currentform | Simon King, Interaction Designer
Felix is a modified Tug robot, with the most significant change being the addition of lights for human-robot communication.
Felix is envisioned as part of a larger cat shelter management system that includes integration into an adoption website.
The recharging station is located in the cat suite so that Felix can entertain the cats when not performing a task.
Here is Felix in his home, the cat suite and recharging station.
In the cat suite Felix is entertaining resident cats, using a combination of random motions and blinking lights.
During the play session Felix receives a request for service. He leaves the cat suite and heads to where he is needed.
While en route Felix gets interrupted when someone steps in front of him; he pauses for 30 seconds and changes his lights to yellow.
After picking up a cart of food Felix moves to the drop-off area.
One Felix has reached his final destination his top light dims to indicate that his task is complete.
After a volunteer releases Felix from the cart they toggle both of his back tail lights to an “on” state, which sends him back home.
Felix: Cat Shelter Robot
Description
The Aethon Tug is a helper robot used in hospitals and other environments to deliver supplies by hauling carts on a set route. We worked with Aethon to find alternative uses for the robot and explore specific interface aspects that improve human-robot interaction.
We chose cat shelters as a design environment because of the need to haul heavy supplies and to relieve volunteer staff from menial tasks. For our variation of the robot, Felix, we specifically explore how the addition of lights could aid in human-robot interaction at the shelter and other environments. Our process included visits to local cat shelters and Aethon. For the final presentation a rapid prototyping method was used that composites a clay model into environmental photographs. This allowed us to quickly demonstrate our ideas to the client without building a full-scale model.
Team Members: Simon King (Interaction Design), Jared Cole (Interaction Design), Rachel Glaves (Design), Hwi Kyoung Lee (HCI)
Downloads
- Project Presentation [4.8MB PDF]