Development of an Autonomous.pdf

Development of an Autonomous Dancing Robot David Grunberg Robert Ellenberg In Hyuek Kim Jun Ho Oh Paul Y. Oh Youngmoo E. Kim Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Department of Mechanical Engineering Drexel University Philadelphia, PA Department of Mechanical Engineering Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) Daejeon, South Korea dgrunberg@ rwe24@ inhyeok@kaist.ac.kr jhoh@kaist.ac.kr paul@ ykim@ Abstract We have developed an autonomously dancing humanoid, based on the Hitec Robonova platform, that is able to perform sequences of smooth movements in synchrony with music. Our system automatically determines the locations of beats from the acoustic signal of music in real-time, and this information is used to coordinate the motions of the robot, enabling it to perform rudimentary dances. The small (14 inch-tall) RoboNova serves as a prototype development platform for a much larger and more sophisticated humanoid, the KAIST Hubo, which is capable of more fluid and human-like movements. But by first devel- oping and testing systems and algorithms on the smaller robot, we reduce the risk of damaging the larger and more costly Hubo. Regardless of the humanoid platform, however, it is difficult to synthesize motions that appear expressive and artistic. We developed our prototype dancing humanoid in order to further investigate and, hopefully, quantify some parameters of creative movement. Keyw