1 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Welcome from the Editor 3 Deborah S. Ray Foreword 6 Grant Imahara Introduction to Service Robots 7 Mouser Staff Sanbot Max: Anatomy of a Service Robot 11 Steven Keeping CIMON Says: Design Lessons from a Robot Assistant in Space 17 Traci Browne 21 Revisiting the Uncanny Valley Jon Gabay Robotic Hands Strive for Human Capabilities 25 Bill Schweber Robotic Gesturing Meets Sign Language 30 Bill Schweber Mouser and Mouser Electronics are registered trademarks of Mouser Electronics, Inc. Other products, logos, and company names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners. Reference designs, conceptual illustrations, and other graphics included herein are for informational purposes only. Copyright © 2018 Mouser Electronics, Inc. – A TTI and Berkshire Hathaway company. 2 WELCOME FROM THE EDITOR If you’re just now joining us for favorite robots from our favorite This eBook accompanies EIT Video Mouser’s 2018 Empowering shows and movies: Star Wars, Star #3, which features the Henn na Innovation Together™ (EIT) program, Trek, Lost in Space, and Dr. Who. Hotel, the world’s first hotel staffed welcome! This year’s EIT program— by robots. Geared toward efficiency Generation Robot—explores robotics In this EIT segment, we explore and customer comfort, these robots as a technology capable of impacting service robots, which combine not only provide an extraordinary and changing our lives in the 21st principles of automation with that experience of efficiency and comfort, century much like the automobile of robotics to assist humans with but also a fascinating and heart- impacted the 20th century and tasks that are dirty, dangerous, heavy, warming experience for guests. Don’t changed life as we knew it. repetitive, or just plain dull. Service miss the accompanying blogs, which robots differ from collaborative feature “Flippy” the burger-flipping In our last segment, we explored robots in that service bots require robot, autonomous suitcases, soft collaborative robots and featured a some degree of autonomy—that robotics, and chatbots. compelling video hosted by celebrity is, the ability to perform tasks engineer and Mouser partner Grant based on current state and sensing, We hope you’re enjoying Mouser’s Imahara, as well as the Collaborative without human intervention. Today’s 2018 EIT topics, videos, eBooks, and Robots eBook, which features service bots work in close proximity blogs! Stay tuned…there’s more to cobots in industrial environments, to humans, are becoming more come! identifies design considerations and more autonomous, and can and solutions, and discusses motor interpret and respond to humans and control in complex robotics. The conditions. Deborah S. Ray accompanying blogs featured our Executive Editor 3 Empowering Innovation Together “Today’s service bots work in Jack Johnston, Director close proximity to humans, Marketing Communication are becoming more and more autonomous, and can Executive Editor interpret and respond to Deborah S. Ray humans and conditions.” Contributing Authors Traci Browne Jon Gabay Grant Imahara Steven Keeping Bill Schweber Technical Contributor Paul Golata Editorial Contributors LaKayla Garrett Ryan Stacy Design & Production Robert Harper With Special Thanks Kevin Hess Sr. VP, Marketing Russell Rasor VP, Supplier Marketing Jennifer Krajcirovic Director, Creative Design Raymond Yin Director, Technical Content 4 5 FOREWORD By Grant Imahara This year, Mouser’s Empowering will store your luggage for you. Most Innovation Together™ program has of the remaining support staff are asked me to explore how robots robots as well. and humans can collaborate and transform the concept of work. One Another meaning of the Japanese specific type of robot that may make word “hen” is “to change,” and a significant contribution to that the hotel’s slogan expresses this transformation is the service robot. idea: “A commitment to evolution.” The designers of this revolutionary The International Federation of hotel experience want to use the Robotics states that a service robot innovative technology of service “performs useful tasks for humans robots not as a gimmick but as a way or equipment excluding automation to fundamentally change the guest applications.” From Rosie on The experience and learn more about Jetsons cartoon to Baymax in the human-robot interaction. film Big Hero 6, pop culture is awash with examples of service robots. Service robots have the potential to These useful and endearing robotic alter every aspect of our daily lives. characters perform a wide variety of They can do not only the things we tasks from mundane jobs like cleaning can’t do but also the things we don’t to highly specialized tasks like being want to do. And that may be the one a “personal health care companion” thing that drives this technology the (Baymax’s original purpose). most—the desire to gain more free time. In this EIT segment, I’ll be