Leveraging Sidewalk Robots for Walkability-Related Analyses

TL;DR

This study demonstrates how sidewalk robots can be used as scalable, real-time data collection tools to analyze walkability factors and pedestrian behavior in urban environments.

Contribution

It introduces a novel framework utilizing sidewalk robots for automated, continuous walkability assessment through sensor data collection and analysis.

Findings

Pedestrian movement is affected by sidewalk width, surface irregularity, and density.

Robot speed correlates with pedestrian behavior, serving as a proxy for movement analysis.

The framework enables ongoing sidewalk and pedestrian environment monitoring.

Abstract

Walkability is a key component of sustainable urban development. In walkability studies, collecting detailed pedestrian infrastructure data remains challenging due to the high costs and limited scalability of traditional methods. Sidewalk delivery robots, increasingly deployed in urban environments, offer a promising solution to these limitations. This paper explores how these robots can serve as mobile data collection platforms, capturing sidewalk-level features related to walkability in a scalable, automated, and real-time manner. A sensor-equipped robot was deployed on a sidewalk network at KTH in Stockholm, completing 101 trips covering 900 segment records. From the collected data, different typologies of features are derived, including robot trip characteristics (e.g., speed, duration), sidewalk conditions (e.g., width, surface unevenness), and sidewalk utilization (e.g., pedestrian density). Their walkability-related implications were investigated with a series of analyses. The results demonstrate that pedestrian movement patterns are strongly influenced by sidewalk characteristics, with higher density, reduced width, and surface irregularity associated with slower and more variable trajectories. Notably, robot speed closely mirrors pedestrian behavior, highlighting its potential as a proxy for assessing pedestrian dynamics. The proposed framework enables continuous monitoring of sidewalk conditions and pedestrian behavior, contributing to the development of more walkable, inclusive, and responsive urban environments.