The Huggable
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Dan Stiehl
MIT Media Lab
November 30, 2006 1:30 PM to 3 PM
The Huggable combines research currently being done in the Robotic Life Group at the MIT Media Lab on sensate skins and novel actuators into a portable robotic platform with the goal of relational, affective touch. The Huggable will feature a dense sensor network of different modalities of somatic sensation to detect the affective content of touch. The Huggable will have silent, smooth, back-drivable motion. These features combined with a behavior system and other sensors will allow the Huggable to relate to the person through touch - much like a pet does. For example, the Huggable will be able to nuzzle into a person's arm using these systems. This work is funded in part by a Microsoft iCampus Grant. |
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The Huggable is the subject of my Doctoral thesis. As such I have been working with a team of undergraduates and another graduate student on the design of the robot. In addition to acting as project manager, I am designing the full body "sensitive skin" for the robot to allow to the robot to not only respond when it is touched but determine the affective content of that touch, such as being "petted" or "tickled," and to respond appropriately. At left is a section of the arm showing the technology behind the sensitive skin. The white sensors are QTC force sensors. The silver circles above the surface of the circuit boards are the temperature sensors. Not shown is the capacitive sensing electrodes.