Sequence and Chance: Design and control methods for entertainment robots

This paper describes innovative approaches to the design and control of entertainment robots. Live performance is a useful testbed for developing and evaluating what makes robots expressive [10] [13] [18]; it is also a platform for designing creative solutions for robot design and control mechanisms for believable and expressive robots. Entertainment robots require creative approaches to robot design and control, including motion planning, coordination and hybrid control systems. The exigencies of live performance require situated, embodied robots to move autonomously or semi-autonomously alongside human actors and in coordination with human operators. Using design and control approaches from traditional puppetry, engineers can design creative solutions for generating expressive robot motion. We outline some of these creative approaches as they are used in live theatre performances, and consider potential applications beyond entertainment to the fields of human-robot interaction and motion planning.