Related papers: Leveraging Sidewalk Robots for Walkability-Related…
Sidewalk delivery robots are a promising solution for last-mile freight distribution. Yet, they operate in dynamic environments characterized by pedestrian flows and potential obstacles, which make travel times highly uncertain and can…
Large-scale analysis of pedestrian infrastructures, particularly sidewalks, is critical to human-centric urban planning and design. Benefiting from the rich data set of planimetric features and high-resolution orthoimages provided through…
In this paper, we propose a novel navigation system for mobile robots in pedestrian-rich sidewalk environments. Sidewalks are unique in that the pedestrian-shared space has characteristics of both roads and indoor spaces. Like vehicles on…
With the rise in demand for local deliveries and e-commerce, robotic deliveries are being considered as efficient and sustainable solutions. However, the deployment of such systems can be highly complex due to numerous factors involving…
The precise and continuous tracking of millimetric-sized walkers --such as ants-- is quite important in behavioral studies. However, due to technical limitations, most studies concentrate on trajectories within arenas no more than 100 times…
Recently, pedestrian behavior research has shifted towards machine learning based methods and converged on the topic of modeling pedestrian interactions. For this, a large-scale dataset that contains rich information is needed. We propose a…
Sidewalk robots are increasingly common across the globe. Yet, their operation on public paths poses challenges for people with mobility disabilities (PwMD) who face barriers to accessibility, such as insufficient curb cuts. We interviewed…
Social navigation and pedestrian behavior research has shifted towards machine learning-based methods and converged on the topic of modeling inter-pedestrian interactions and pedestrian-robot interactions. For this, large-scale datasets…
Despite the important role of sidewalks in supporting mobility, accessibility, and public health, there is a lack of high-quality datasets and corresponding analyses on sidewalk existence and condition. Our work explores a twofold vision:…
This paper introduces the Robotability Score ($R$), a novel metric that quantifies the suitability of urban environments for autonomous robot navigation. Through expert interviews and surveys, we identify and weigh key features contributing…
As one of the most popular micro-mobility options, e-scooters are spreading in hundreds of big cities and college towns in the US and worldwide. In the meantime, e-scooters are also posing new challenges to traffic safety. In general,…
Sidewalk sheds are a common feature of the streetscape in New York City, reflecting ongoing construction and maintenance activities. However, policymakers and local business owners have raised concerns about reduced storefront visibility…
The presence of robots amongst pedestrians affects them causing deviation to their trajectories. Existing methods suffer from the limitation of not being able to objectively measure this deviation in unseen cases. In order to solve this…
Understanding the complex behavior of pedestrians walking in crowds is a challenge for both science and technology. In particular, obtaining reliable models for crowd dynamics, capable of exhibiting qualitatively and quantitatively the…
This paper introduces SideSeeing, a novel initiative that provides tools and datasets for assessing the built environment. We present a framework for street-level data acquisition, loading, and analysis. Using the framework, we collected a…
Outdoor navigation on sidewalks in urban environments is the key technology behind important human assistive applications, such as last-mile delivery or neighborhood patrol. This paper aims to develop a quadruped robot that follows a route…
As autonomous robots become more common in public spaces, spontaneous encounters with laypersons are more frequent. For this, robots need to be equipped with communication strategies that enhance momentary transparency and reduce the…
There is a lack of data on the location, condition, and accessibility of sidewalks across the world, which not only impacts where and how people travel but also fundamentally limits interactive mapping tools and urban analytics. In this…
We present a Pedestrian Dominance Model (PDM) to identify the dominance characteristics of pedestrians for robot navigation. Through a perception study on a simulated dataset of pedestrians, PDM models the perceived dominance levels of…
Applications to support pedestrian mobility in urban areas require a complete, and routable graph representation of the built environment. Globally available information, including aerial imagery provides a scalable source for constructing…