Tico is a
social robot developed by
Adele Robots to interact with
humans in different environments, primarily promotional events and in education as a helper for
teachers.
History
Initially created by Treelogic in 2007 as a research platform for Human-Robot Interaction, it participated in several
R&D projects such as
ACROSS,
and was also tested in supermarkets and schools. It became commercially available in 2010.
Design
The first version included a
laser rangefinder
A laser rangefinder, also known as a laser telemeter, is a rangefinder that uses a laser beam to determine the distance to an object. The most common form of laser rangefinder operates on the time of flight principle by sending a laser pulse in ...
and
ultrasonic sensors for obstacle detection, and a camera for tracking people and reading
QR codes
A QR code (an initialism for quick response code) is a type of matrix barcode (or two-dimensional barcode) invented in 1994 by the Japanese company Denso Wave. A barcode is a machine-readable optical label that can contain information about the ...
. It also has a touch screen. Its head and neck access 6
degrees of freedom
Degrees of freedom (often abbreviated df or DOF) refers to the number of independent variables or parameters of a thermodynamic system. In various scientific fields, the word "freedom" is used to describe the limits to which physical movement or ...
. It moves using
differential steering
Differential steering is the means of steering a land vehicle by applying more drive torque to one side of the vehicle than the other. Differential steering is the primary means of steering tracked vehicles, such as tanks and bulldozers, is als ...
with two high-
torque EC gear-motors, and runs
Ubuntu 9.10 on a 1.6Ghz
Intel Core Duo
Intel Core is a line of streamlined midrange consumer, workstation and enthusiast computer central processing units (CPUs) marketed by Intel Corporation. These processors displaced the existing mid- to high-end Pentium processors at the time o ...
. It stands tall and weighs . A new, fresh battery allows it to run freely for eight hours.
Tico usage
Tico was tested as a
pedagogic tool for teachers to improve children's motivation and gain their attention.
["Tico at school"](_blank)
2011
See also
*
Kismet
*
Joe Robot
References
External links
* {{official website, http://www.adelerobots.com/en/tico
Social robots
2007 robots
Robots of Spain
Rolling robots