A survey on human-aware robot navigation

Intelligent systems are increasingly part of our everyday lives and have been integrated seamlessly to the point where it is difficult to imagine a world without them. Physical manifestations of those systems on the other hand, in the form of embodied agents or robots, have so far been used only for specific applications and are often limited to functional roles (e.g. in the industry, entertainment and military fields). Given the current growth and innovation in the research communities concerned with the topics of robot navigation, human-robot-interaction and human activity recognition, it seems like this might soon change. Robots are increasingly easy to obtain and use and the acceptance of them in general is growing. However, the design of a socially compliant robot that can function as a companion needs to take various areas of research into account. This paper is concerned with the navigation aspect of a socially-compliant robot and provides a survey of existing solutions for the relevant areas of research as well as an outlook on possible future directions. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

With the integration of intelligent systems and the increasing use of robots for specific applications, the design of socially-compliant robots that can function as companions requires consideration of various research areas. The future of robot navigation, human-robot interaction and human activity recognition is promising as research communities continue to grow and innovate.