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- Robust Robotics Group at CSAIL
- Synchronized Position Hold Engage Reorient Experimental Satellites (SPHERES) project project at SSL
- Robot Locomotion Group at CSAIL
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- Age : Variable since the user could be novice to the robotic system at any age but a substantial chunk would be from late-teens or early 20s.
- Education : Well-educated individuals with analytical skills and ability to comprehend mathematical charts.Physical Limitations : Our user audience is one that is capable of being mobile on the robotic arena to justify the need for a mobile interfaceMost probably this user has finished high school and have some college, but they might as well be still in the high school.
- Computer experience: Ability to operate a phone app interface, to operate the robot's software and initiate experiments via the computerWe assume they went through a tutorial of how to use a mobile device and/or the computer system or equivalent. No prior programming or networks experience is necessaryassumed.
- Motivation: Motivated learners interested in learning about robotic system, controls and performance.
- Domain Experience : No prior experience with LCM or communication tools is expected.
- Application Experience : Ability to use a phone app and read analytical charts.
- Work Environment and Social Context: This user with work under a supervisor who has significant experience in a robotics lab in terms of software and hardware. He/she would be working on a specific subsystem in the lab possibly in collaboration with other novice users on the same or different subsystem. The work environment varies significantly depending on the type of robotics e.g. SPHERES works with experimental satellites on a laboratory glass table or in an epoxy floored clean room.
(2) Intermediate Users: Industry researchers and Visiting students to a Robotics Lab
- Age : Can vary from mid-20s to a variable age where-in the individual is a student in a Robotics Lab
- Education : Well-educated individuals with analytical skills and ability to comprehend mathematical charts. They would be highly motivated to learn about research tasks. Familiarity with the software and hardware is not expected.
- Physical Limitations : Our user audience is one that is capable of being mobile on the robotic arena to justify the need for a mobile interface.* Computer experience: This user experience varies from robotics software knowledge, Linux knowledge to none at all.
- Motivation: To learn about robotics systems.
- Domain Experience : May know comm tools like LCM is not expected to.
- Application Experience : Ability to use a phone app and read analytical charts.
- Work Environment and Social Context: This user with work in collaboration with a supervisor who has significant experience in a robotics lab in terms of software and hardware. They share interpretations of results with each other (i.e. among other researchers) and sharing tools. Environment noise level varies: one user operates a wind tunnel, another user operates a very loud air compressor and a third works in a clean room.
(3) Advanced users: Academia Researchers in Robotics
- Age : Can vary from mid-20s to a variable age where-in the individual is active in a Robotics Lab
- Education : Well-educated individuals with analytical skills and ability to comprehend mathematical charts. They would be highly motivated to perform research tasks and familiar with the specifics of their hardware and software
- Physical Limitations : Our user audience is one that is capable of being mobile on the robotic arena to justify the need for a mobile interface.
- Computer experience: Expert computer users who In order to learn, they would require want to plot different parameters of the data transmitted against each other - a facility not supported by the current interface. These users mostly use Linux-based systems and are familiar with medium to heavy command line useusers. They understand networking at a medium level i.e. know what an IP address is and are familiar with TCP, UDP, broadcast, etc. They understand the working model of the robotic model very well and are able to make decisions/judgments about the data received very quickly.
- Motivation: Motivated robotics researchers who are willing to dedicate large amounts of time to understanding robot dynamics, interactions, controls. They are experimentalists. They also do not have the time to invest to build a new, flexible and user-friendly interface and are too busy to dedicate large amounts of time to learning new interfaces unless its use is immediately obvious. Communication latency and delay are important considerations for the interface model they use.
- Domain Experience : Have used communication tools such as LCM before
- Application Experience : Have used desktop applications such as LCM-spy (previous desktop interface) whose output is an array of floats.
- Work Environment and Social Context: This user class works in 5-20 person labs. They are willing and able to ask for help and collaborate significantly with each other in terms of exchanging tools and debating results. Environment noise level varies: one user operates a wind tunnel, another user operates a very loud air compressor and a third works in a clean room.
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- Users reported using the systems on a range from a daily basis to monthly
- 1-2 hour sessions
- Task learning
- Self-taught
- Explained by other researcher in lab (ie to a UROP)
- Dangers
- Some robots are dangerous for the operator
- Propellers
- High-speed / high torque motors
- Heavy devices
- Task can be very dangerous for the robot itself
- One user was working on a dynamic control task which, if failed and the robot was not stopped, would damage the robot within 1/2 second
- Another user's platform can be damaged by inattention for more than a few seconds when in an unstable state.
- Some robots are dangerous for the operator
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