Fulfilling IEEE’s Mission By Fostering

Technological InnovationIEEE/Eastern NC Section Humanoid Robot Project

Daniel McDonald6-Mar-2015

IEEE's core purpose is to foster

technological innovation and

excellence for the benefit of humanity.

IEEE Mission

Robotics and Automation Society Chapter at NCSU

NCSU Engineering Building 1

January 2014 Project Proposal

Let’s build a humanoid robot.

The Pitch

Let’s Do It!

Now What?

A.L.I.C.E.

● Start with head and upper body● Focus on personal interaction rather than

many degrees of freedom● Link hearing, AI, vision, and speech● Adopt the Robot Operating System (ROS)

Some Early Decisions

Knowledge Enabled Neophyte● Mannequin provides structure● Tilt-Pan servos in neck● Raspberry Pi vision, servo control,

and speech● Mac Mini hearing and chatbot AI● Offboard video processing for face

detection and recognition

January 2015 - KEN Is Born

Google Web Speech API

eSpeak Speech Synthesis

KEN’s Ears and Voice

● 3D Printed Iris

● Raspberry Pi Spy Cameras

KEN’s Eyes

First Images From KEN’s Eyes

● Use OpenCV for face detection● Rotate, crop, and normalize images● Compare images for recognition● Link to AI to put name with face

Face Recognition

KEN’s Intelligence

A.L.I.C.E.

Culminating in the demo you can see today.

● Why are we doing this?

● Where do we go from here?

Why and What’s Next?

From the Charter

Phase 1 - Head and Shoulders (KEN)

Phase 2 - Upper Body on Mobile Platform

Phase 3 - Walking, Talking, Singing, Dancing,Bike Riding Biped Best

Friend

Future Phases

Project Web Sitehttp://sites.ieee.org/encs-humanoid/

Project Forumhttps://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/encshumanoidroboticsproject

YouTubehttps://www.youtube.com/user/ENCSHumanoidRobotics

GitHubhttps://github.com/encs-humanoid

Where Can I Learn More?

● All technical areas need team members with expertise, desire to learn, and time to contribute

● Need help documenting and publicising the project● Need better onboard computers● Need funding for hardware components

How Can I Help?

Special Thanks

end

In January 2014, the IEEE Eastern North Carolina Section Robotics and Automation Chapter embarked on an ambitious project to pool the resources of local engineers in the Research Triangle Park area to build a humanoid robot. With the audacious goal of building a robot that is indistinguishable from a human being, the team set off to gather requirements, architect, and prototype the technologies that would make up this robot. This talk will provide a brief overview of the project, the dream, and the challenges that lie ahead on the long road to produce a machine with humanlike characteristics and behaviors. Intended as a tool to inspire both experienced engineers and students aspiring to be engineers, the humanoid robot project aims to fulfill IEEE's mission by fostering technological innovation that will lead to a better understanding of technology and humanity.

Abstract