I.F.L.Y (formly QUANTUMminus)
Researcher: DaDa(Qiuyan Da), Jingcheng Xie
Interactive Robotic Installation | 交互性飞行机器人
综合材料 | Interdisciplinary Materials
I.F.L.Y. is a project that envisions a future where robots are integrated into our daily lives in both the real and virtual worlds. Taking the form of an autonomous flying balloon, this pre-programmed robot interacts with humans giving an illusion of its unique personality. Developed as a speculative open-source concept, individuals can customize the robot’s behavior creating their own relationship and emotional bonds with their I.F.L.Y. robots.
I.F.L.Y. 是一个设想未来机器人在现实和虚拟世界中融入我们日常生活的项目。该项目以自主飞行气球的形式出现，这个预先编程的机器人与人类互动，给人一种它拥有独特个性的错觉。作为一个设想性的开源概念开发，个人可以自定义机器人的行为，创造出与自己的 I.F.L.Y. 机器人之间的关系和情感纽带。
The research studied Braitenberg Vehicles to understand how simple reactive robots can exhibit complex behaviors. Four experiments with a Sphero robot explored human-robot interaction, observing how people react emotionally to the robot's approach. Braitenberg's book "Vehicles: Experiments in Synthetic Psychology" compares simple robots to animals, discussing spatial behaviors, group formations, and artificial intelligence.
这项研究通过研究Braitenberg车辆来理解简单反应式机器人如何表现出复杂行为。进行了四个使用Sphero机器人的实验，探索人类与机器人的互动，观察人们对机器人接近的情感反应。Braitenberg的书《车辆：合成心理学实验》将简单机器人比作动物，讨论了空间行为、群体形成和人工智能。
Various balloon materials, propeller arrangements, and flying mechanisms were tested and refined. By positioning two propellers horizontally and two vertically on the balloon, six distinct movements were achieved. To enable autonomous flight, a real-time motion tracking system using Optitrack cameras and PID control was implemented, allowing the robot balloon to navigate independently.
测试并改进了不同的气球材料、螺旋桨布局和飞行机制。通过水平和垂直各两个螺旋桨，实现了六种不同的运动。为了实现自主飞行，系统中使用Optitrack摄像头和PID控制进行实时运动跟踪，使机器气球能够自主导航。
In the ‘Prototypes in Public’ exhibition at Tate Britain, one helium-inflated drone balloon robot was exhibited in an enclosed space where two visitors were invited to interact with it every fifteen minutes. The robot’s path was determined by an algorithm, which moved the balloon towards the closer visitor among the two while taking both visitors’ velocity into calculation when deciding its own velocity.
在泰特英国美术馆的“公共原型”展览中，有一个充满氦气的无人机气球机器人悬浮在半空中。每隔十五分钟，我们就会邀请两位观众进入封闭的空间与这个机器人互动。机器人的移动路径由算法控制，它会根据两位观众的位置和速度，调整自己的方向和速度，朝距离较近的观众靠近。
To illustrate the relationship between the balloon robot and a person in space, we constructed a virtual scene where the I.F.L.Y. robot draws its flight path in real-time, following the person. Consequently, the three-dimensional lines created by the balloon robot form the virtual environment where it coexists with the person.For the final system design, we upgraded our OptiTrack tracking cameras to the Model Prime 17, allowing for larger area tracking and improved precision. Our goal is to create a virtual environment where the person can still see the actual balloon and room setting, but within a different environment, effectively merging two worlds. With the help and support from Target3D, we seamlessly integrated the backpack VR system into our platform. As a result, the person can view the scene through a VR headset while their movements are accurately tracked.
为了展示气球机器人和人在空间中的互动关系，我们设计了一个虚拟场景。在这个场景中，I.F.L.Y.机器人能够实时绘制它的飞行路径，精确地跟随人的动作。这样，气球机器人所创造的三维轨迹形成了一个与人共存的虚拟环境。在最终的系统设计中，我们升级了OptiTrack的跟踪相机至Model Prime 17，提升了跟踪精度和覆盖范围。我们的目标是创造一个虚拟环境，在这个环境中，人可以看到真实的气球和房间设置，但同时也处于一个不同的虚拟世界中，实现现实与虚拟的完美融合。借助Target3D的支持，我们将背包式VR系统无缝集成到平台中。这样，使用者可以通过VR头显观看虚拟场景，而他们的动作也能被精确地实时跟踪，带来沉浸式的交互体验。
Exhibitions:
2019 Prototypes in Public, Tate Britian, London, UK
2023 原型公开展，英国泰特美术馆，伦敦，英国
Credits:
Artist: DaDa (Qiuyan Da), Jingcheng Xie
Technical Support: Dominik Zisch, George Adamopoulos
Special Thanks: Fiona Zisch, Alexander Whitley, Ruairi Glynn