Sobi: An Interactive Social Service Robot for Long-Term Autonomy in Open Environments

TL;DR

Sobi is an open-source social service robot designed for long-term autonomous operation in dynamic open environments, featuring environmental modeling, human interaction, and a monitoring system to extend operational lifetime.

Contribution

The paper introduces Sobi, a novel open-source robot platform with a focus on long-term autonomy, environmental modeling, and human-robot interaction in large-scale, dynamic environments.

Findings

Successfully operated for 16 days, covering 66.6 km autonomously.

Demonstrated effective long-term autonomy with autonomous charging.

User study showed positive feedback on interface usability.

Abstract

Long-term autonomy in service robotics is a current research topic, especially for dynamic, large-scale environments that change over time. We present Sobi, a mobile service robot developed as an interactive guide for open environments, such as public places with indoor and outdoor areas. The robot will serve as a platform for environmental modeling and human-robot interaction. Its main hardware and software components, which we freely license as a documented open source project, are presented. Another key focus is Sobi's monitoring system for long-term autonomy, which restores system components in a targeted manner in order to extend the total system lifetime without unplanned intervention. We demonstrate first results of the long-term autonomous capabilities in a 16-day indoor deployment, in which the robot patrols a total of 66.6 km with an average of 5.5 hours of travel time per weekday, charging autonomously in between. In a user study with 12 participants, we evaluate the appearance and usability of the user interface, which allows users to interactively query information about the environment and directions.