Download or read book Augmenting Home Environments with "sort," an Assistive Robotic System Supporting the Domestic Organizational Routines in Human Inhabitants written by Mengni Zhang and published by . This book was released on 2022 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Maintaining an organized lifestyle is an important domestic routine that reduces the effects of poor mental and physical health associated with clutter. While there have been many previous studies on domestic assistive robotics, a gap remains in creating a system of (wall-based) robotic organizers to understand human behaviors. This dissertation proposes a multi-robot system of wall-climbing organizers called SORT (Stuff Organizing Robot Team), aimed to help people sort, retrieve and deliver domestic items. This research contributes knowledge in four main areas: wall-climbing assistive robots, human-multi robot interaction, impact of cultural differences on HRI, and understanding people's organizational behaviors. To explore previously under-utilized domains within the home where robots can live, SORT is proposed as a wall-climbing system that demonstrates potentials for indoor assistive uses. This dissertation presents the design and fabrication process of two prototypes, one based on vacuum suction which was successfully tested on a whiteboard wall with a tethered controller, the other based on magnets and was successfully tested on a ferrous surface controlled by a cellphone app. To enrich the field of human-multi robot interaction, multiple user studies (online and in-person) were conducted to understand people's reactions toward SORT. The results showed users' preferences on robot group size, speed, formation shapes, movement path, communication gestures and perceived usefulness and usability. An additional online study was conducted to explore how cultural differences may play a role in shaping users' preferences and perceptions toward SORT with 191 participant responses from US, China and India. Our results showed significant differences that contradict prior stereotypes and reinforced the importance of considering cultural differences in HRI studies. The qualitative results in this dissertation reveal important findings on human behaviors in sorting tasks, such as organizational logic, decision making, and perceptions of control. These findings can provide insights on how future researchers may design multi-robot assistive systems at home. As assistive robots are becoming more ubiquitous in our everyday lives, it is important for designers, engineers and researchers to understand people's needs, preferences and perceptions toward robotic assistants, especially when the robots are embedded within a larger Internet of Things ecosystem. This dissertation shows that a multi-robot group, like SORT, can successfully enhance domestic routines to improve people's life qualities (80% participant satisfaction). We as design researchers must also take a multi-disciplinary approach, considering previously under-studied areas such as human-multi robot interaction and building cultural differences as design variables to ensure the robot group's holistic success.