AGENTS
TOWARD PLAYFUL MACHINES AND CURIOUS AGENTS
HRI RESEARCH
BY MILOS ROGLIC
ROLE
TOOLS
YEAR
Lead Developer in a team of two
Unity, OpenCV, Robotic Arm, Projector, Leap Motion
2018
One of the challenges I faced in this project was that I didn't have prior experience in manipulating robot arms. Additionally, I needed to develop calibrations between different devices to create a unified experience. These involved calibrations between Leap Motion and the projector, the robot and Leap Motion, and the robot and the transparent screen, all sharing the same virtual space.
Besides Computer Vision algorithms, I was also responsible for the flocking behavior of “nanobots” and the app's flow. The graphical assets were provided by a designer.
While working on it, I discovered a similar project by Chris Sugrue, my mentor at the School of Machines, Making & Make Believe in Berlin. It's titled "Delicate Boundaries," and I was humbled to realize that it was created in 2007 using more limited hardware. This realization also motivated me to do my best and expand upon my mentor’s work.
Since testing the calibration process was tedious, and I had to manually capture many points with my hand, I wondered if there was a better way. Looking at the mannequin across from me, waiting boredly for another project, I got an idea: it could land me a hand (pun intended). I used duct tape to quickly attach its hand to the robot arm so it could calibrate itself. It turned out that Leap Motion recognized that hand quite nicely, so I happily returned my hands back to the keyboard.
This project has been one of the most interesting I've worked on, and it further deepened my interest in Computer Vision, robotics, and experiences blending virtual and real.
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