Dance with a robot

Abstract

N.b.:In the wide upper panel, the position and trajectory marker (red lines and dots) are accurate according to the underlying grid. However, the projection of the video is offset slightly (due to camera curvature) from the tracks. This is an error in presentation; tracking error was almost uniformly within 1 foot of truth. Sometimes, our navigation algorithm resulted in quite humorous situations: at the beginning of one run, while the navigation algorithm was still starting up, a patron came up and began inspecting the robot. The robot, sensing an imminent collision, set its velocity to zero, and began searching for a clear path (i.e., rotating in place). The patron realized what was happening, and moved along with the robot, constantly staying in front of the robot's forward velocity vector. This resulted in what we have since called the "robot dance''.

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