Meet QUTie – the small humanoid robot who is the newest member of the QUT Centre for Robotics and already out meeting people around Brisbane and Queensland to help researchers better understand human-robot interactions.
QUTie is a 130cm tall Unitree G1 robot with amazing agility that enables researchers to program it to mimic human movements ranging from walking and running to dancing and rolling.
It arrived in Brisbane late last year as a blank canvas and QUT researchers have been busy getting it ready to get out into the community as part of their human-robot interaction research.
QUTie has already been seen around Brisbane on excursions ranging from catching the train to the airport to dancing its way along South Bank.
This week, the robot will head west and join QUT experts on a regional road trip.
The technology-focused trip will include free public talks in Longreach and Winton and an industry lunch in Mount Isa.
Guests at all three free public events will be able to see QUTie and say hello.
Professor Rowena Barrett, who is QUT’s Pro Vice-Chancellor (Entrepreneurship and Regional Innovation), said the regional Queensland events aimed to discuss technology adoption and get local views on where advancements should be heading.
“We want to have a conversation on how people, place and context shape the way technologies are adopted, used and valued – particularly in regional and remote environments,” she said.
The Shaping Technology Together public conversations will be held in Longreach at the Birdcage Hotel from 5pm today (May 11) and in Winton at the Royal Open-Air Theatre from 5pm tomorrow (May 12).
On Thursday (May 14), the QUT group and QUTie will be in Mount Isa for an industry lunch at the Country Universities Centre.
The QUT researchers visiting for the events are Professor Barrett, roboticist Professor Jonathan Roberts, designer Professor Lisa Scharoun, health scientist Professor Nick Brown, and economist Professor Dipanwita Sarkar.
Professor Jonathan Roberts from the QUT Centre for Robotics said QUTie was helping researchers better understand how people and robots interact – and what directions the community wants technology to go.
“We want to get QUTie out and about to get people thinking about how humanoids should and should not be used in the future,” Professor Roberts said.
“When we take QUTie out into the community, the most fascinating part is how the people around us react.
“Some people will be excited to see a humanoid robot and will want to meet QUTie and take a quick selfie and ask questions.
“Other people will be cautious and only observe from a distance. And some will just keep scrolling on their phones and pay no attention.
“All of these reactions are part of why we take QUTie out into the world.
“Every interaction, whether it’s excitement or apprehension, will guide our future research.”
QUTie will also be a special guest at this year’s QUT Open Day on July 26 at the engineering open house. Program details for the day are available online.
