The AWE Wall: A Smart Reconfigurable Robotic Surface M. Kwoka*, J. Johnson**, H. Houayek***, I. Dunlap***, I. D. Walker*, and K. E. Green *** All authors are from Clemson University, South Carolina 29634, USA. Department of *Electrical and Computer Engineering **Mechanical Engineering ***Architecture mkwoka, joseph7, hde, isaiahd, iwalker, kegreen @clemson.edu Keywords: robotics, animation, human-robotic interaction, intelligent environments Abstract In this paper, we introduce a new robot “wall” surface, featuring a multiple folding panel structure. The wall forms part of AWE, a novel “Animated Work Environment”, which seeks to introduce robotics at the architectural scale to modify environments in real time to the changing needs and moods of their occupants. The panels of the AWE wall will feature embedded IT and adapt to the current movements and tasks of the user. We describe the overall AWE concept and detail the design and construction of the robot surface. Motion planning and control issues are discussed. 1 Introduction Robotic systems are being deployed in places also occupied by people, increasingly often in close contact with the human inhabitants. Robotic technologies are generally deployed within existing architectural environments (factories, offices, homes, etc.). Mitchell [9] believes that in the near future “our buildings will become … robots for living in”. However, robots enter the existing architecture, but that architecture itself typically remains static and untouched by robotics. Indeed, the term “robot architecture” is synonymous within the field with the local organization of subsystems within a robot, rather than being associated with the surrounding built environment, the usual (conversational) sense of the word architecture. In this paper, we describe the early results of an effort to expand the impact of robotics to the (larger) architectural scale. In particular we focus on novel “robot architecture” (at the scale of a wall) in the context of the work environment, an area into which technology has encroached significantly, but in which the underpinning architectural firmament has remained largely static. Typical workstations today (whether in the office or at home) consist fundamentally of a desk and a chair coupled with a computer and its peripherals. In a world of ever advancing information and automation technologies (IT), the utility of this concept seems outdated. Today’s workstation environment has not replaced paper with digital documents. Management and display of information remains a problem [17]. There is difficulty when comparing digital information with printed information [2], [8]. Problems arise when several people collaborate at a workstation [1] because typically they can not all see the important information clearly. Today’s workstation environment space is simply not well- designed for collaboration. Hence, many office environments have completely separate rooms or spaces that go unused for much of the work week. Having a presentation or group meeting within the workstation environment is usually impractical because of the cramped and inflexible surrounding environment. Therefore, there is a strong motivation for the creation of workstation spaces that can adapt in real time to the changing needs and moods of their occupants. In particular, a workstation that could “move aside” to enable group meetings and presentations, but also “close in” to form a more intimate space for individual work, while adapting to the particular needs of each new situation, could much better utilize available space resources. This concept helps motivate our research in robotically enhanced spaces. Figure 1: AWE wall concept AWE, (Animated Work Environment), is an ongoing