The CrowdBot project is not robot-specific. Our goal is to provide technologies for a variety of mobile robot, including humanoid-like robot such as Pepper from SoftBank Robotics, service robots such as CuyBot from Locomotec, or assistive robots such as the Smart wheelchair or the Qolo from University of Tsukuba. CrowdBot is integrating solutions for all those platforms, and beyond.
Pepper
Pepper is the world’s first social humanoid robot, it was optimized for human interaction and is able to engage with people through conversation and his touch screen. Pepper is available today for businesses and schools. Over 2,000 companies around the world have adopted Pepper as an assistant to welcome, inform and guide visitors in an innovative way. The Pepper robot is a humanoid robot with a body similar to that of a human child of height ~ 120 cm and weight ~ 28 kg. It is holonomic and moves via three multi-directional wheels at a maximum speed of 3 km/hr. It is equipped with a number of imagery, range, depth and touch sensors and processing engines for interacting with humans. His curvy design ensures danger-free use and a high level of acceptance by users.
CuyBot
The cuyBot robot is a new type of robot currently developed by Locomotec that can safely execute a range of service and logistics tasks. In addition to classic robot sensors such as laser scanner and 3D camera it posseses a number of force and capacitive sensors that can register contacts anywhere around the robot. It uses a new kind of drive units called SmartWheels which make the robot move omnidirectional. In spite of the compact size of about 60x60x125 cm it has a high payload of 500kg and can drive more than 4 m/s.
Qolo
Qolo - Quality of Life with Locomotion - a device that combines active powered wheels and passive exoskeleton for bringing about a compact, light-weighted wearable robot for wheelchair users. An innovative mobility solution that exceeds wheelchairs with standing mobility, without losing portability and compactness. Qolo allows a user to sit down on chairs and beds, and stand up through easy body posture changes. As well, the robot’s control interface allows hands-free locomotion while standing.
Smart wheelchair
The Smart Wheelchair serves as a platform for implementing and testing shared control robot navigation algorithms. The platform will extend the shared control capabilities of the wheelchair from static to dynamic, densely crowded environments. Our platform will also be used to study human-robot interaction. This includes (1) developing navigation algorithms that consider interaction and cooperation behaviours between crowds and the wheelchair; (2) predicting and modelling the wheelchair user's intention; (3) studying the safety of the users; (4) exploring the suitability of different wheelchair driving interfaces; and (5) implementing a multimodal feedback interface on the wheelchair.
