Concept

In the 2018-2019 academic year, there were almost 2.4 million higher education students enrolled in the UK. It is no secret that a well equipped library is an essential feature for students and University staff alike. It is a place which is often critical in one's learning and development, as it is impossible to recreate the same kind of environment at home.

While some university libraries do have a book collection service available for disabled students, this process is often tedious and adds extra labour for the already limited staff. Furthermore, it may even deter some students with mobility issues from using the library at all, if even the process of being able to access the books in the first place is deemed as being 'difficult'.

Being students, we know that our libraries can be improved. We wanted to create something which would ease the workload of library staff, while also making the experience more seamless for every single one of its users.

So, we invented BookBot (or BB for short): a fun library robot, which will automatically fetch and deliver a requested book back to the user. The best part? Users can make their requests via a simple and easy to use web-app, designed for use by people of any age or technical ability. By eliminating the need for paper forms or staff in order to fetch your books, using BB significantly improves user wait time and experience. While BB cannot replace the real human contact between libraries and visitors, it can help automate a small yet important process such as this.

Still unsure as to how BB can improve your library? Here are some use cases:

Students studying at their desk who require a new book but do not want to be distracted by having to get up and search for it
Visitors with decreased mobility having their reading brought to them
Busy librarians being able to focus on more pressing tasks
A user cannot find a book they require, but are struggling to locate and ask a staff member to help
A user with social anxiety needs help but find it difficult to speak to a staff member

Features

We designed BB with the goal of making libraries more attractive and accessible to all.

Here's how:

Smart Moves

BB's efficient navigation paths are created in real time, prioritising collision avoidance and rerouting where needed.

Book Delivery

BB will automatically drop off the requested book at the user's desk or dedicated kiosk.

Quick Start

Integrate your entire library's catalogue quickly and easily through a CSV file.

Versatile

BB's Smart Book Detection works with all major book classification systems.

Easy to Use

Simple and accessible web interface means all library members can easily sign up and request books.

Heavy Lifter

BB can carry and deliver up to 3 books at a time for one user.

Our Design

See exactly why BB is the next best addition to your library.

Design Diagram

Hover over the image below to learn more about each part

Container

For carrying the books around the library

Pincher X 100

Robotic Arm

Logitech HD Webcam C270

For Vision

Specialised 3D Printed Gripper

Custom made for bookgrabbing

Raspberry Pi 3

Controlling the navigation and arm

LIDAR Sensor

For navigation

Turtlebot Waffle

The base of our design

Pi Camera

Located at the bottom waffle layer,for bottom shelf vision

(not pictured)

Raspberry Pi 4

Controlling the vision

Turtlebot Waffle

Our design's base

3D Model Demo

See BB for yourself! This demo may take a few moments to load.

Future Developments

What BB can do right now, is only just the beginning of what we want to achieve.

Here are just a few of the features we plan to implement in the future:

1

Add the ability to reserve and pickup books at a certain time.

Users can pre-order books before they get to the library, reducing the time wasted.

3

Creating a scanning system for missing books, and updating the librarian and database upon doing so.

Improving BB's efficiency and stopping users from accidentally ordering missing books.

5

Attach a small LCD panel to the front which would display emoticons, making BB appear more friendly.

Will help those who are less familiar with technology be more at ease.

7

Creating an API to enable easy integration with existing library systems

Making the introduction of BookBot to libraries simpler and easier.

2

Implementing a locked container which can be accessed by the user via a randomly generated pin.

Preventing the potential theft of ordered books.

4

Building a model which would allow BB to extend vertically in order to reach taller/more shelves.

Increasing BB's access to the library.

6

Add prioritisation of deliveries for those who self declare as requiring extra assistance due to mobility issues.

Ensuring those who need the service most are looked after

8

Add automatic docking for charging

Allowing BookBot take care of its power needs by itself, minimising the time it stays offline.