Robots To The Rescue!

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -Whether you need to be saved from the rubble of a collapsed building or given a fresh drink at a cocktail party, Elektro can come to your rescue. Elektro is one of three University of Arkansas robots that won second place in the national robotics competition held recently in Austin, Texas.

Sponsored by the American Association for Artificial Intelligence, the ninth annual competition was held in conjunction with the national conference. More than 1100 participants were on hand to watch the competition, which included urban search and rescue and a cocktail party scenario.

Many attendees actually participated in one portion competition, which took place during a convention reception. In the competition - hors d’oeuvres anyone - the robots served food to conference attendees.

"The environment was not staged for the robots," explained Doug Blank, assistant professor of computer science and computer engineering. "The robot had to be fully autonomous and interact with the environment and people without being controlled by its handlers. "

In this competition the robots served standard food and were evaluated on their personality, their ability to find and stop at people (not plants) and offer food, to interaction with humans and to serve food, according to Gordon Beavers, associate professor of computer science and computer engineering. Other categories included not dropping or throwing food, nudging people out of the way rather than pushing, realizing when a person has taken food and finding people that have not been served before.

Elektro has a lot of personality. He stands about five feet tall and has vaguely human face with eyebrows and a mouth that move as he talks. His vision system allows him to recognize and remember people with whom he interacts. For the Texas competition, he was also outfitted with a cowboy hat.

"Elektro was named for the first functional robot, which General Electric debuted at the 1939 World’s Fair," explained Blank. "We made a conscious decision that Elektro was a he, but for the other two, we are a little more ambivalent. "

The other two are Astro and Klaatu, two smaller robots that joined Elektro in the Urban Search and Rescue competition. This event, which simulated humans trapped in a collapsed building, presented the robots with a variety of challenges ranging in difficulty from simple debris to a complex 3D maze with various slopes and levels and progressively smaller spaces.

"Urban search and rescue represents a realistic use of robots," said Blank. "it is an ideal application of robotic technology."

This event required the robots to work as a team to overcome various obstacles, which included rebar, holes or openings in the floors and unstable floors. Simulated human targets were placed among the debris and the robots were judged on the number of humans they located. Some of the simulated humans had tape players to project calls for help or moans. Others had heating pads to simulate body warmth.

"The robots were judged on their ability to communication with victims and relay information back to outside rescuers," said Blank. "Credit was given for identifying and mapping hazards, delivering a small package to the victim and communicating with the victim to determine injuries. Points were deducted if the robot was not able to exit the structure within the time allotted or if it caused additional damage to the structure, like knocking over debris."

Blank and Beavers accompanied four University of Arkansas students to the competition. Ten students in Blank’s advanced robotics class worked on programming the fuzzy logic robots using an open-source language developed by Blank. The team won two robots valued at more than $10,000, which will be used for teaching and research.

"This is a great learning experience for students because it gives them hard deadlines," Blank explained. "They have to have something to show, and that can be very intimidating. You are putting your school’s reputation on the line, and that is very risky. Many larger schools, like MIT and Carnegie-Mellon, don’t enter these competitions because of that risk."

Because the issues associated with designing the robots are too complex for any one person, the students also learn a lot about working in a team and facing real-life design constraints. They also learn about hard issues in robotics and artificial intelligence and how difficult it is to make it work, according to Blank.

Elektro will be reprising his role in hors d’oeuvres anyone on Friday, Aug. 25, by serving at a College of Engineering faculty luncheon.