Service robots in the field: The BratWurst Bot

Abstract

Service robotics has recently been a growing field as well in research as in industrial contexts. It offers adaptive robotic systems that allow direct human-robot interaction and cooperation. However these systems are often only used inside research labs. In this paper we present the BratWurst Bot, a service robotic system that demonstrates the combination of many different robotic skills to create a powerful application. With ROS as a software framework and standard robotic components this system also shows the short ramp-up time modern service robotics can provide. The BratWurst Bot offers an intuitive tablet interface and was extensively tested “in the field” on public events where it proved its reliability and effectiveness.