Profile of a Winner: Brandeis University and Ullanta Performance Robotics' "Robotic Love Triangle"

tested robots’ ability to perform an interactive task (hors d’oeuvres service) entertainingly and effectively in a dynamic, crowded environment. Effectiveness included safety, coverage of the reception area, recognition of humans, offering of hors d’oeuvres, and detection of need for refills; entertainment value was determined by popular vote. To fully exploit the talents of our team, drawn from Brandeis’s multirobot Interaction Lab and robotic theater troupe Ullanta Performance Robotics, we entered a team of three dramatically interacting robots. Effective Service Our PIONEER robots (BEN, MAE, and ULLANTA THE ROBOT LEVIN) are quite sturdy but only one foot tall. At this height, they could neither effectively serve nor avoid being tripped over in the crowd, and our participation in the Find-Life-on-Mars event dictated that we be able to switch software and hardware to turn a Mars exploration team into a domestic service staff in fewer than five minutes. We contrived a simple manipulator able to physically offer snacks at a convenient height by attaching a 3-foot pole to the back of each robot. On top of this pole was hinged a rigid tube with a snack container at one end and a serving bowl at the other (see figure). A dowel connected the bowl to the robot’s gripper; lowering the gripper caused the snack (peanuts) to flow into the bowl, which extended somewhat like an offering hand, and raising the gripper caused the bowl to empty back into the container. Behavior-based control (Werger 1998) allowed the robots to respond rapidly to the environment. Separate behaviors controlled velocity to maintain a safe distance from walls, robots, and people; rotation for navigation; and snack offering (lowering of the gripper and motion inhibition) in response to “humanlike” sonar signatures. Contest rules specified that only one team member could be present to ensure safety and reload hors d’oeuvres. This rule was a special challenge for us as the only multirobot entry: It was essential that the robots maintain a cohesive group in the dense crowd and that, in case of separation, they continue to perform safely while they attempt to reunite.