Human-Robot Communication System for an Isolated Environment

In this paper, we demonstrated a service robot navigation system based on the Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT) protocol communication system that updates the real-time robot states for multiple users. The proposed office assistant robot (OABot) consists of a navigable structure, a mobile app, and a central control workstation and these three components intercommunicate via a wireless network. The voice-recognition mobile app is used to interact with users with voice commands; these voice commands are processed inside the workstation and actions are assigned to the moving robot accordingly. The robot can navigate inside the room using real-time maps while localizing itself in the environment. In addition, the robot is equipped with a digital camera to identify people in predefined locations in the room. The WiFi communication system is provided with RESTful and Mosquitto servers for better human-robot communication. Hence, multiple users are notified about the robot status through updates on the real-time states via the MQTT protocol. The developed system successfully navigates to the instructed destinations and identifies the target person with an average accuracy of 96%. Most importantly, in an isolated indoor environment with social distancing restrictions to perform, the proposed system is essentially useful for contactless delivery.

Automated summary

This paper presents a service robot navigation system based on the MQTT protocol, which allows real-time updates of robot states for multiple users. The system includes a navigable structure, a mobile app, and a central control workstation, enabling wireless communication between these components. The mobile app uses voice commands for user interaction, which are processed by the workstation to assign actions to the robot. The robot can navigate and localize itself in the room using real-time maps, and it is equipped with a digital camera for identifying people in certain locations. The system provides MQTT updates to multiple users, allowing them to be notified of the robot's status in real-time. With an average accuracy of 96%, the system successfully navigates to instructed destinations and identifies target persons. Its usefulness for contactless delivery in isolated indoor environments with social distancing restrictions is particularly noteworthy.