Casual Communication between Robots and Humans Using Fuzzy Interruption Technology on Internet

Kaoru Hirota,
Dept of Computational Intelligence and Systems Science,
Tokyo Institute of Technology
G3-49, 4259 Nagatsuta, Midori-ku, Yokohama 226-8502, Japan
hirota@hrt.dis.titech.ac.jp

The Mascot Robot System has been developed by the author's group as a part of the "Development Project for a Common Basis of Next-Generation Robots" (2005-2007) sponsored by NEDO (New Energy and industrial technology Development Organization) and "Development of Mascot Robot System with Casual Communication Ability" (2009-2012) sponsored by JSPS (Japan Society for the Promotion of Science). The main purpose of the mascot robot system is to perform casual communication between robots and humans. The system is implemented as multi-robots connected by RT middleware (RTM) on the internet. It consists of 5 robots, i.e., 4 fixed robots (placed on a TV, a darts game machine, an information terminal, and a mini-bar) and 1 mobile robot. Each of them includes an eye robot, a speech recognizer/synthesizer, a web camera, and a notebook PC. These robots are connected together with a server through the internet by RTM, where fuzzy interruption technology makes it possible to perform smooth communications among plural robots. The Mascot Robot System's functioning is demonstrated in an ordinary living room, where casual communication between 5 robots and 4 human beings (1 host, 2 guests, and 1 walk-in) is conducted to enjoy home party senario. The experimental results are shown by a DVD demonstration.

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