Robots on Stage

A tip from Science Friday leads to robot actors

Science Friday tweeted this little gem today about an NPR interview with Texas A&M graduate student Kevin Pratt. He explains how his search-and-rescue flying robots became part of a production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

This collaboration between the theater department and the Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue (CRASAR) was helpful to further robotic research as well as provide a post-modern interpretation of a classic play. Disaster response robots mixed with the human actors on stage for eight shows. The larger AirRobot (flown by Pratt) kept company with with Oberon, the King of Fairies, while several smaller robots circled the air near Titania’s crew.

Texas A&M mixed robot and human actors for Shakespeare

The stage doubled as a lab, where researchers from the robotics team observed how the human actors and audience members responded to the robots. This is important data that will inform the use of robots in disaster response

“They’re going to be interacting with people who have just gone through a disaster,” said Pratt, “and so you need to be able to communicate with them effectively and quickly.”

CRASAR is led by Director Robin Murphy and researchers the use of new technology for crisis response. In particular, the center is interested in unmanned systems used for humanitarian purposes around the world. Their robots were deployed during the aftermath of 9/11. CRASAR’s robots are meant to serve as assistants to the human rescue teams rushing to the disaster scenes.