Robot_canvas_instructions Robot Canvas Instructions
User Manual:
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FORM OF THE ROBOT
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Movement
Is the robot’s movement more machine-like or lifelike?
hybridmachine-like lifelike
Draw a picture
What does the robot look like? Is it attached to something? Does
it move around? Can it’s appearance be modified?
Appearance
human-shaped
abstract
animal-shaped
machine-like
lifelike
Where does the robot’s appearance fall on this fourfold table?
Voice
What is the robot’s voice like? Does it have a gender or an age?
What is the prosody like? What is its pitch and speed? Is the
voice always the same?
Sounds
Does the robot make sounds: music, “beep”s, animal noises, or
other things? When are these sounds heard?
Touch sensations
In close contact, it is especially imporant how the robot feels. Is it
soft or rough, warm or cold?
Smell sensations
How does the robot smell? This is espeically imporant in close
contact.
Guidelines
What guidelines are relevant for
this dimension? Are there specific
ethical concerns related to this
dimension? What are the robotics
advantages that can be realized in
this dimension? Write them on a
post-it and paste it here, and keep
referring to it as you make
decisions!
The aim of this canvas is to define the robot’s outward qualities. If an existing robot is used, is its from
modified somehow? Can the form be modified according to user?
ROBOT DESIGN MVP
Social Robot Design Toolkit free version by Futurice is licensed under a Creative
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Where? How does the situation flow?
Where is the robot operating? What is this place’s significance to the users? What is special about this place? What time of day? How does
the situation start? How does it end?
It’s time to design your robot! Remember to keep referring back to your guidelines on the robot’s environ-
ment, behaviour, form and interaction, as well as ethics and advatnages.
Data-based behaviour
What external and environmental factors motivate behavior?
What data is collected? What data is used to adapt to context?
Is behaviour personalized?
Personality
What words describe the robot’s personality? What are the
robot’s internal motivators? Does it have emotional states or
needs? Does it have specific characteristics?
Draw a picture
What does the robot look like? Is it attached to something? Does
it move around? Can it’s appearance be modified?
Interaction modalities
What ways do the user and robot interact in?
voice
sounds
gestures
digital visuals
tactile
movement
facial expressions
digital sensors
other
Interaction outline
Create an outline of one of the possible interactions with the robot. It can be for example the interaction you consider most important. What
does the robot say? What does the user say? When are other modes of interaction used? When is data fetched?
start of interaction
during interaction
end of interaction
Guidelines
Write your guidelines on post-its,
and place them here! Keep
referring to them as you make
desicions about the robot’s design.
BEHAVIOUR OF THE ROBOT
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Social awareness
How socially aware is the robot? Is this feature highly developed?
partialnone extensive
Autonomy
Is the robot operating by itself, or is a human in the loop? Is a human
fully controlling it?
partialnone full
Motivation
How does the robot motivate its behavior? Is it based on external
data, internal models such as personality, or both?
mixedexternal /
environment based
internal
Contextual adaptation
Does the robot’s behaviour vary according to context, for example
weather, or by person? Is this feature highly developed?
partialnone extensive
Data-based behaviour
What external and environmental factors motivate behavior?
What data is collected? What data is used to adapt to context?
Is behaviour personalized?
Personality
What are the robot’s internal motivators? Does it have emotional
states or needs? Does it have specific characteristics?
Social behaviors
Describe the robot’s social behaviors. Is social behaviour
personalized?
Connectivity
Is the robot’connected to other systems? How do these systems
guide its behaviour?
Guidelines
What guidelines are relevant for
this dimension? Are there specific
ethical concerns related to this
dimension? What are the robotics
advantages that can be realized in
this dimension? Write them on a
post-it and paste it here, and keep
referring to it as you make
decisions!
The aim of this canvas is to find out how the robot should behave. What factors is its behavior based on?
What data is collected to guide the behavior?
