Legacy of FIBO
| Project | Receptionist Robot NAMO |
| Researcher | Boonlert Maneechai, Dr. Thavida Maneewarn, and Bangkok CODE (Community of Desirable Environment) – KMUTT City Center |
| Research Institute of Field Robotics (FIBO) | |
| Funding | King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi |
| Published Year | March 29, 2010 |
| Keyword | Receptionist Robot |
Abstract
NAMO (Novel Articulated MObile platform) is a semi-humanoid robot with a human-like upper body mouthed on a wheeled mobile base. This robot is 130 centimeter-height and has two 7 DoFs arms which are used for performing emblematic gestures when interacting with humans. The robot’s head has a three-axis motion that allows it to look at objects or people without moving its lower part. The lower part is a three-wheeled omnidirectional mobile base.
The advantage of using this type of wheels is that it allows the robot to change a direction without turning around and be able to move in narrow areas or curved roads. However, the disadvantage is that it cannot climb to the floors. Thus, the robot can only move over an indoor flat surface.
Namo robots can perform various gestures by using gesture recognition techniques. The head can automatically turn to the object that it is interested in by using an image processing system from cameras attached to the head. Moreover, Namo can also speak simple sentences in Thai.