Preliminary-announcement and display for translation and rotation of human-friendly mobile robot

Discusses the preliminary-announcement and display method of action and intention which is carried with a robot which moves in a human-coexisting environment. It is pointed out that the speed of motion and the direction of motion are important to announce the action of a mobile robot. The method by using blowout is proposed to tell surrounding people about these two kinds of information. A method to announce the speed of motion in translation is examined using a software simulator concerning the case that a robot is equipped with blowout, lamp, or no apparatus. Consequently, the effectiveness of the preliminary-announcement and display using blowout and the importance of information about the speed of motion are confirmed Moreover a method to announce the direction of motion in rotation is examined concerning the case of announcing the target direction or the rotation speed. As a result, it is found that the target direction is efficient for announcing rotation of a mobile robot.