Turning segways into soccer robots

Abstract

The Segway human transport (HT) is a one person dynamically self-balancing transportation vehicle. The Segway robot mobility platform (RMP) is a modification of the HT capable of being commanded by a computer for autonomous operation. With these platforms, we are investigating human/robot coordination in adversarial environments through the game, Segway soccer. The players include robots (RMPs) and humans (riding HTs). The rules of the game are a combination of soccer and ultimate Frisbee rules. In this paper, we provide two contributions. First, we examine the capabilities and limitations of the Segway and describe the mechanical systems necessary to create a robot Segway soccer player. Second, we provide a detailed analysis of several ball manipulation/kicking systems and the implementation results of the CM-RMP pneumatic ball manipulation system.