3 Data and Discussion
3.3 The Live Performance
3.3.3 The Synchronization Software
This synching software underwent multiple iterations and improvements to increase the quality of its communication techniques with the IRB1600. The RAPID code on the IRC5 robot controller began as a single-task, serial execution only style program, which required a break in movement in order to fetch data from the sync software. The controller would run a few move commands and then ask the server for the media playback position. The RAPID code then compared the local frame versus the server frame and adjusted the speed of the move commands accordingly.
In simulation, the serial method worked perfectly because there was no socket latency between the server software and the simulator. In practice, however, the serial execution method worked but problems with socket latency caused jerky and inconsistent movements. Even a 10-100 ms delay in communication introduced unwanted hiccups in movement. In sacrificing update resolution for smoothness, the robot would drift more from the media playback position.
Later, after doing research into ABB’s multi-tasking support, we implemented a parallel processing method with two tasks running simultaneously: one task handled the movement of the robot and the other handled communication with the server. This change vastly improved the quality and consistency of the robot’s movements, keeping a much tighter synchronization with the media as it played because the communication task could update as fast as possible, rather than over an interval.
Conclusion
We were largely successful in our goals to better understand how people perceive robots as agents through a dynamic industrial arm performance art experience. We showed how it was possible to create a toolset which offers artists additional control over the robot through an unconventional animation-based workflow. The ABB robotics system’s fully- functioned programming language, Blender’s extensible animation tools, and Java’s cross- platform capabilities make our toolset easy to expand and refine in the future. Issues with inverse kinematics require attention for the artist’s sake. Correcting impossible motions consumed so much time throughout the animation process that we believe artistic IK could definitely use a specialized implementation designed to avoid singularity-related issues.
Live human-robot interaction is potentially the next topic to pursue. Studies exist which examine interactions between humans and robots, like This Robot is Sociable61, but hardware
and software solutions which safely allow a potentially dangerous machine to interact with
people is still sparse. Real-time reactions and procedural characterization of the robot might increase its ability to receive empathy from the audience and become an agent. Removing the artist “controlling” the performance entirely might offer another avenue of insight into the way people perceive robots.
This project primarily focused on giving the artist additional creative control over the robot and determining whether the robot could appear as an agent in a performance.
Observations we made from the surveys indicate that it is possible to positively affect people’s perceptions of a robot provided the artist creatively presents it. Ultimately, it is clear that industrial arms have enormous potential to affect how people perceive robotics – for the artist, who orchestrates the robot as a character, and for the audience who interprets the gestures of the robot. The industrial arm allows the artist to communicate emotion and draw empathy from their audience in the same way a musician or a painter might. It is also quite clear that additional investigations into the perception of these performances are required in order to discover trends in nuances. We have only scratched the surface of a vast and largely unexplored topic.
Works Cited
ABBRobotics. ABB Robotics - Robotic Artist at Long Distance Art Event. Accessed December
17, 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8Iy0p7toeg.
andirobot. Blue Man Group and KUKA Industrial Robots for Factory Automation. Accessed
December 17, 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlXqRNLmV-s.
Baddoura, Ritta, and Gentiane Venture. “This Robot Is Sociable: Close-up on the Gestures and
Measured Motion of a Human Responding to a Proactive Robot - Springer.” Accessed
October 10, 2015. doi:10.1007/s12369-015-0279-x.
Bar-Cohen, Yoseph, David Hanson, and Adi Marom. “Introduction.” In The Coming Robot
Revolution, 1–20. Springer New York, 2009.
http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-0-387-85349-9_1.
Bentkowska-Kafel, Anna, Trish Cashen, and Hazel Gardiner. Digital Art History. Bristol, GB:
Intellect Ltd., 2004. http://site.ebrary.com/lib/alltitles/docDetail.action?docID=10078137.
Buss, Samuel R. “Introduction to Inverse Kinematics with Jacobian Transpose, Pseudoinverse
and Damped Least Squares Methods.” IEEE Journal of Robotics and Automation 17, no.
1–19 (2004): 16.
correspondent, Duncan Weldon Newsnight economics. “Are the Robots Taking Enough Jobs?”
11/17/2105. BBC News. Accessed February 10, 2016.
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-34846356.
Dautenhahn, Kerstin. “Roles and Functions of Robots in Human Society: Implications from
Research in Autism Therapy.” Robotica 21, no. 04 (August 2003): 443–52.
doi:10.1017/S0263574703004922.
de Graaf, Maartje M.A., Somaya Ben Allouch, and Tineke Klamer. “Sharing a Life with Harvey:
Exploring the Acceptance of and Relationship-Building with a Social Robot.” Computers
in Human Behavior 43 (February 2015): 1–14. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2014.10.030.
Eerola, Tuomas. “Are the Emotions Expressed in Music Genrespecific? An Audio-Based
Evaluation of Datasets Spanning Classical, Film, Pop and Mixed Genres.” Journal of
New Music Research 40, no. 4 (November 25, 2011): 349–66.
