Robot dogs, couches and humanoids rehearsed dance moves and runway walks outside of the Anna Hiss Gymnasium on Thursday. Gearing up for a parade and exhibition on Speedway, Texas Robotics’s autonomous machines got into formation.
“I’m always problem-solving to the very last minute (before the parade),” said Sridevi Rao, managing director of Texas Robotics. “But once you start marching and actually get to Speedway, that’s the fun part. I love seeing the crowd grow and everyone looking around like, ‘What’s going on?’”
Accompanied by Hook ‘Em and the local percussion band Rhythmic Force, a growing audience tailed the parade, adding to Speedway’s congestion. The robots led the crowd to the Gregory Gym’s plaza for fashion show-style introductions, a dance event and a Q&A with the robots’ developers.
“That crowd was super energized,” Rao said. “I love that they clapped after every announced robot, and then during the dance, when Hook ‘Em got up there, I could hear the crowd roar a little more.”
Despite the playful demeanor of dances and fashion walks, Rao said the robots and Texas Robotics developers are currently working towards bigger projects. Among the robots showcased, some were designed for harder work, like navigation, robot soccer tournaments, identifying cancer and trash collection.
One robot, a yellow dog with an arm for a head named B3VO, is being developed to enter a nuclear facility to survey radiation levels. Graduate research assistant Caleb Horan, who works on B3VO, balances creative work on events, like the parade and other fashion shows, with the robot’s long-term goals.
“There are some competing robots, but (B3VO) is definitely one of the coolest,” second-year Ph.D. student Horan said. “There’s pride that comes with that. … It’s really cool that we work in science, but we’re still able to be very creative in this field.”
Alongside students, children and their families stood in the front row, watching in awe. Horan said he hopes the event gets people interested in robots.
“This is a really cool field to get into,” Horan said. “(I’m) obviously biased, but I think it’s the future. I think it’s hard to debate that it’s not the future. So getting people excited … when they’re in elementary school or middle school, thinking about going to school for (robotics).”
Horan’s goal of capturing the audience’s attention proved successful. Estefani Marchena, a public affairs master’s student, said they felt the pride developers felt for their goals resonated with her.
“Everyone on the robotics teams is so impressive, and I think the research that UT is doing is really cool,” Marchena said. “(The developers) were explaining what the robots are for, and I was just like, ‘Damn, that’s Texas for you.’”
Horan said he hopes events like these show that robots can be partners, not threats.
“It’s very easy to go down this apocalyptic road when imagining the future,” Horan said. “But the reality is that we can decide to make robots collaborative with humans. There’s this whole co-bot philosophy of ‘It’s not going to replace the human, it’s going to enhance their work.’ (Robots are) going to work alongside them.”
