Dynamic walking with Dribbel

This paper describes the design and construction of Dribbel, a passivity-based walking robot. Dribbel has been designed and built at the Control Engineering group of the University of Twente. This paper focuses on the practical side: the design approach, construction, electronics, and software design. After a short introduction of dynamic walking, the design process, starting with simulation, is discussed

Development of a humanoid robot for soccer competition

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

Single Value Devices

We live in a world of continuous information overflow, but the quality of information and communication is suffering. Single value devices contribute to the information and communication quality by fo- cussing on one explicit, relevant piece of information. The information is decoupled from a computer and represented in an object, integrates into daily life. However, most existing single value devices come from conceptual experiments or art and exist only as prototypes. In order to get to mature products and to design meaningful, effective and work- ing objects, an integral perspective on the design choices is necessary. Our contribution is a critical exploration of the design space of single value devices. In a survey we give an overview of existing examples. The characterizing design criteria for single value devices are elaborated in a taxonomy. Finally, we discuss several design choices that are specifically important for moving from prototypes to commercializable products

Realisation of an energy efficient walking robot

In this video the walking robot ‘Dribbel’ is presented, which has been built at the Control Engineering group of the University of Twente, the Netherlands. This robot has been designed with a focus on minimal energy consumption, using a passive dynamic approach. It is a so-called four-legged 2D walker; the use of four legs prevents it from falling sideways. During the design phase extensive use has been made of 20-sim. This power port based modeling package was used to simulate the dynamic behaviour of the robot in order to estimate the design parameters for the prototype. The parameters obtained by the simulation were then used as a basis for the real robot. The real robot is made of aluminum and weighs 9.5 kg. Each of the nine joints (one hip, four knees, four feet) has a dedicated electronic driver board for interfacing the joint sensors. For walking a simple control loop is used: when the front feet touch the ground, the rear legs are swung forward. The control parameters can be adjusted online using a serial link. Using this simple control loop, the robot walks at a speed of 1.2 km/h and a step frequency of 1.1 Hz. The hip actuator consumes 6.7 W. The walking behaviour of the robot is very similar to the simulation, regarding both walking motion and power consumption. With the serial link real time data acquisition in the simulation package (running on the PC) is possible. This allows for advanced verification and fine tuning of the control algorithm. The simulation package can also be used directly within the control loop. Future research is planned on energy based control of the walking motion, using impedance control for the hip actuator and design of more advanced (and actuated) foot shapes

Interactive inflatables: amplifying human behaviors

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

How to educate for creativity in creative technology?

Creative Technology is a new BSc programme at the University of Twente. Its goal is to design novel applications and products to improve daily life of people, with ICT as design material. Applications range from everyday life to health support, from playing and entertainment to serious gaming and socializing, from working and learning to art, while using instruments of stimulation, motivation, or support. The goal of the BSc programme is to give students the skills, methods and tools that enable them to design such products. \ud A paradigm of Creative Technology is that existing technology has a potential that is not yet fully explored. This potential lies in the novel use and ways of integration of existing technologies into new and innovating applications and products. This perspective is different from classical technical education, and, consequently, requires also a shift of design methods and teaching approaches. \ud How to stimulate creativity is not a new question. However, it mainly is addressed in other domains. Moreover, most of creativity stimulating techniques aims at different target groups, like children, artists, designers or managers, not technology students. And certainly they are not meant as relevant skills within scientific education. \ud The contribution of this paper is a structured analysis of our attempts and experiences with five cohorts of students in teaching Creative Technology. We will discuss the implications for the teaching practice of Creative Technology and will outline the possibilities and limitations of our practices for other technology oriented design curricula

Single value devices

Ein Single Value Device ist ein physisches Objekt in unserer alltäglichen Umgebung, das genau eine Art von Information oder Mitteilung anzeigt. Dabei kann es sich um den Gemütszustand der Großmutter handeln, um das Wetter am Urlaubsort oder um die Zeit, die zum Frühstücken bleibt, bevor man bei der aktuellen Verkehrslage zur Arbeit aufbrechen muss. Der Fokus auf persönlich relevante Informationen bildet dabei einen Gegensatz zum Informationsüberfluss im Internet. Die Anzeige durch das physische Objekt kommt unseren kognitiven Fähigkeiten entgegen. Beide Faktoren tragen dabei zur sogenannten calm technology1 bei, die der Beruhigung und Bewältigung dieser Informationsflut dienen soll. Die individuellen Bedeutungen, die der Form und dem Inhalt der Objekte zugeschrieben werden können, sind wichtig für die Effektivität von Single Value Devices. Wir stellen hier die Frage, welche Möglichkeiten Designerinnen und Designer haben, Single Value Devices so zu entwerfen, dass Benutzerinnen und Benutzer die Möglichkeit bekommen, diesen Objekten persönliche Bedeutungen zu geben und sie auf diese Weise als Schnittstellen einzusetzen

Participatory Design of a Social Robot (So-bot) Toolkit for and with Adults with Autism

According to Autism-Europe, autism impacts around 5 million people in the EU. Recent research has shown that social robots, due to their deterministic nature, simplified appearance and technological capabilities, can enable robot- assisted therapy or act as assistive technology for empowering autistic individuals with daily household activities. As such, toolkits have emerged to enable researchers to prototype assistive social robots. In the design and research regarding such toolkits, there are gaps regarding robot designs, fundamental customization possibilities and especially the methodologies for operationalizing and scaffolding the co-design of social robots with vulnerable groups. In order to take a first step towards overcoming these research/design gaps and towards uncovering the right questions about them, the Co3 Project deals with an exploratory study involving the participatory design of a social robot toolkit for and with autistic adults. The project’s components have been co-designed, evaluated and tested with autistic adults at an autism care institute. The exploratory project has carved a toolkit of linkable social robot building blocks centered around which is a holistic, novel process for conducting social robot participatory design with cognitively impaired individuals. That process has artefacts meticulously designed with the participants in mind–giving the artefacts sufficient scaffolding to make co- design navigable by bridging the imaginative or social impairments of involved participants. The project aims to inspire a movement of scalable, democratized social robot co-design, which can evoke questions on what human-robot interactions to design in the first place and which can empower egalitarian inclusiveness in (co-)design of all users