Critical Robotics
I build robots to raise question about how robots should behave, how we should behave around robots, and should be allowed to design or build robots.
Linux Robots
Back in 2006 I built a pair of very simple robots that could be programmed via the internet. Even then there were some examples of robots that could be controlled over the internet but this was different: you couldn't control the robot directly, and there was no webcam, so you couldn't see where you were going. Rather, upon connecting to the robot you would get a command line, on which you could write a program, compile, and run it, which would control the robot. There were examples and instructions available via a web server, also on the robot. You can see the webpage from 2006 via the Internet Archive
The robot was available to anyone who bothered to connect to it. During the duration of this project the robot would suddenly start moving. Unless the author explained this in their code, I had no idea who wrote the program or what they wanted to do. Most were quite simple, but one visitor for example wrote a program to make the robot dance.
There were two versions of this robot. This version was part of the Frankenstein Theory and Robotics show at Boca Gallery in 2006 and here is some publicity for the opening.
The other version of this robot was active at home for almost a year while people from all over the world connected to it and wrote programs for it. We grew used to it starting up and moving around in the middle of the night.
Robonica
Robonica is a robot that is designed to explore telepresence. It is basically a Zoom session on wheels. Telepresence robots were invented to enable people to attend events or locations that otherwise they would not be able to, whether because of cost, illness, or other limitations. The concept of telepresence is not new, and I do not pretend to invent it or improve on it. Robonica is intentionally made of very simple materials and build in a very low-tech manner in order to encourage others to think to themselves that they could build something like it, and even improve on it. At that point I would hand them a drill or a soldering iron and say Great idea! Go for it What I am interested in exploring with this robot are the ideas that people of are not professional roboticists.
Man or Machine
Man or Machine was designed to explore how people expect robots to behave, and how people behave around robots. Man or Machine will wander around randomly until it identifies that it is near a human, and then will ask a question. The robot can speak, but can not hear, so humans can answer its questions by pushing buttons on the front of the robot (e.g. "yes", "no", "other", etc.). The next question that the robot asks depends on the answer to the previous question. In this way the robot engages in a simple conversation.