Gilles Froidevaux

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Papers

Total Citations

310

H-Index

About

Gilles Froidevaux is a pioneering researcher in human-robot interaction and autonomous multi-robot systems, best known for his groundbreaking work on large-scale public deployments of interactive robots. His most significant contribution is the development and operation of the RoboX system at Expo.02, a landmark installation featuring a fleet of fully autonomous mobile robots that interacted with thousands of visitors over several months. This work, detailed in his highly cited 2003 paper (228 citations), demonstrated the feasibility of complex, collaborative human-robot interaction in uncontrolled, real-world environments. Froidevaux’s research addresses critical challenges in multi-robot control, visitor flow management, and interaction management for mass public events, as seen in his related papers on the SOUL environment and social-commercial aspects of exposition robotics. His achievements include successfully orchestrating a multi-robot system that could guide tours, engage non-expert users, and manage crowd dynamics simultaneously—a feat that remains influential in the fields of service robotics and human-robot interaction. Froidevaux’s work laid essential foundations for deploying autonomous robots in public spaces, inspiring subsequent research in interactive robotics and multi-agent systems.