Ranger, an Example of Integration of Robotics into the Home Ecosystem

This paper presents the concept and an example of robject, a robotic entity embedded in an everyday object. Robjects use the affordance of the original object to ensure an efficient interaction and a high acceptance. The example of the ranger robot shows that this approach can be applied to the domestic environment. We explore the integration of a robot (robject) into a family household, by regarding the home as a ecosystem, which consists of people, parts, products, activities, and interactions. A test of the ranger robot in families validates this holistic approach and shows the impact of this type of design in respect to the complexity of the robotic system.