A Comparison of Human Tracking Systems on a Mobile Robotic Platform.

Area of Science:

• Robotics
• Internet of Things (IoT)
• Human-Robot Collaboration

Background:

• The Internet of Things (IoT) is driving significant advancements in robotics.
• Human-robot collaboration is a key area of interest within IoT robotics.
• Robot following capabilities are a crucial aspect of human-robot collaboration.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the performance of two distinct human-following robot systems.
• To evaluate the benefits and weaknesses of camera-based versus spool-based following methods.
• To analyze key performance metrics including smoothness, responsiveness, and accuracy.

Main Methods:

• Comparative analysis of a camera-based robot following system.
• Comparative analysis of a spool-based (rope-attached) robot following system.
• Evaluation based on smoothness, responsiveness, and accuracy metrics.

Main Results:

• The spool-based system demonstrated higher overall responsiveness compared to the camera-based system.
• The camera-based system exhibited superior directional responsiveness.
• Distance estimation in the camera-based system was found to be noisier and less reliable than in the spool-based system.

Conclusions:

• Both camera-based and spool-based systems have unique strengths and weaknesses for robot human following.
• The choice of system depends on the specific application requirements for responsiveness and accuracy.
• Further research can optimize these systems for enhanced human-robot collaboration.