Human-driven multi-robot design process for social interactions with children on complex environments

Abstract

Robots have been traditionally in operation away from people, for instance in industrial environments. More recently, there has been a trend for bringing robots to market for helping people. In particular, children constitute a challenging group for robot interaction, due to their curiosity and energy, as well as safety concerns. This paper describes the construction process of an external structure for a fleet of mobile robots designed for interactions with children in a hospital environment. We address several challenges on the design process, critical for the robots to be able to operate safely, while interacting socially, among a group of children with specific needs.