Field Trial of a Networked Robot at a Train Station

Abstract

We developed a networked robot system in which ubiquitous sensors support robot sensing and a human operator processes the robot's decisions during interaction. To achieve semi-autonomous operation for a communication robot functioning in real environments, we developed an operator-requesting mechanism that enables the robot to detect situations that it cannot handle autonomously. Therefore, a human operator helps by assuming control with minimum effort. The robot system consists of a humanoid robot, floor sensors, cameras, and a sound-level meter. For helping people in real environments, we implemented such basic communicative behaviors as greetings and route guidance in the robot and conducted a field trial at a train station to investigate the robot system's effectiveness. The results attest to the high acceptability of the robot system in a public space and also show that the operator-requesting mechanism correctly requested help in 84.7% of the necessary situations; the operator only had to control 25% of the experiment time in the semi-autonomous mode with a robot system that successfully guided 68% of the visitors.Keywords Networked robot · Semi-autonomous communication robot · Field trial M. Shiomi ( ) · T.

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