Insights from autonomy trials of a self‐reconfigurable floor‐cleaning robot in a public food court

Abstract

As autonomous cleaning robots advance, we expect certain features, such as higher area coverage and robustness. To explore these features and their challenges, we need tools and strategies that allow us to develop them rapidly. In this paper, we present lessons learned and results while performing 3 months long field trials on the autonomy of a self‐reconfigurable floor‐cleaning robot. The autonomy here includes path planning and navigation of the robot for coverage in a public food court. The environment of the food court is often subjected to alterations due to human activities. One of the main contributions of this paper is proposing a task‐level execution system to deploy the cleaning robot in an actual use case scenario. We also provide in‐depth discussions on the solutions and the implementation strategies we found in accomplishing goals. These findings would be helpful in conducting autonomy development targeted for field deployments of self‐reconfigurable robots and cleaning robots.

Enhancing Robot Inclusivity in the Built Environment: A Digital Twin-Assisted Assessment of Design Guideline Compliance

“…The absence of inhabitants, including humans, pets, and other robots, limits the realism of the study. However, typical cleaning robot deployments (cleaning robots are considered as a case study in this work) can be conducted during non-peak hours [74], in which the static environment results remain relevant for insights on robot ergonomics. It is essential to consider and study the dynamic interactions with different types of inhabitants to improve the applicability and relevance of the guidelines enhanced by the digital simulation.…”

A Framework for Auditing Robot-Inclusivity of Indoor Environments Based on Lighting Condition

“…Over the past few years, there has been a notable increase in the use of mobile robots in indoor spaces for tasks that were previously confined to typical industrial applications [1]. Among these, robotic cleaning systems have become particularly popular, exhibiting not only efficiency but also adaptability to intricate surroundings [2]. These systems are especially renowned for their sophisticated navigation, debris detection, and cleanup capabilities.…”