As part of external stakeholder engagements, two types of experiments ─ user studies and robotic tests ─ are planned for the Crowdbot project. User studies are further classified as structured interviews and focus group engagements. Both user study experiments will be used to collect information and better understand the viewpoints and concerns of various stakeholders that will be exposed to our robots. Some examples of these stakeholders are potential users of our robots, robotic experts, property owners and venue managers whose space our robots may likely roam and members of the general public that will interact with robots. Several rounds of user studies are planned over the duration of the project. They work in tandem with robotic tests in several rounds interview-test-interview cycles. Data collected from user studies assist the test team in selecting specific types of robotic test cases that are most meaningful and relevant to the main project goal of safe navigation of robots among dense human crowds. After completion of robotic tests, collected data is then used to inform stakeholders of observed robot-human interactions and to solicit their feedback in the next round of user studies.
Deliverable 1.2: Experiment Protocol and Risk Assessment
