Cesar Vandevelde

Systems Overview of Ono

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 humans 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.

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 robots 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.

Do-It-Yourself Design for Social Robots: An Open-Source Hardware Platform to Encourage Innovation

One of the chief obstacles in achieving wider acceptance of robotics is that only experienced roboticists can develop robotics applications. If we want robots in our homes and offices, we need more tools and platforms that reduce the costs of prototyping robots them, in terms of both time and money. The open-source paradigm offers a potential solution to these key factors. However, creating open-source robotics hardware does not just mean making the design files available online. It is essential to design the hardware in such a way that it can be built and modified by non-expert users. In this article we summarize our experiences of four years of creating open-source robotics in academia that led to the social robot Ono and the Opsoro design toolkit for social robots. We detail our design approach, leveraging DIY-friendly techniques to create systems that, though complex, can be assembled and modified by novices. We describe four experiments, two focusing on the assembly of an open-source robot and two using our toolkit to create novel social robot embodiments. They show that the key elements to attract novices are the ability to build, hack and use a social robot platform at different levels of difficulty. We believe that the open-source approach holds much promise in robotics research, though this approach is not without its challenges. The main bottlenecks are: the lack of time for ancillary activities related to open-source, the difficulty of building communities around niche research topics and the challenge of consolidating open hardware approaches with traditional business models.One of the chief obstacles in achieving wider acceptance of robotics is that only experienced roboticists can develop robotics applications. If we want robots in our homes and offices, we need more tools and platforms that reduce the costs in time and money of prototyping robots. The open-source paradigm offers a potential solution to these key factors. However, creating open-source robotics hardware does not mean just making the design files available online. It is essential to design the hardware in such a way that it can be built and modified by nonexpert users.

OTO – A DIY Platform for Mobile Social Robots in Education

This paper describes the design of OTO, a do-it-yourself expansion kit for OPSORO (Open Platform for Social Robots), that enables and facilitates the creation of mobile social robots. The expansion kit consists of modular, adaptable building blocks combined with a software toolkit, and is aimed at applications within the maker community, STEM education, and the market for creative inventor kits. Keeping reproducibility and adaptability in mind, the expansion kit can be produced entirely using digital manufacturing technology and low-cost, off-the-shelf components. Using the building blocks offered by this system, users can easily design, build and customize mobile social robots. The software is designed to address a wide range of users by offering different programming options depending on the user’s skill and experience. Inexperienced users are offered a graphical programming environment based on Blockly, whereas more advanced users can program their robot using Lua or Python. The OTO toolkit offers a fun and playful context in which a wide range of STEM-related skills are addressed.

Demonstration of OPSORO's Grid System: Design a Working Social Robot in Only 2 Hours

One of the biggest obstacles to broader adoption of robotics is that only experienced roboticists can develop robotics applications. If we aim to have robots in our homes and offices, we need more tools and platforms that reduce the costs in both money and time. To address the current difficulties of designing custom social robots, we identify an open DIY platform that facilitates the design, construction and production of new custom social robot characters with a focus on face-to-face communication. With this demo with will show the power of the new OPSORO grid system that allows the exploration of social robot identities and interactions in only a few hours.

Do-it-yourself design for social robots

One of the chief obstacles in achieving wider acceptance of robotics is that only experienced roboticists can develop robotics applications. If we want robots in our homes and offices, we need more tools and platforms that reduce the costs of prototyping robots them, in terms of both time and money. The open-source paradigm offers a potential solution to these key factors. However, creating open-source robotics hardware does not just mean making the design files available online. It is essential to design the hardware in such a way that it can be built and modified by non-expert users. In this article we summarize our experiences of four years of creating open-source robotics in academia that led to the social robot Ono and the Opsoro design toolkit for social robots. We detail our design approach, leveraging DIY-friendly techniques to create systems that, though complex, can be assembled and modified by novices. We describe four experiments, two focusing on the assembly of an open-source robot and two using our toolkit to create novel social robot embodiments. They show that the key elements to attract novices are the ability to build, hack and use a social robot platform at different levels of difficulty. We believe that the open-source approach holds much promise in robotics research, though this approach is not without its challenges. The main bottlenecks are: the lack of time for ancillary activities related to open-source, the difficulty of building communities around niche research topics and the challenge of consolidating open hardware approaches with traditional business models.One of the chief obstacles in achieving wider acceptance of robotics is that only experienced roboticists can develop robotics applications. If we want robots in our homes and offices, we need more tools and platforms that reduce the costs in time and money of prototyping robots. The open-source paradigm offers a potential solution to these key factors. However, creating open-source robotics hardware does not mean just making the design files available online. It is essential to design the hardware in such a way that it can be built and modified by nonexpert users.

DIY design for social robots

One of the chief obstacles in achieving wider acceptance of robotics is that only experienced roboticists can develop robotics applications. If we want robots in our homes and offices, we need more tools and platforms that reduce the costs of prototyping robots them, in terms of both time and money. The open-source paradigm offers a potential solution to these key factors. However, creating open-source robotics hardware does not just mean making the design files available online. It is essential to design the hardware in such a way that it can be built and modified by non-expert users. In this article we summarize our experiences of four years of creating open-source robotics in academia that led to the social robot Ono and the Opsoro design toolkit for social robots. We detail our design approach, leveraging DIY-friendly techniques to create systems that, though complex, can be assembled and modified by novices. We describe four experiments, two focusing on the assembly of an open-source robot and two using our toolkit to create novel social robot embodiments. They show that the key elements to attract novices are the ability to build, hack and use a social robot platform at different levels of difficulty. We believe that the open-source approach holds much promise in robotics research, though this approach is not without its challenges. The main bottlenecks are: the lack of time for ancillary activities related to open-source, the difficulty of building communities around niche research topics and the challenge of consolidating open hardware approaches with traditional business models.One of the chief obstacles in achieving wider acceptance of robotics is that only experienced roboticists can develop robotics applications. If we want robots in our homes and offices, we need more tools and platforms that reduce the costs in time and money of prototyping robots. The open-source paradigm offers a potential solution to these key factors. However, creating open-source robotics hardware does not mean just making the design files available online. It is essential to design the hardware in such a way that it can be built and modified by nonexpert users.

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.