Demonstration of OPSORO : an open platform for social robots

One of the major obstacles in the study of human- robot interaction with social robots is the lack of platforms to allow for tests with large user groups. Often, the price of these robots prohibits using more than a handful of robots. Another factor is that with commercial platforms, the robots do not possess all the necessary features to perform an experiment and due to the closed nature of the platform, extensive modifications are nearly impossible. To address this problem, a new social robotics platform, OPSORO, is presented. The platform uses an innovative modular system design that enables the creation of different embodiments to represent anthropomorphic robots focusing on face-to-face communication. Our goal is to offer a platform for the development of robotic characters, typically within the context of therapeutics or entertainment. OPSORO is a unique system that provides real personalization of social robots

Ono: an open platform for social robotics

In recent times, the focal point of research in robotics has shifted from industrial ro- bots toward robots that interact with humans in an intuitive and safe manner. This evolution has resulted in the subfield of social robotics, which pertains to robots that function in a human environment and that can communicate with humans in an int- uitive way, e.g. with facial expressions. Social robots have the potential to impact many different aspects of our lives, but one particularly promising application is the use of robots in therapy, such as the treatment of children with autism. Unfortunately, many of the existing social robots are neither suited for practical use in therapy nor for large scale studies, mainly because they are expensive, one-of-a-kind robots that are hard to modify to suit a specific need. We created Ono, a social robotics platform, to tackle these issues. Ono is composed entirely from off-the-shelf components and cheap materials, and can be built at a local FabLab at the fraction of the cost of other robots. Ono is also entirely open source and the modular design further encourages modification and reuse of parts of the platform

An open platform for the design of social robot embodiments for face- to-face communication

The role of the physical embodiment of a social robot is of key importance during the interaction with humans. If we want to study the interactions we need to be able to change the robot’s embodiment to the nature of the experiment. Nowadays, researchers build one-off robots from scratch or choose to use a commercially available platform. This is justified by the time and budget constraints and the lack of design tools for social robots. In this work, we introduce an affordable open source platform to accelerate the design and production of novel social robot embodiments, with a focus on face-to-face communication. We describe an experiment where Industrial Design students created physical embodiments for 10 new social robots using our platform, detailing the design methodology followed during the different steps of the process. The paper gives an overview of the platform modules used by each of the robots, the skinning techniques employed, as well as the perceived usability of the platform. In summary, we show that our platform (1) enables non-experts to design new social robot embodiments, (2) allows a wide variety of different robots to be built with the same building blocks, and (3) affords itself to being adapted and extended

Overview of technologies for building robots in the classroom

This paper aims to give an overview of technologies that can be used to implement robotics within an educational context. We discuss complete robotics systems as well as projects that implement only certain elements of a robotics system, such as electronics, hardware, or software. We believe that Maker Movement and DIY trends offers many new opportunities for teaching and feel that they will become much more prominent in the future. Products and projects discussed in this paper are: Mindstorms, Vex, Arduino, Dwengo, Raspberry Pi, MakeBlock, OpenBeam, BitBeam, Scratch, Blockly and ArduBlock

Systems overview of Ono: a DIY reproducible open source social robot

One of the major obstacles in the study of HRI (human-robot interaction) with social robots is the lack of multiple identical robots that allow testing with large user groups. Often, the price of these robots prohibits using more than a handful. A lot of the commercial robots do not possess all the necessary features to perform specific HRI experiments and due to the closed nature of the platform, large modifications are nearly impossible. While open source social robots do exist, they often use high-end components and expensive manufacturing techniques, making them unsuitable for easy reproduction. To address this problem, a new social robotics platform, named Ono, was developed. The design is based on the DIY mindset of the maker movement, using off-the-shelf components and more accessible rapid prototyping and manufacturing techniques. The modular structure of the robot makes it easy to adapt to the needs of the experiment and by embracing the open source mentality, the robot can be easily reproduced or further developed by a community of users. The low cost, open nature and DIY friendliness of the robot make it an ideal candidate for HRI studies that require a large user group

Prototyping social interactions with DIY animatronic creatures

For some time now, robotics research has shifted its attention from robots that function within their own predefined space to robots that coexist with humans in the human's natural habitats. This evolution has not only driven interest in robot safety and compliance, it has also resulted in the subdomain of Social Robotics, which is concerned with natural interaction between robots and humans. In this studio, we will offer participants the chance to create their own animatronic creature using modular building blocks derived from Ono, our low-cost Do-It-Yourself social robot. In the first part, we will help participants to conceptualize a context and scenario for their social robot. Then, using craft materials (e.g. cardboard, glue, fabrics, foam, etc.) in combination with custom connectors and our animatronic modules, participants will build the physical embodiment of their creature. Finally, they are brought to life by connecting the modules to our electronics platform (Raspberry PI), which is then programmed using an easy to use library

Ono, a DIY open source platform for social robotics

This paper describes the current status of Ono, an open source social robot that can be made using DIY tools and techniques. We believe that low-cost open source social robots provide advantages that current high-end robots do not have: they are well suited for large-scale studies and they are accessible for students and hobbyists. We describe the main parts of the current prototype: the modules, the frame, the foam and textile cover, and the control box and electronics. We also describe the planned improvements for our next prototype