Elkins, James. “Art History and the Criticism of Computer-Generated Images.” Leonardo 27, no.
4 (1994): 335–42. doi:10.2307/1576009.
Evans, Paul, and Emery Schubert. “Relationships between Expressed and Felt Emotions in
Music.” Musicae Scientiae 12, no. 1 (March 20, 2008): 75–99.
doi:10.1177/102986490801200105.
“Executive Summary.” World Robotics, 2015.
http://www.worldrobotics.org/uploads/media/Executive_Summary__WR_2015.pdf.
Flessas, Flessas. Interview: Andy Flessas. Interview by Graham Held, Walter Ho, Paul Raynes,
and Harrison Vaporciyan, November 5, 2015.
Fussell, Susan R., Sara Kiesler, Leslie D. Setlock, and Victoria Yew. “How People
Anthropomorphize Robots.” Carnegie Mellon University, n.d.
http://sfussell.hci.cornell.edu/pubs/Manuscripts/Fussell-HRI08.pdf.
Grinbaum, A. “Uncanny Valley Explained by Girard’s Theory [Turning Point].” IEEE Robotics
Automation Magazine 22, no. 1 (March 2015): 152–150.
doi:10.1109/MRA.2014.2385568.
Haas, G. J. F. de. “Synchronicity in the Performing Arts: Oscar Wilde’s Nightmare?” Clinical
Rheumatology 32, no. 4 (February 17, 2013): 493–95. doi:10.1007/s10067-013-2200-z.
Han, Eunjung, Chee-Onn Wong, Keechul Jung, and Kyung Ho Lee. “Emotion Gesture Art.”
Leonardo 43, no. 3 (2010): 308–9.
Held, Graham. Creative Robotics Studio - Final Performance. Accessed May 9, 2016.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRD5o0pjOUA.
José Augusto Ribeiro Costa. Robot Surf. Accessed December 17, 2015.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYlu8px8b1I.
Juslin, Patrik N. Handbook of Music and Emotion: Theory, Research, Applications. Oxford
University Press, 1993.
http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199230143.001.0001/a
cprof-9780199230143.
Krumhansl, Carol L. “Music: A Link Between Cognition and Emotion.” Current Directions in
Psychological Science 11, no. 2 (April 1, 2002): 45–50. doi:10.1111/1467-8721.00165.
Lee, Newton. “From a Pin-up Girl to Star Trek’s Holodeck: Artificial Intelligence and Cyborgs.”
In Digital Da Vinci, edited by Newton Lee, 1–21. Springer New York, 2014.
http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4939-0965-0_1.
Lin, Patrick, Keith Abney, and George A. Bekey. Robot Ethics: The Ethical and Social
Implications of Robotics. MIT Press, 2011.
Lipscomb, Scott D. “Perceptual Measures of Visual and Auditory Cues in Film Music.” State
College, PA, 1997. http://www.lipscomb.umn.edu/JASA97/.
Meyer, Leonard B. Emotion and Meaning in Music. University of Chicago Press, 2008.
Mori, M., K.F. MacDorman, and N. Kageki. “The Uncanny Valley [From the Field].” IEEE
Robotics Automation Magazine 19, no. 2 (June 2012): 98–100.
doi:10.1109/MRA.2012.2192811.
Oliver, Richard L. “Effect of Expectation and Disconfirmation on Postexposure Product
Evaluations: An Alternative Interpretation.” Journal of Applied Psychology 62, no. 4
(August 1977): 480–86.
Pasquale, Frank. “The Doubtful Ethics of Drone Warfare.” The Chronicle of Higher Education
62, no. 11 (November 13, 2015): B16.
Robolounge. Robot Dance : roboLounge Electrobot Part II. Accessed November 20, 2015.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KqrO_BQD8E.
———. Robot Dance : roboLounge Tribute to Kraftwerk. Accessed December 17, 2015.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hegEpbGjgnw.
Skelton, Tracey, and Gill Valentine. Cool Places: Geographies of Youth Cultures. Routledge,
2005.
Snyder, Jeff, Ryan Luke Johns, Gene Kogan, Charlie Avis, and Axel Kilian. “Machine Yearning:
An Industrial Robotic Arm as a Performance Instrument.” Proceedings of the
International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression, Baton Rouge, LA,
USA, May 31, 2015, 184–86.
Stam, Gale, and Mika Ishino, eds. Integrating Gestures : The Interdisciplinary Nature of
Gesture. Amsterdam, NLD: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2011.
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/wpi/reader.action?docID=10480788&ppg=9.
Street, 1615 L., NW, Suite 800 Washington, and DC 20036 202 419 4300 | Main 202 419 4349 |
Fax 202 419 4372 | Media Inquiries. “Questionnaire Design.” Pew Research Center.
Accessed November 11, 2015. http://www.pewresearch.org/methodology/u-s-survey-
research/questionnaire-design/.
【安川電機】e-メカサイト. YASKAWA BUSHIDO PROJECT / Industrial Robot vs Sword
Master. Accessed December 17, 2015.
Appendix 1 – Sync Software Code