DUBOIS – The audience in Hiller Auditorium at Penn State DuBois rose to their feet to watch five tiny robots navigate an enclosed maze-like structure at the front of the room.
“They communicate with each other using the Bearing Orientation Module (BOM),” said Carnegie Mellon Robotics Club Co-President Brad Neuman. “They use light signals and wireless communication which allows them to share information on their environment.”
Neuman and, his Robotics Club Co-President, Austin Buchan demonstrated the robots during a presentation of their club’s work and research for the Umbaugh Lecture at Penn State DuBois. The Umbaugh Lecture series, named for alumnus Robert Umbaugh and his wife, Joyce, brings experts on science and technology to campus.
Renowned for their research in the field, Carnegie Mellon University established their robotics program in 1979. The Robotics Club is made up of 140 undergraduate students. They are from various fields of study, not necessarily in a robotics-related major. They do, however, have a common interest in robotics, and building machines to solve real-world problems.
“If there is an interesting problem with no solution, we want to find that solution and make people’s lives better,” said Buchan, who noted that the club is constantly designing new robots, with five to ten new projects each year.
“We think robots are awesome, and more robots are more awesome,” Neuman said.
The robots used in their demonstration are part of a robot colony project, in which several robots are designed to work together to solve problems. One example of this team work takes place in a maze where a group of robots seek a target at the end. Neuman and Buchan explained that once a single robot comes within line-of-sight of the target, it can communicate with other robots behind it, and the group guides each other to the goal. The technology involved in orientation and navigation of these robots is similar to that found in the robotic vacuum cleaners that vacuum a room on their own. However, Neuman says these robots are more advanced than the vacuum-bots.
Another ongoing project is work on a robot that plays air hockey. Currently the robot is able to function at the air hockey table, but club members are working on ways to make it better. “The goal is to make a robot that can beat a human at air hockey,” Buchan said. To do that, they’ll use lasers and cameras for the robot’s vision system. Ultimately, they want the robot to take up residency in a game room at Carnegie Mellon where students can play against it any time.
Information System Technology major Michael Grancey was one of the Penn State DuBois students who took in the presentation. He believes much of the work Neuman and Buchan presented could be applied to his field of computer programming. “It was really interesting and gives me ideas to look into for programming,” he said.
Wildlife Biology student Jesse Staley saw possible uses for the technology in his field as well, saying, “You could use robots like this to feed sick or endangered animals without introducing them to dangerous bacteria.”
Penn State DuBois Mathematics Instructor John Tolle invited the Robotics Club members to make this presentation. He said he wanted his students to see how math can be applied to the real-world, and how it can be fun.
“I think my students can see the mathematics involved and see how complicated it is to apply it to these robots,” Tolle said. “It shows an application more interesting than the text book.”