Basic User Interaction Features for Human-Following Cargo Robot TIAGo Base

The ability to follow a human is necessary for many types of service and social robots. A development of human-following robots requires taking into account the features of a perception of such robots by users. This paper presents results of human-robot interaction experiments with TIAGo Base cargo robot when it follows a user. Eight people took part in the experiments. The participants interacted with the robot using voice commands. TIAGo Base tracked a person using a single laser rangefinder. The purpose of the experiments was to identify the features of a user interaction with TIAGo Base robot through voice commands when the robot carries a load and follows the user. In addition, we identified a preferable distance between TIAGo Base robot and a user.