traveling to Nagasaki, Japan to visit the The day when the average household Henn na Hotel. “Hen” in English has a robotic maid may be closer translates as “weird, strange, or than we think. I look forward to the odd.” And this hotel certainly fits day when I return home to everything that bill. Service robots are front and clean and in perfect order, freeing me center in this oddly unique travel to relax, play some video games, or destination. The concierge that greets design more robots! you is a multilingual dinosaur robot that checks you into the hotel. The cloakroom features a robotic arm that mouser.com/empowering-innovation 6 INTRODUCTION TO SERVICE ROBOTS By Mouser Staff When we think of service robots, we often think of toys and novelty devices; however, with roots in engineering and automation, today’s service bots are making life and work easier. In 2018, we may not yet be jetting perform intended tasks based on • Person carrier robot: A robot off to work in flying cars and have current state and sensing, without designed to transport humans to an robot servants waiting at home with human intervention.” For service intended destination dinner on the table, but we don’t robots, this ranges from partial have to look too far to see where autonomy (including human-robot Whereas other types of service robots service robots are helping us with our interaction) to full autonomy (without work at safe distances from humans daily lives. Early examples of service active human-robot intervention). or have a physical barrier, personal robots were rooted in automation, Today’s service bots work in close care robots interact very closely with which we’ve been using in one form proximity to humans, are becoming people, which poses unique design or another for centuries—from when more and more autonomous, and can challenges. What’s more, people’s windmills helped humans pump interpret and respond to humans and diverse and complex needs pose water and process grain, to the conditions. additional challenges as well (Figure 1). steam engine that turns heat into an abundant—and mobile—source Trending Applications of energy. Nowadays, we think of Service robots are popping up all automation as asking Alexa what around us, solving personal and the temperature is outside, to turn business challenges in a wide variety off the lights, or get a little help of industries. Though some examples with navigation on the way to an seem quirky, service bots solve real appointment. problems and are changing the way we work and live. Service robots combine principles of automation with that of robotics Personal Care Robots to assist humans with tasks that are Figure 1: Robots for children will Personal care robots are non-medical dirty, dangerous, heavy, repetitive, or need to be appealing to touch as well service robots that improve quality of just plain dull. We see these aspects as sight. (Source: Mouser) life through interaction and help with in collaborative robots as well, which tasks. The ISO identifies several types work side-by-side with humans, Telepresence Robots of personal care robots: as we discussed in the 2018 EIT Long-distance communications Collaborative Robots eBook. So that allow both parties on a call • Mobile servant robot: A robot that what makes a service robot different? to see and hear the other person is capable of traveling to perform have been imagined since the serving tasks in interaction with The International Organization early 1900s, steadily advancing to humans, such as handling objects for Standardization (ISO) defines dedicated videoconferencing systems, or exchanging information a service robot as a robot “that webcams, and smartphone-based performs useful tasks for humans solutions. Telepresence robots take • Physical assistant robot: A robot or equipment excluding industrial the concept one step further, allowing that physically assists a user to automation applications” (ISO 8373). users to move about a room as a perform required tasks by providing According to this specification, physical robotic representation. Your supplementation or augmentation service robots require “a degree of face is displayed live on a screen for of personal capabilities autonomy,” which is the “ability to others to see, along with a camera 7 Ahead in This eBook Ahead in this eBook, we meet a couple of very cool service robots, explore The Uncanny Valley, and take deep-dives on mimicking human gesturing and hand functions: Sanbot: Anatomy of a Service Robot Meet Sanbot Max. This service robot can walk, talk, carry, direct, Figure 2: Intel Telepresence robots and tell jokes. Max is 1.46m tall, allow cost-effective collaboration has an omnidirectional four-wheel for a global workforce. (Source: drive system, boasts arms and Intel Free Press/CC-BY-SA-2.0) hands with ten degrees of freedom, can lift 400kg, and has bristles with sensors. But what’s most impressive to view an area remotely. Today, is going on inside him.