Wallbots: Autonomous Magnetic Robots that Traverse Vertical Surfaces

This video showcases magnetic robots that traverse vertical surfaces. These robots can move on any metallic walls, including elevators, whiteboards, refrigerators or metal doors.

The robots are outfitted with several light sensors, allowing them to respond to simple user interactions. My implementation supports 3 robot ‘personalities’, which can be changed by covering the topmost light sensor:
Red robots move fast, going towards objects (such as human hands or other robots)
Green robots move slower, turning away from objects
Yellow robots move the slowest, and stop completely when motion or objects are detected

This is my first prototype. In the future I plan to build in more complex, autonomous behaviors. I will use these robots to engage people in public spaces such as elevators or hallways. In doing so, I hope to facilitate creative interaction between people and technology in mundane, everyday settings.

Stacey Kuznetsov
stace@cmu.edu
Human Computer Interaction Institute
Carnegie Mellon University

for Making Things Interactive, Spring ’09

Duration : 0:1:45