Rob the Robot’s instructions are simple: Follow the straight red line. Follow the straight red line. Follow it through the history of Parks College.

Rob, a life-size robot, provides 30-minute tours alongside the Parks’ College timeline.

The design team consists of senior computer engineering major Edin Rakovic and professors William Ebel and Kyle Mitchell, of the electrical and computer engineering departments. The team started the robotics project in early June, and took about two months to complete the robotic tour guide.

“[Rob was created for the] publicity for Parks College and Saint Louis University, and to attract potential students,” Ebel said.

Mitchell said that the creation of the robot incorporates all major facets of engineering including biomedical, electrical, computer, aeronautical and mechanical.

“We wanted to create something students could use as a senior design platform,” Ebel said. “The project was well-received by alumni during Homecoming weekend.”

Robotics is currently a hot-topic, and both Ebel and Mitchell would like more students to get more involved with the program.

“Most don’t understand the complexity of something as simple as moving down a hallway,” said Rakovic. “The department offers a robotics class and I encourage everyone to take it.”

Rob uses a webcam to do image processing in order to know where he’s going.

“Notice there’s no red floor tiles,” Ebel said. “The red is unique, and Rob color processes the image to cause the red to stand out from the background.”

Rob can even find the line if small sections of it are torn.

“It’s a locking system,” Rakovic said. “[Rob’s] algorithm just depends on the line and doesn’t account for environmental variables.”

These variables include sunlight and the change in the tile color.

Ebel pointed out a spot on the floor where the red tape cuts across an area where the tiles transition from yellow to black. He said that this was a problem at first, since Rob’s camera recognizes both the transition and the red tape as lines, but Rob is now designed to find the red tape and understand the difference between the two lines.

Another problem lies in the floor itself.

“The floors are not flat,” said Mitchell. “The drive dynamics are a function of battery voltage, and that makes the robot want to drive downhill and turn left.”

Coders on Rob’s wheels tell him where to stop, where he then educates visitors about the history of the college through automated sound bites.

“There’s an element of realism to him,” Ebel said. “He can talk and move his head up and down.”

Currently Rob’s path is limited to the red stripe, but the team is working on the expansion of Rob’s capabilities, getting Rob to roam freely throughout the halls and be able to recognize when someone is standing in front of it.

But for now, Rob will just follow, follow, follow, the straight red line down the hallways of Parks.