Robotic tails in education for enhanced Human-Robot Interaction

Abstract

This thesis presents an articulated tail mechanism to enhance quadruped robots, enabling them to mimic expressive behaviors like dogs. Additionally, this work investigates non-verbal communication in quadruped robots for Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) while exploring the potential of utilizing a robotic tail prototype as an education tool in academia, introducing Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) students to the development of social robotics. This thesis describes the development of the Do It Yourself (DIY) Robotic Tail Workshop for the “Special Topics in Information Technology-Service Robots + Topics in Technology Management-Service Robots” class at Ontario Tech University, listing the objectives, methods, and considerations presented through the three times the workshop has been executed. Furthermore, an experiment and comparative analysis were conducted using the first and current tail prototypes by performing an accuracy and repeatability parameter testing procedure based on the Robot-Test and Ford methods. The experimental results indicate higher levels of accuracy and a broader range of motion for the latest tail prototype compared to similar commercial products available in the market, such as the Qoobo robot, a companion cushion robot with a moving tail that responds to physical touch. This thesis contributes to establishing robotic tails as an innovative approach to HRI by setting the basis to bring emotional expression to robots.