FOLLOW ME

RESEARCH SUMMARY

Background. Older adults aim to maintain their independence. Robots can assist them in everyday tasks. Yet, introduction of assistive robotics into seniors' daily life will be dependent upon user acceptance, satisfaction, and affordability. Person-following is an important aspect in assistive robotic applications, yet, a non-trivial problem to solve. Robotic platforms should move efficiently and have enough power to carry objects. But, the people that they need to follow vary in their mobility and the context of their walk. The human-robot system must adapt to the context of use and maintain appropriate proxemics and responsiveness, especially for older users who may be more vulnerable and less technology savvy.

Aims. To advance robotic adaptive person following algorithms (APFA) to include concepts from human-human interaction with an aim: a) to improve older users’ wellbeing and b) to generate guidelines for future user attentive robotic assistants, highly individualized to the special needs of each elder user in the context of use. Showcase the importance of social concepts for human-robot interaction (HRI) with older users. Develop tools and measures to evaluate user satisfaction and identify factors that should be included in future developments of assistive robots.

Developments in Social Robotics for Eldercare (ESR10, SOCRATES EU Project)

PUBLICATIONS

Honig, S., Oron-Gilad T., Zaichyk H., Fleischmann-Serna V., Olatunji S., Edan Y. 2018.

Towards Socially Aware Person-Following Robots. IEEE Transactions on Cognitive and Developmental Systems 10(4): 936-954. DUI: 10.1109/TCDS.2018.2825641

Olatunji S., Fleischmann-Serna, V., Honig S., Zaichyk H., Markovich, T., Oron-Gilad T., Edan Y. 2018. User preferences for socially acceptable person-following robots: environmental influence case studies. Assistance and Service Robotics in a Human Environment - From Personal Mobility Aids to Rehabilitation-Oriented Robotics. A Workshop in conjunction with the 2018 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Madrid, Spain. Link.

Honig S., Katz S D., Oron-Gilad T., Edan Y. 2016. The Influence of Following Angle on Performance Metrics of a Human-Following Robot. Robot and Human Interactive Communication, Proceedings of the 25th IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN).

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7745178/

Honig S., Oron-Gilad T., and Edan Y. 2017. Multimodal communication for guiding a person following robot. Proceedings of the 26th IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (Ro-Man). 2017, 1018-1023. August 28-Sept. 1, 2017. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8172428/

Olatunji, S.A., Oron-Gilad, T., Markfeld, N., Gutman, D., Sarne-Fleischmann, V. & Edan, Y. (2021). Levels of automation and transparency: interaction design considerations in socially assistive robots for older adults. IEEE Transactions on Human-Machine Systems, 51(6), 673-683. https://doi.org/10.1109/THMS.2021.3107516

THESIS

Dror Katz. M.Sc. Development of algorithms for a human-following robot equipped with Kinect vision and laser sensors in an unknown indoor environment with obstacles and corners. September. 2016. Link