Assessing the real situation and foreseeing the real-life issues

1. Material and physical constraints

  • Note that Pepper and Nao do not move as fast as a human does;
  • Pepper’s movements are more constrained when there are obstacles around, such as furniture;
  • Pepper has approximately 10 hours of autonomy;
  • The robot can overheat, be careful of not launching dances several times in a row for example.

2. Human-robot interaction (HRI)

  • Users will not always act as expected, they can for example be scared to interact with a robot in front of others (shyness);
  • Children love robots but they will sometimes push them or grab their arms and hands (rudeness);
  • In the entry hall of a building, there is often an important flow of people, especially at rush hours: they can bump into Pepper, or even ignore the robot altogether.

3. Location

  • Is there a place to charge the robot? Should the robot be autonomous all day long? There might not be an electrical outlet right in the middle of a hall.
  • Where is the robot during the closing hours? Where to store the robot during the night? (closet)
  • Beware of the potential obstacles:
    • Hospital furniture can be elevated and therefore not detected by the robot’s lasers. Those are invisible obstacles;
    • There was a project where Pepper was in the entry hall of an office building, moving along a designated path. After a few days, it appeared that half of this path put the robot in the way of the stockroom. This added a burden for the delivery man, who had to constantly check on Pepper’s situation and moves before coming or going, sometimes having to wait for the robot to move out of the way.
  • Unexpected circumstances creating a noisier environment than expected, such as public works making a lot of noise around the robot, restricting interactions by voice;
  • Noisy environments, even if expected, such as crowded places, echoing corridors like malls or hospital;
  • Confined areas such as a lobby have their own issues, like a door slamming into the robot.

4. Global tips for the application

  • If you store user data, what are the legal constraints? Who is accountable? Notify your legal department to check General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR);
  • Increase efficiency in your project management with practical choices:
    • Should you use a new technology or update your robot?
    • Which NaoQi/QiSDK version should you use on the robot?
    • Is it time to try a new third-party technology?
    • Should you reuse a readymade project, or start from scratch again?
  • Visit the future site and draw a map of the physical environment:
    • Do you know where the robot will be? Take a few moments to draw a map of the location, add the potential obstacles like furniture and doors;
    • Observe and draw the flow of people in situ;
    • Do you notice any specific conditions (noise, bad lighting …) that could lead to a bad experience on site? If so, write them down;
    • Does the robot have to move? If so, draw the path of the robot on your map.

Reference and resources