“Welcome Robot, 1.5″

By Armanda Lewis on August 2008, Day 1

He’s new and improved, and now with Ironman colors! It’s ‘The Welcome Robot, 1.5′!
On Day#1 of 5-in- 5, I made the ‘Welcome Robot, 1.5′ which greets ITPers with a friendly wave at times when Matt is not at the front desk. This is the latest version of the “Welcome Robot” which I started this summer in the “Sociable Objects” class (click here for more on the 1st version).

Here is the ‘Welcome Robot, 1.5′ when Matt is at his desk.

It is motionless and the led lights are off. When Matt leaves, he can press a simple switch which then turns on the led lights, indicating that the robot is in sensing mode.

This version featured Ironman colors (red and gold) and a feather servo which makes the robot wave. The wave is triggered by a specific input from a long range sonic ranger, indicating a passerby. Upon sensing a certain value from a range sensor, the robot’s arm waves to greet the passersby. As you will observe in the video, I definitely have to do something about his soldier-like wave and make it more toned down. Since I only had a day for this version, however, I am going eventually add a sound greeting which will accompany the waving arm, and an xbee component which will sense when the elevator doors open. This way, I can better predict if the range sensor is sensing someone arriving or departing, and only have output for people arriving.

Here is a short video of the ‘Welcome Robot, 1.5′ in action: http://www.vimeo.com/1426246

I would recommend a 5-in-5 type of project for anyone who wants a creative challenge. Knowing that you have only one day to complete a project and document it is daunting, but then when you finish you have a sense of accomplishment that you did so much under serious time constraints. Until tomorrow…

July 29th, 2008