The MBOT is a robot developed within the frame of the ongoing FP7 project MOnarCH (Multi-Robot Cognitive Systems Operating in Hospitals) with the goal of introducing (social) robots in real human social environments with people and studying the establishment of relationships between them. The environment that acts as a case-study for the project is the pediatric ward of an oncological hospital where a team of MBOTS, networked with sensor devices, that cooperatively engage in activities aiming at improving the quality of life of inpatient children, will be introduced. The robot was conceived by the MOnarCH consortium, under the coordination of and with the specifications put front by ISR/IST, and designed and developed by IdMind, an ISR/IST spinoff.
The MBOT was designed to take into account to operate in such a “social” environment. It is capable of 4-wheeled omni-directional motion at speeds of the order of those used by children, capable of combining its angular and linear velocities to move expressively, naturally engaging people to interact with it. The robot height and shell (not yet built, but already designed and shown in one of the attached pictures – including a vision of its use in rooms of the actual hospital) were also designed with this purpose. Several sensors are included both for robust long-term navigation in public spaces and human-robot interaction.
Acknowledgements and Contact:
Pedro U. Lima
Instituto de Sistemas e Robótica, Instituto Superior Técnico (ISR-IST)
Torre Norte – 6.18
Av. Rovisco Pais, 1
1049-001 Lisboa
Portugal
Phone: +351-21-841 8274
Fax: +351-21-841 8291
pal@isr.ist.utl.pt
http://welcome.isr.ist.utl.pt/home/