Last week, I started working with the Roomba platform: the hovering robot.
As a first exploration, I created several tags (spiral, random, sweep, wall-follow, fast, slow), and matching behaviours.
The tags can also be combined: spiral + fast = a fast spiral. Wall-follow + wall-follow + spiral = a wall-following robot that moves in small spirals.

iRobot tags – actDresses exploration – robtieben.com/stockholm from Rob Tieben on Vimeo.

actDresses, end-user programming, exploration, roomba Hide

In the second series of exploration iterations, I started to create the WYSIWYG functionality again: allow users to directly program the robot to behave like they want. As a platform, Glowbots (REF) were used, robots with a LED display on top of them. Creating direct signs that directly manipulate/indicate the robot’s behaviour was the goal again.

Eventually, simple shapes were developed that could be placed over the robot: squares, circles, triangles and lines. The robot would then display this shape on the LEDs. When the shape was rotated, the displayed shape would start to rotate as well. Empty robots placed near a shaped robot would copy the behaviour, allowing multiple displays to be programmed. Finally, a ‘blocking’ shape would reset the robot again.

The coupling between sign and behaviour is obvious here: programming of different shapes is simple and straight forward. The interpretation of the signs is simple as well; only simple behaviour can be programmed. This exploration already shows the complication and challenge of more complex behaviour: the ‘copying’ behaviour has no sign at the moment. How could it be made more clear that two shapes copy each other? If this line of reasoning is continued, the real challenge becomes visible: programming complex behaviour using these clear, physical and direct shapes. How would an ‘if-then’ situation be handled, for example? That is the goal of the next exploration: using this platform of Glowbots to explore signs and complex behaviour.

4d, end-user programming, exploration, glowbots, Prototypes Hide

Following my initial explorations, I moved on to some 4D sketching: low-fidelity prototypes that allowed quick user evaluation, and gave me the chance to become familiar with the platforms that are used here as well.

E-puck robots are little robots with a lot of sensors that can drive around, make sound and make light. Easily programmable in C, they allow quick prototyping and exploration. My goal again: explore how direct manipulation can be used to influence the robot’s behaviour. Using my previous ‘analysis’, I created the following problem space:

For all 12 combinations, different sorts of influencing behaviour were created. Eventually, three robots have been programmed, in combination with a puzzle. For each of the robots, the created accessories had to be used to program the robot so it would succeed in the puzzle.

1: guiding + sensors: this robot uses four sensors (left, right, front, back) to detect proximity. If something is nearby, the robot will drive in the opposite direction. This way, by using gestures, the robot can be guided in a certain direction. Using the accessoires, it is possible to cover a sensor, making the robot blind on that site; this will allow the robot to move past obstacles.

2: cooking + actuators: this robot has no sensors, and all it does is moving in a straight line. By using a wire to attach to the robot and a series of poles, the robot can be programmed to drive a certain pattern; for example, just connecting the wire to one pole will make the robot drive in circles.

3: aiming+ configuration: this robot has no sensors, and only drives in a straight line. It’s configuration can be changed by adding a wooden stick; this way, certain paths become inaccessible, while driving behaviour changes. For example, when a small obstacle is detected, the robot will drive around and towards it.

Eventually, some quick user evaluations & discussion with my coaches Ylva Fernaeus and Mattias Jacobsson gave me new insights about the signifier-signified relation: the sign that indicates the behaviour of the robot, the user’s interpretation of both the sign and the actions it provokes, and the general direction to continue in.

4d, behaviour, evaluation, exploration, prototyping, robots Hide