Fund raising systems using robots (architecture and behavior study)

In this article we present an interactive automated robot called RoboBeggar that has fund raising capabilities. The system consists of a human-like multimodal robotic unit controlled by a computer. A stand with a touch screen display and a bank card reader provides access to the e-learning and e-commerce applications of the robot. The primary use for the existing robotic system is to collect donations for charity activities and to transfer charity related knowledge to the users of the robot. The robot can be placed in major public places. In the test case presented in this article, its location was a church during the Christmas festivities of 2004. The control system of the robot is a software built upon a Java framework in a way that it can be used for a variety of applications where human interaction is required (i.e. shopping, listing adviser, consultancy, etc.). This article describes the architecture of the robotic system, the solution chosen for the simple management of its complex interface modules and its feasibility for providing insightful data about human interaction. In this article we also discuss possible user scenarios and future perspectives.