WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Mackey Arena isn’t necessarily known as a pet-friendly venue for Purdue basketball fans, but Friday night it will play host to a trio of “dogs.”
Wheeling the dogs in their “crates” on carts out onto Keady Court, a team of researchers overseen by Aniket Bera, associate professor of computer science at Purdue, set them in an upright position on the floor. Once their batteries are put in place, the dogs, Aura, Halo and PurDog, spring to life, wildly tapping their rubber capped feet and hopping in circles.
They may not be covered in fur, or even have heads, but these robotic dogs can perform similar “moves” like that of a real dog, sitting on their hind legs with “paws” in the air or rolling over onto their backs.
While these robots will show off some doglike tricks during halftime of Friday night’s game against UCLA, Bera said these autonomous robots aren’t necessarily programed to behave like dogs but rather to think like humans.
Bera’s Intelligent Design for Empathetic and Augmented Systems (IDEAS) Lab behind the autonomous robots research was the recipient of a $306,450 grant from the U.S. Department of Defense’s Army Research Laboratory in September, a Purdue news release said.
The robotic dogs’ anticipated arrival on Keady Court on Friday night came out of a partnership between Purdue’s College of Science and College of Health and Human Sciences. New to HHS as the executive director of sports management, Jeanne Boyd said the opportunity to host Bera’s IDEAS Lab during this game came out of a casual get-together with Lucy Flesch, the Frederick L. Hovde dean of the College of Science.
“I told her, I think this would be really cool, because it’s something that I don’t think the general public really knows they’re working on,” Boyd said. “And that’s what sports is: working together and lifting up others.”
Practicing their run out onto the court for the “Lance Dance,” a popular fist-pumping dance among Mackey attendees to the song “Sandstorm” by Darude, graduate students in Bera’s IDEAS Lab Apoorva Vashisth and Manav Kulshrestha maneuver Halo and Aura with a handheld device that resembles a Nintendo Switch controller.
The dogs can’t quite stand up to fist-pump along to the music, but their ability to keep up with the beat and “dance” along to the song offers a glimpse into their broader abilities as being autonomous robots.
Bera said the goal behind his lab’s research is to bridge the existing gaps between humans and autonomous robots in collaborative settings.
“A big chunk of our IDEAS Lab is building the soldiers of the future, which would be utilized for saving human lives and could be deployed for peacekeeping efforts,” Bera said. “Our research requires understanding how humans work, but humans make mistakes and we have behaviors that aren’t always optimal.”
Designed to maneuver rough, dangerous terrain with precision, Bera said an example of the robotic dogs’ deployment could be after an earthquake. The robots would work similarly to that of a traditional search and rescue dog, Bera said, but after finding those trapped inside the rubble, this robot could potentially pull those who are trapped free.
But the fact that these robots are “dog-shaped” could change, too, Bera said, depending on the situation.
“Perhaps a robot shaped like a snake to go inside crevices to search for people would make for a better fit,” Bera said. “From a design point to the human interaction point, this robot could be a companion for diffusing a bomb. All of these goals are to make these jobs, usually done by humans, safer.”
Funding for his lab’s research is expected to continue on with the DoD through 2027, Bera said, with the likelihood that funding could be extended for an additional two years after that.
It’s OK to admit that the robotic dogs are a little creepy, Bera said, given that they have no definitive head or tail and can move rather quickly. But while the shape of the robot can be molded to fit whatever the dangerous job at hand may be, Bera said these autonomous machines should still be viewed as man’s best friend.
“What this is essentially is building a human with more superhuman capabilities,” Bera said. “It’s a friend in need, but only when you need them.”
Jillian Ellison is a reporter for the Journal & Courier. She can be reached via email at jellison@gannett.com.
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