RoboJockey

Abstract

We developed a RoboJockey (Robot Jockey) interface for coordinating robot actions, such as dancing, similar to a "disc jockey" or "video jockey" who selects and plays recorded music or video for an audience, in this case, robot's actions, and giving people a new entertainment experience with robots. The system enables a user to choreograph a robot to dance using a simple visual language. Every icon on the interface is circular and can be operated from all positions around the tabletop interface. Users can coordinate the mobile robot's actions with a combination of back, forward, and rotating movements, and the humanoid robot's actions with a combination of arm and leg movements. Every action is automatically performed to background music. We demonstrated RoboJockey at a Japanese domestic symposium, and confirmed that people enjoyed using the system and successfully created entertaining robot dances.