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Field Trial of a Networked Robot at a Train Station

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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.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. ATR-IRC, Kyoto, 619-0288, Japan

    Masahiro Shiomi, Takayuki Kanda, Carlos Toshinori Ishi, Hiroshi Ishiguro & Norihiro Hagita

  2. Japan Science and Technology Agency, ERATO Igarashi Design UI Project, 1-28-1-7F Koishikawa, Bunkyo, Tokyo, 112-0002, Japan

    Daisuke Sakamoto

Authors
  1. Masahiro Shiomi
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  2. Daisuke Sakamoto
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  3. Takayuki Kanda
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  4. Carlos Toshinori Ishi
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  5. Hiroshi Ishiguro
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  6. Norihiro Hagita
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Correspondence to Masahiro Shiomi.

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Shiomi, M., Sakamoto, D., Kanda, T. et al. Field Trial of a Networked Robot at a Train Station. Int J of Soc Robotics 3, 27–40 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12369-010-0077-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12369-010-0077-4

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