Finally, here comes the first video of my prototype. It shows the deformation capabilities in 2 directions.
One servo motor is used for the extension of the ring, the other for the movement of the vertical rod. The controlling is done from Java with a Bluesmirf bluetooth module and a Pololu Micro Serial Servo Controller.
I found that the gears and wheels need to be mounted in a very exact way to create a smooth movement. Now I’m going to build the other rings to create the threedimensional shape.

» Lowres video [374×210 px, 500 Kbit/s stream]
» Highres video [1024×576 px, 4 Mbit/s stream]