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There is now a CONTENT FREEZE for Mercury while we switch to a new platform. It began on Friday, March 10 at 6pm and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at noon. No new content can be created during this time, but all material in the system as of the beginning of the freeze will be migrated to the new platform, including users and groups. Functionally the new site is identical to the old one. webteam@gatech.edu
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Aubrey Shick, design researcher at the Carnegie Mellon Robotics Institute, will deliver a talk entitled "The Romibo Robot Project-Designing an Evolving Open-Source Social Robot for Special Needs Therapy Research" on June 18 at 1 pm in TSRB, Room 133.
Abstract: The Romibo Project is an open-source effort to design a low-cost research tool for social robotics and STEM education. The Romibo Robot Project is developing an evolving robot for motivation, education and social therapy. Our goal is to improve research techniques through the use of robots and social therapies while providing value to the Do-It-Yourself movement and STEM education initiatives. The robot has been designed around applications for individuals with conditions including autism, traumatic brain injury and dementia. Romibo includes features taken from other therapeutic robots currently used in research, such as Nao, Keepon, Pleo and Paro. Romibo is a social robot, able to convey emotions, communicate socially, and form relationships with individuals. The Romibo Robot Project is currently in development at the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon. It is sponsored in part by the National Science Foundation, the University of Pittsburgh/Carnegie Mellon Quality of Life Technology Center and the Pittsburgh Sprout Foundation. This talk will describe the genesis of the project, applications and how to get involved in this open-source effort.
Bio: Aubrey Shick is a Design Researcher at the Quality of Life Technology (QoLT) Center, a National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center in the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. She specializes in assistive technologies including wearable computers, with a focus on affective social robotics. Aubrey is the creator and director of the Romibo Robot Project, an evolving open-source effort to design an assistive social robot for special needs therapy and general education. Her work encompasses ethnography, product development, mechanical design, prototyping, interaction design, human subjects studies and well as STEM education and outreach. Aubrey Shick completed her bachelors in Industrial Design and masters of Human-Computer Interaction at Carnegie Mellon University and is CEO of Origami Robotics LLC.
