Behavior-based physical agents as information display devices

• Main Author: Xing, Shusong.
• Other Authors: Chen, I-Ming
• Format: Research Report
• Published: 2008
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Mechanical engineering::Robots
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/7020
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This thesis studies the structural and behavioral design of the physical agents that can convey information to human through life-like body movements. These physical agents are natural and intuitive human-machine interfaces in social environment. The issues pertinent to behavior generation and expression on them are investigated. Based on the requirements and system components essential to the design and construction of the physical agents whose body structures are highly diversified due to their intended communication tasks, we have built three robotic puppets as human?s avatars that make their bodies the instruments of expression. They take the structures of underconstrained wire-suspension mechanisms to solve the degrees of freedom problem. In order to make the motion generation process effective and flexible on the physical agents with different body structures, an agent-centered design approach that behavior generation and expression are founded on the motor capability is applied to the robotic puppets.