A Comfortable Interaction Strategy for the Visually Impaired Using Quadruped Guidance Robot

A guidance robot that can guide its user to the destination smoothly and comfortably without rigorous training is expected to bring more convenience to the visually impaired. Although guidance robots have evolved considerably, little attention has been paid to the importance of human-robot interaction in the guidance process which will bring an unpleasant experience for the user when the amplitude of the interaction force increases. In this paper, we propose an interaction strategy for the visually impaired using quadruped guidance robot based on compliance control to make the user more comfortable to be guided. The user can track robot's trajectory by perceiving the variation of traction force or manipulate the movement of the robot by applying force to the robot using proposed strategy. We also build a quadruped guidance robot system with an autonomous navigation algorithm. The robot can plan a safe path that ensures the user does not collide with obstacles when following the robot. Then the robot continuously interacts with its user while following the planned path to the goal to provide a comfortable experience. Experiments show that the interaction strategy we deployed in our quadruped guidance robot reduces traction force during guidance and improves the user experience.