. Any different material ideas you may have?

  5. Any other movements?

  • "What if people have control over how it moves? Maybe individual buttons can control different petals"

  • "Lining edges with softer material to have it move with natural element like wind"

  • "The speed and size of the flutter matter"

  • "Each acrylic piece could be a different color"

  • "Could control frequency and intensity of flutters by moving the camshaft into the pedals more or less"

  • "Asymmetrical movement of the shaft so that some petals would move and some would not - an intentional feature that the participants could potentially control"

Prototype 2: Robotic Prototype

Now we are starting to plan for a full-scale prototype, which requires a lot of planning and a different way of thinking to make something permanent and long-lasting in a space

Different options for the crankshaft mechanism that would attach to the wing petals

Credit: Brandon Royal

CAD visualization of varying petal amplitudes depending on where the pivot rod (blue) is placed

Credit: Brandon Royal

Illustrator file of wing's vector cut and engraving

First iteration CAD model | Credit: Brandon Royal

Prototyping the full-scale robotic-prototype

Transitioning to the user interaction design, we created state diagrams and conducted user testing using the skeleton prototype to get feedback on how they interact with it.

  • "If it was happy, it would be a quick flutter. Meditation would be a super slow flutter"

  • "If I go up to it, i would like to be able to control it, or if it speeds up that would be fun"

  • "Tapping buttons would speed it up or slow it down."

  • "Happy: really slow and all the petals moving aligned at the same time."

  • "Sad: The distance between the top and bottom petals would be the biggest."

  • "At the hive people are walking by a lot and most likely won’t be standing right in front of it in order to trigger the duration to changing speed/tempo"

Prototype 3: Mechanical prototype for user testing on inputs/triggers

Final prototype and user testing with PRAS survey

Credit: Brandon Royal with assisting us through the assembly and parts manufacturing process

Attaching the bracket to plates

Welded Crankshaft Credit: Brandon Royal

Using the mill to make the mounting plate

The wings after laser cutting

Using the Fablight to cut metal

Assembling the structure

Attaching linkages to metal brackets

People’s perceived restoration brought by the KBI was measured using the Perceived Restorativeness for Activities Scale (PRAS). PRAS assesses restorativeness through 4 scales: being away, soft fascination, extent, and compatibility.

Ask students already in the IDC doing work or students

visiting to test the robotic prototype.

Briefly explain the project

Invite users to interact with the console box and

explore the interface

After the experience, provide users with a QR code to scan and complete the survey

Disclaimer: We are only testing perceived sentiments with this scale: we did not conduct a pre-survey nor have a control group to measure exact sentiments.

*Engaging with this installation aligns with my need for a calming and restorative experience.

*This activity matches my goals for mental clarity and relaxation.

*When engaging with this installation, I anticipate feeling more refreshed and mentally restored.








*Adjusted scale statements to better align with our focus on mental restoration in an interactive experience

Special thanks to:

- Brandon Royal, for the mechanism design, and guidance throughout the whole process

- Dr. Yixiao Wang, our research advisor and professor, and Mingqi Wang, our teaching assistant

- The staff at the Hive Makerspace (Kevin Pham, Stevie Limon, and Amanda Hegadorn), for facilitating parts orders and assisting with electronics & motors

- All the user testing and survey participants

Let's connect!