INTERACTION WITH THE ROBOT
Social Robot Design Toolkit free version by Futurice is licensed under a Creative
Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Leadership
Is the robot’s movement more machine-like or lifelike?
mutual / alternaterobot-led user-led
Goal(s)
Is the robot’s movement more machine-like or lifelike?
mixedtask completion exploration
Modalities
What ways do the user and robot interact in?
voice
sounds
gestures
digital visuals
tactile
movement facial expressions
digital sensors
other
Interaction outline
Create an outline of one of the possible interactions with the robot. It can be for example the interaction you consider most important. What
does the robot say? What does the user say? When are other modes of interaction used? When is data fetched?
start of interaction
during interaction
end of interaction
Guidelines
What guidelines are relevant for
this dimension? Are there specific
ethical concerns related to this
dimension? What are the robotics
advantages that can be realized in
this dimension? Write them on a
post-it and paste it here, and keep
referring to it as you make
decisions!
The aim of this canvas is to define how the robot interacts with the user, and what guides that interaction.
A rough draft of one of the interactions is also implemented.
ENVIRONMENT OF THE ROBOT
Social Robot Design Toolkit free version by Futurice is licensed under a Creative
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Where?
Where is the robot operating? What is this place’s significance to the users? What is special about this place? What time of day?
Human facilitators?
Does the robot need a human helper to provide value to the
user? Is a human needed for regular maintenance?
Level of facilitation
Is the human facilitation always needed, or only in specific situations?
optionalnone required
What situation(s) does
interaction take place in?
What is the human doing prior to and after interacting with the
robot? What is the user’s emotional state?
Situation flow
How rigidly defined is the situation? Does the user always enter and
exit at the same point in space and time, or wanting to perform the
same task? Freestyle situations require more development.
flexiblepredefined freestyle
End-users? Secondary users?
Who is using the robot? Is there only one type of user? Are there
secondary users?
Simultaneous users
How many users should the robot be able to interact with at the same
time? Several simultaneous users require more development.
a fewone several
Name the role
Write down a good description of the robot’s role, for example
“buddy” or “coach”.
Role of the robot
authority
friend
server
co-operator
What is the robot’s role as seen to the user? More of an authority or a
friend, and more of a server or a co-operator?
Guidelines
What guidelines are relevant for
this dimension? Are there specific
ethical concerns related to this
dimension? What are the robotics
advantages that can be realized in
this dimension? Write them on a
post-it and paste it here, and keep
referring to it as you make
decisions!
You can modify the environment from its current state and design it it to fit your solution better. The aim
of this canvas is to figure out what you need to pay attention to, and what you can change.
Canvases for the Process of Designing Social Robots
1. The Problem Space
What is the problem worth solving?
Define it clearly through the user
and the robot.
2. Guidelines
Create guidelines for your future
robot. How will your problem be
answered by the design?
3. The Solution Space
It’s time to start designing your
robot! The solution is visible in four
dimensions: environment, form,
interaction, and behaviour.
4. Iterate
Test your prototype, ask for expert
and user feedback, and iterate.
PROBLEM SPACE OF DESIGNING A ROBOT
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USERS
ROBOT
Ethical considerations
Use the separate ethics canvas to examine the ethical considerations, which emerge in the boundary between the robot and the user.
Group(s)
Name the user group(s).
Characteristics
What characterises the user
group(s)?
Needs
What needs do these characteristics
lead to?
Task(s)
What task(s) is the robot aiming to fulfil for the user?
short-term long-term
Goal(s)
What goal is the user trying to accomplish with the robot? What
advantage are they gaining by using a robot?
short-term long-term
Advantage(s)
What is the potential advantage and added value of using a robot in this solution, as opposed to other technologies, or people? Consider long
and short-term advantages. Think about the list below, and color in where you think they’ll be useful. Are there other advantages?
short-term long-term
What is the problem worth solving? Define it clearly through the user and the robot.
Are social skills an advantage?
Social competence
Does the robot generate an emotional response for the user that can’t be achieved with other tech?
Emotional response
Can the robot bring joy through recognizing specific users?
Personalization
Can the robot do something more precisely than a human?
Precision
Is mobility an advantage?
