Modularity in Media - A Modern Dream (and reality)

EDIT: I actually found a playable version (In Java 7 Update 25 or older) of the Stormrunner game if you're hankering to play it. It's a bit buggy, but then again it's 13 years old!

I remember long ago that one of my favorite flash games was the Lego Mindstorms RCX StormRunner game. The game, launched in the year 2000 (yeah, we're getting real nostalgic up in here) featured programmable RCX robots which you used to perform tasks in a hostile alien environment. More to the point, the RXC robots featured customizable parts. You could equip them with tracked or legged mobility, with a couple types of attachments, and with a variety of sensors. It was my first real encounter with robotics, modularity, and programming, and I loved it. Unfortunately, I was unable to find a playable version of the game when I searched today. I did find the intro of the game on the developers' website. Oh, 90's flash game animation. Gotta love it.

I digress - the point of this rambling nostalgic intro is that modularity is a compelling concept. Here's a much more recent example: PhoneBloks, the modular phone sensation that took phone-lovers' facebook feeds by storm this year.

It's an extremely similar concept to what we're proposing with Project FRAME, and it's gathered quite a bit of traction in public interest. So maybe we could do the same thing. We could call it RobotBloks... or RoBlox... whoops.

Which brings me to my point. Modularity is a huge deal in the public opinion. I'd venture that a large part of the reason Minecraft is so incredibly popular is that it's so modular.

 

Everything is a block, and all the blocks fit together in about every arrangement you can possibly imagine.

But that's not all. Oh no, you can't explore modern media without running into fantasies about or showcases of modularity. What shooter is complete without attachments for your guns? (Armor Mayhem, but that's another story)

And let's not forget that so many games include upgrades which modularly combine with your existing abilities.

And why stop at games? Movies have it too, like Hawkeye's arrows with modular heads in the Avengers

And let's not forget astromech droids like R2-D2 in Star Wars which seem to plug into everything.

The point is, people love modularity. It's a great tool for the user of any technology, enabling easy specialization and repair. It's already a reality in many places: desktop computers, cars, military weapon attachments, and - perhaps humblest of all - 3-ring binders.

With Project FRAME, we aim to help bring modularity to the next level with the promotion of advanced modular robots for a variety of applications. Join us, and help bring on the robotic revolution. The kind that helps humanity, not the kind where they take over the planet. Although that kind is always fun too.