Strolling about, maneuvering past students running to class and greeting others as they pass by, small robots roll around campus, working hard to complete their jobs like the rest of society.
These robots, called Daxbots, were introduced to the University early in the semester to gather accessibility data for the creation of a map detailing accessible routes on campus.
After Daxbots roam around and collect data, it is sent to Altura Solutions, a consulting company for Americans with Disabilities Act compliance, which categorizes it and sends it to Campus Operations. Although still in the collecting stages, Nathaniel Atkins, UT’s associate director of building compliance, and project compliance coordinator Corbin Garcia said they hope this information will better document accessibility on campus.
“One of the primary goals of this data is ultimately to be able to route accessible paths from point A to point B across campus once it’s all said and done with,” Garcia said. “That’s going to be the primary use of the data, and then these other items, such as planning projects, the inventory of certain items, that’s kind of secondary, although very beneficial.”
No single Daxbot does all the heavy lifting on data collecting; instead, three work together and take turns going out. Following a long day’s work, the Daxbots go to their “charging huts” near the E. William Doty Fine Arts Building to regain energy, either by themselves or with a little bit of help from workers who give them a ride.
“He’s got a little wireless charging pad, so he backs in there and has a wireless phone charger, but a much, much higher average (charging output),” Daxbot CEO Kevin Sullivan said. “They take turns in the hut, charge it up, and they typically are out during daylight hours, and then during the night, they sleep in the hut while charging.”
Garcia said he conceived the idea for the project after he attended the American Planning Association conference last year and saw the University of Texas at San Antonio present a new interactive map they had developed.
“They were showing off all the functions and capabilities of it,” Garcia said, “I thought, ‘Wow, this would be really great if UT had it,’ so I brought it back to our University.”
Garcia and Atkins got in contact with Jesus Lardizabal, principal at Altura Solutions, who remembered talking to Sullivan about his work.
“When Corbin presented this sort of task, ‘How would we do it?’” Lardizabal said, “We presented several options and also talked to Kevin about it, and he said he would definitely like to participate.”
Although Daxbots might look like cute robots roaming around, Lardizabal said it is the next technological step in campus accessibility.
“Providing accessible means to get around campus is something that’s come a long way in terms of technology,” Lardizabal said. “Before, we would walk and put a smart level down, take a picture, jot it down on a piece of notepad, and then go back to the office and try to draw a map off of it. And we’ve gone from that to the latest technology of robots now going out and collecting this data much more efficiently than we could in a much different manner.”
