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Autonomous navigation is an essential capability for domestic service robots, however at times direct remote control may be desired for cases where robot and user are co-located. In this work, we propose a remote control method that allows a user to control the robot with smartphone gestures. The robot moves with respect to the user's coordinate frame and avoids obstacles if a collision is imminent. We think that interpreting the commands from human's perspective would decrease the cognitive load of the user, therefore allowing efficient operation.

This article applies a performance metric to the multi-robot patrolling task to more efficiently distribute patrol areas among robot team members. The multi-robot patrolling task employs multiple robots to perform frequent visits to known areas in an environment, while minimizing the time between node visits. Conventional strategies for performing this task assume that the robots will perform as expected and do not address situations in which some team members patrol inefficiently. However, reliable performance of team members may not always be a valid assumption. This paper considers an approach for monitoring robot performance in a patrolling task and dynamically reassigning tasks from those team members that perform poorly. Experimental results from simulation and on a team of indoor robots demonstrate that in using this approach, tasks can be dynamically and more efficiently distributed in a multi-robot patrolling application.

This year's conference focuses on human-robot interaction in the real world. The panel discussion presents the view from those who are "living it": industry leaders who are relying on current robotic technology to accomplish their work right now. Who better to provide the most compelling information on issues/challenges that are influencing their use? This panel gathers experts from business and industry to discuss their experiences in using robotic technology in their field. Topics include the financial, organizational, and practical challenges faced by professionals using robotic technology in the workplace, and factors influencing the acceptance of robots at work. The implications for design of robotic products and systems are also discussed. The session is a must for professionals and academic researchers interested in solving problems related to using robots in real world settings.

Stacking boxes of various sizes and contents on pallets (i.e. making mixed pallets) is a primary method of preparing goods for shipment from a warehouse to a store or other distant site. A special session of the 2010 PerMIS workshop was held to examine mixed palletizing issues. Papers were presented by end-users, vendors, researchers, and evaluators of palletizing solutions. This paper presents a summary of this session and discusses issues ranging from how to construct pallet build plans to metrics for evaluating these plans to competitions that feature novel palletizing approaches.

Planning is an essential part of any logistics system. The paper tries to generalize the view of a logistics planner by framing it as a knapsack problem. We show how the various variants of the knapsack problem compare for different types of industries. We also introduce the pallet stacking problem and survey some of the recent advances made towards this problem.

We present a study of how householders personalize their domestic vacuuming robot, iRobot's Roomba". In particular, we build on Blom and Monk's [3] theory of personalization that argues that personalization does not only occur naturally but can also be induced by design choices. In this study, we created a personalization toolkit, which allowed people to customize their Roomba's appearance and distributed it to 15 households. Our observations of these households provide empirical support that personalization can facilitate positive experiences with a Roomba, and having materials to hand can increase the odds of customization. We conclude by discussing design implications for personalization.

It has long been recognized that novelty effects exist in the interaction with technologies. Despite this recognition, we still know little about the novelty effects associated with domestic robotic appliances and more importantly, what occurs after the novelty wears off. To address this gap, we undertook a longitudinal field study with 30 households to which we gave Roomba vacuuming robots and then observed use over six months. During this study, which spans over 149 home visits, we encountered methodological challenges in understanding households' usage patterns. In this paper we report on our longitudinal research, focusing particularly on the methods that we used 1) to understand human-robot interaction over time despite the constraints of privacy and temporality in the home, and 2) to uncover information when routines became less conscious to the participants themselves.

Despite the growing body of Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) research focused on domestic robots, surprisingly little is known about the demographic profile of robot owners and their influence on usage patterns. In this paper, we present the results of a survey of 379 iRobot's Roomba™ owners, that identified their demographic and usage trends. The outcome of the survey suggests that Roomba users are equally likely to be men or women, and they tend to be younger with high levels of education and technical backgrounds. Their adoption and use patterns illustrate the important role that gift exchange plays in adoption, and how the robot changes cleaning routines and creates non-cleaning activities. More generally, we argue that domestic robot adoption is growing, and suggest some of the factors that lead to a positive experience.

This project has involved testing a Packbot Scout within a SWAT-unit for five months. This was done to explore the tactical benefits of the system and to test the robot's technical performance with end users. Another objective was to compare earlier results -- obtained by investigating military during training -- with results from deployment during true risk. The SWAT-team, equipped with and trained to use the robot, set a standard to bring it with them on regular missions. Using the robot during negotiation proved to be the most beneficial application. Other uses would be for long-term surveillances and deploying non-lethal weapons. Early results indicate that the Stockholm SWAT-unit, consisting of 80 active officers, could deploy the robot at least 20 times a year.

Interacting with a domestic service robot implies the existence for a joint environment model for a user and a robot. We present a pilot study that investigates, how humans present a familiar environment to a mobile robot. Results from this study are used to evaluate a generic environment model for a service robot that can be personalised by interaction.

An approach to dialogue based interaction for resolution of ambiguities encountered as part of Human-Augmented Mapping (HAM) is presented. The paper focuses on issues related to spatial organisation and localisation. The dialogue pattern naturally arises as robots are introduced to novel environments. The paper discusses an approach based on the notion of Questions under Discussion (QUD). The presented approach has been implemented on a mobile platform that has dialogue capabilities and methods for metric SLAM. Experimental results from a pilot study clearly demonstrate that the system can resolve problematic situations.