Students:
- Harrison Billmers,
- Mike DiMeo,
- Andrew Specian,
Advisors: O. Hernandez, J. Wang
The tours of Armstrong hall are considered a vital resource in recruiting prospective students as they provide decisive program information for applicants. The purpose of our project is to design, build and test a remote controlled robotic platform that will captivate guests and prospective students with an engaging demonstration during tours.
The demonstration will consist of the robot “walking” beside an Engineering Ambassador and interacting with guests using body language, speech, and multimedia display. The media will consist of information pertaining to the School of Engineering (ScoE) and a designed tour that will complement the Ambassador’s knowledge and experience. Additionally, the ScoE’s image will benefit from our platform’s demonstration of interdisciplinary engineering excellence.
The deliverable for this project is a robotic platform with multimedia interaction, human-like expressions, and an aesthetically pleasing form. Safety is paramount in the design of this robot as it includes proximity sensors and a fall detector in the primary software control loop, minimizing the risk to humans. Multimedia and other interaction are to be run via an on-board Linux laptop. A Raspberry Pi microcomputer controls the servos and motors while integrating safety feedback. A Wii mote is used by the Ambassador to wirelessly influence the robot’s output alongside a touch screen for guest interaction.
To ensure the platform’s wide acceptance and approachability, a humanoid appearance is adopted. The arms will mimic ambassador mannerisms with three degrees of motion via servos programmed using inverse kinematics. Expandability is integrated throughout the robot as this project is a foundation for future students. After construction and testing, this project will be submitted for exemplary performance in the 2014 ASME Student Mechanism & Robot Design Competition.