Mobility
Is environmental manipulation an advantage?
Environmental manipulation
Can the robot use sensors the gain an advantage?
Sensing
Can the robot be connected to other technologies like humans can’t?
Connectivity to technology
The Problem Canvas
Define who you are building for and why.
What are the advantages? Always use
this canvas first.
ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS OF THE ROBOT
Social Robot Design Toolkit free version by Futurice is licensed under a Creative
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Transparency
The robot should share an accurate perception of its abilities, inten-
tions and constraints, so the user can calibrate their trust in the robot.
What problems potentially affect transparency?
human
robot
Equality across users
Robot’s algorithms can be potentially biased, or its apperance could
reinforce harmful sexist or racist stereotypes. What are potential
issues?
human
robot
Emotional consideration
Humans have been shown to form emotional attachments to robots
as if they were alive. How can this be taken into consideration?
human
robot
Behaviour enforcement
Humans could transfer inappropriate behavior, such as rudeness,
from robots to humans. How to mitigate this?
human
robot
Physical safety
human
robot
How can we ensure that the user’s physical safety is not in danger?
Machinery can pinch or crush when operated recklessly.
human
robot
Safety of data
Is the robot used in an especially vulnerable task? Is it in a unique data
collection position due to emotional reactions? How to shield the
user from revealing unintended personal information?
Six dimensions of ethical considerations are considered already when defining the problem, in order to
embed them into the robot. Both the problem and solution for it are considered, from the human and
robot’s sides.
The Ethics Canvas
How are ethics considered already in the
definition of the problem? Use these six
ethical considerations.
ROBOT DESIGN GUIDELINES
Social Robot Design Toolkit free version by Futurice is licensed under a Creative
Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Environment guidelines
What is guiding the design of environment, its operation context?
Think about the robot’s operating context. What should guide its
design? If users are especially vulnerable, should it optimize for
support and safety? If the robot is part of a strict process, should it
optimize for efficiency and security?
Form guidelines
What is the thought guiding design of the robot’s form, it’s
outward qualities such as apperance, voice, sounds, movement,
touch and smell? Should the robot be designed to appear
especially approchable, or more industrial? Should is be simple or
complex?
Interaction guidelines
What is guiding the design of interactions? Is the interaction
multimodal or is one modality being optimized for efficiency?
Should the user feel empowered and lead the interaction, or
does the robot provide safety via leadership? Is the goal explor-
atory or task-oriented?
Ethical guidelines
How do the ethical considerations you defined in the ethics
canvas relate to these 4 dimensions? How about outside of the
dimensions?
Advantage guidelines
Think back to the advantages and added value of using a robot,
which you defined in the problem space. How should these be
guided to realization in your solution?
Behaviour guidelines
What is guiding design of the robot’s behaviour? For example,
should it be simple or approaching human-likeness by being
highly sensitive to context? Is it internally or externally driven, or a
combination of the two? Is it socially aware, is it autonomous?
What are considerations that guide the design of the robot? Relate these back to the definition of your
problem: the user(s), their needs and what goals they have, as well as ethical consideratons, and the
robot’s task.
The Guidelines Canvas
How will the definition of your problem
and the ethics be visible in the final
design? Make guidelines for different
dimensions of the robot.
The Environment Canvas
What is the context of the robot’s opera-
tion?
The Interaction Canvas
How does the robot interact with users?
The Behaviour Canvas
What drives the robot’s behaviour?
The Form Canvas
What are the robot’s outwardly percepti-
ble qualities?
The MVP Canvas
If you want to prototype rapidly, the “min-
imum viable product” canvas can act as a
replacement for the four dimensions.
1. Defining the
problem
2. Creating
guidelines
3. Defining the
solution
4. Iterate! After
user and expert
feedback, rede-
fine your problem
space, guidelines,
and solution.
Problem space
Human side
Robot side
Safety and ethical considerations
User group Goal
Task
Solution space
Interaction Behavior
Environment
Form
Design
guidelines
1.
2.
3.
1. 2.
OR
3. 4.
