Interactive Robot Art : A turn-based system for painting together with a robot

Abstract: A large amount of people suffer from mental illnesses such as depression and autism. Receiving the care they need can be a very difficult process, with long queues and expensive bills. Automating part of the therapeutic process might be a solution to this. More patients could be treated at the same time, and the cost could be decreased. This project explores the possibilities of using a robot that paints together with patients. Such a robot would encourage the patient to be creative, which is thought to be an efficient way of improving their well-being. The painting will be done in a turn-based fashion, each taking turns adding details to the same painting. Software is developed for the robot Baxter, made by Rethink Robo\-tics. Computer vision concepts and algorithms is applied to interpret what the user has painted and construct a plan of what Baxter will paint. Painting is then done by tracing the target shape through a set of pre-defined points on a canvas. The constructed system performs fairly well - although the user is limited to painting lines, squares, rectangles and circles. Further work can be done to increase the amount of options available to the user. This system serves as a model of how a similar system could be used in reality.