Bender: a general-purpose social robot with human-robot interaction capabilities

Javier Ruiz-Del-Solar; Mauricio Alfredo Correa Perez; Rodrigo Verschae; Fernando Bernuy; Patricio Loncomilla; Mauricio Mascaró; Riquelme, Romina; Felipe Smith

Abstract

The main goal of this article is to describe Bender, a general-purpose social robot with human--robot interaction capabilities, and to report and analyze its applicability in three different natural environments: (i) home settings, (ii) school classrooms, and (iii) public places. Evaluation of the robot's performance is based on its ability to detect and identify humans in those settings, its ability to express emotions, and its ability to interact naturally with humans. The obtained results, although preliminary, indicate that the robot has great acceptance from expert and non-expert human users alike, and that it is able to interact successfully with humans using human-like interaction mechanisms, such as speech and visual cues (particularly facial information). It is remarkable that the robot even has the potential to teach children in a real classroom setting. Further experiments will be conducted in order to better assess the robot's potential.

Más información

Título de la Revista: Journal of Human-Robot Interaction
Volumen: 1
Número: 2
Fecha de publicación: 2013
Página de inicio: 54
Página final: 75