ERBIE – CSE Senior Design

Team Name

MechaMocha

Timeline

Fall 2023 – Spring 2024

Students

Hussain Alkatheri
Christopher DeWitt
Alexis Hernandez
Bishal Giri
Phu Truong

Abstract

This project proposes the design, development, and implementation of an robotic system tailored specifically for serving Arabic coffee. It uses a serving mechanism along with hand gesture recognition to provide a service to a group of guests within the expected customs and culture.

Background

The “Kahwaji” is the coffee server. He/she will go around the room to serve the host’s guest coffee. There are two key universal etiquette, the first being “Kafa” or the shaking/wiggling of the coffee cup. This indicates to the server that the guest is done drinking coffee. The second would that the server must always serve the coffee to the guest with his/her right hand. And the guest will always drink/accept with his right as well

Saudi Coffee Ad

Flight Attendant Instructional Video on how to serve guests

UNESCO: Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity – 2015 “Arabic coffee, a symbol of generosity”

Translated interviews with Saudi Kahwajis(Click Link)

Project Requirements

Erbie moves automatically along set paths and avoids or waits for obstacles.
Erbie determines if a consumer wants a refill or for the cup to be collected based on visual cues (gestures).
Erbie uses a special mechanism to handle cups, whether for refilling or storing.
Erbie carries enough cups to serve one room(12 finjans)
Interface Erbie with monitoring software to display necessary operational information.
Erbie identifies customers by their seating within the establishment.
Erbie either navigates around or waits for obstacles to be removed.
Erbie requires no active control over its movements beyond the initial configuration.

System Overview

Results

We were able to implement a Arabic coffee serving robot(figure to the right). The above gestures show the controls for the robot. The robot will follow a line until it detects a human then it will commence service. This will be done for every person it finds.