Jelle Saldien

A Motion System for Social and Animated Robots

This paper presents an innovative motion system that is used to control the motions and animations of a social robot. The social robot Probo is used to study Human-Robot Interactions (HRI), with a special focus on Robot Assisted Therapy (RAT). When used for therapy it is important that a social robot is able to create an “illusion of life” so as to become a believable character that can communicate with humans. The design of the motion system in this paper is based on insights from the animation industry. It combines operator-controlled animations with low-level autonomous reactions such as attention and emotional state. The motion system has a Combination Engine, which combines motion commands that are triggered by a human operator with motions that originate from different units of the cognitive control architecture of the robot. This results in an interactive robot that seems alive and has a certain degree of “likeability”. The Godspeed Questionnaire Series is used to evaluate the animacy and likeability of the robot in China, Romania and Belgium.

Social Robots vs. Computer Display: Does the Way Social Stories are Delivered Make a Difference for Their Effectiveness on ASD Children?

Background and Objectives: The aim of this exploratory study is to test whether social stories presented by a social robot have a greater effect than ones presented on a computer display in increasing the independency in expressing social abilities of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Although much progress has been made in developing interventions to improve social skills of children with ASD, a number of unresolved problems still remain. Social robots received increased attention as assisting tools for improving social skills on children with ASD. Methods: Twenty children with ASD (age between 4 and 9 years old) were randomly allocated to three groups: control group (n = 7), computer-presented social stories (n = 6), and robot assisted therapy (n = 7). Results: Overall, our data indicate that using the social robot to implement social story intervention was more effective for improving the independency of expressing social abilities for the participants, than the computer screen. Limitations: Future studies should include a bigger sample size, more intervention sessions, and a follow-up session in order to see if the effect persists in time. Conclusions: The preliminary outcomes of this exploratory research provide empirical bases for further investigations regarding the effectiveness of robot assisted therapy in improving social skills for children with autism through future randomized clinical trials.

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.

+TUO project: low cost 3D printers as helpful tool for small communities with rheumatic diseases

Purpose – This paper aims to present a pilot study’s aims to identify opportunities and limits deriving from the use of low-cost 3D printing (3DP), fused deposition modelling (FDM), open-source technologies in co-design and co-production processes involving persons with rheumatic diseases (RDs). Design/methodology/approach – In the paper, the authors outline why the use of low-cost, entry-level FDM can be meaningful for this scenario, implying a complete sharing of the design and the production phases of small assistive devices. The +TUO process is composed of several stages, among which the generative session represents the core. Findings – This study highlights as the introduction of this low-cost technology in co-generative processes with people with RDs is a real challenge that can lead to new products and solutions, and that can sustain a social and local manufacturing approach for people facing a specific disablement. Research limitations/implications – This research is a first step of a broader res...

Is the social robot probo an added value for social story intervention for children with autism spectrum disorders

In this paper, we describe the first results of using the robot Probo as a facilitator in Social Story Intervention for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Four preschoolers diagnosed with ASD participated in this research. For each of them, a specific social skill deficit was identified, like Sharing toys, Saying Thank you and Saying Hello, and an individualized Social Story was developed. The stories were told by both, the therapist and the robot, in different intervention phases. Afterwards, an experimental task was created where the child needed to exercise the ability targeted by the story. The results of this study showed that the participant needed a decreased level of prompt to perform the targeted behavior, when the story was told by the robot compared to the intervention with the human storyteller. Therefore, this preliminary study created great expectancies about the potential of Robot Assisted Therapy as an added value for ASD interventions.

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.

Range-IT: detection and multimodal presentation of indoor objects for visually impaired people

In the paper we present our Range-IT prototype, which is a 3D depth camera based electronic travel aid (ETA) to assist visually impaired people in finding out detailed information of surrounding objects. In addition to detecting indoor obstacles and identifying several objects of interest (e.g., walls, open doors and stairs) up to 7 meters, the Range-IT system employs a multimodal audio-vibrotactile user interface to present this spatial information.

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.

Understanding mental workload : from a clarifying concept analysis toward an implementable framework

The growing need for mental workload (MWL) optimization on the shop floor yields an impressive increase in theoretical and applied references to the concept of mental workload (Young et al. in Ergonomics 139:1–17, 2014). However, do we really understand and agree upon what mental workload exactly is? Does it include emotional load? Can we rely upon an explanatory framework? The present account first runs a critical concept analysis on mental workload, based on the Walker and Avant (Strategies for theory construction in nursing, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, 2011) method. Results show that existing definitions and theoretical accounts arbitrarily include and exclude defining variables and describe these variables on various levels of abstraction, misuse pivotal terms such as mediation and moderation and do not theoretically explicitate the role of yet repeatedly operationalized emotional load variables such as frustration. We therefore clarify the concept by disentangling MWL into its antecedents, defining attributes and consequences. Next, we derive a clear-cut conceptual definition and present a generic explanatory framework—the latter extended with insights from Cognitive Load Theory (Sweller in Cogn Sci 12:257–285, 1988; Learn Instr 4:295–312, 1994). We conclude with a set of suggestions for future research and practice. Next to contributing to the theoretical clarification of this hallmark concept, the concept analysis and derived explanatory framework, as proposed, can foster solid research practices and support practitioners in contextualizing MWL-assessment and in effectively optimizing MWL.

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.