Segway CMBalance Robot Soccer Player

The Segway™ LLC company has provided a robust mobility platform on which to research human/robot coordination in an adversarial environment. The Segway Human Transport (HT) is a one person dynamically self-balancing transportation vehicle. The Segway Robot Mobility Platform (RMP) is a modification of the Human Transporter capable of being programmed for autonomous operation. With these platforms, human/robot coordination is being investigated through the competitive game, Segway Soccer. The game is played between robots (RMPs) and humans (riding HTs), who can be teammates or opponents. The rules of the game are a combination of soccer and ultimate Frisbee rules. This paper describes the design of the mechanical systems necessary to allow the Segway RMP to safely and effectively play a competitive game of Segway Soccer along with humans. Specifically, the challenge of designing a soccer ball manipulation/kicking system is described in depth.