Remote visitor robot through the internet

摘要

We are developing a remote visitor robot which is shown in Fig.1. We can visit an aged care center or an office from a remote place through Internet as if we ride in the robot. Our faces are shown in PC display. We communicate through Skype (TV phone system). The robot is constructed of a mobile wagon, PC for wagon control, and PC for TV phone. The controller software is a multi-agent system which is composed of man-machine interface, task planner, mobile wagon controller. While the operator directs only the direction of the robot with a game pad or keyboard, the robot avoids obstacles and goes toward the target direction.