Digital Twins: Simulating Robot-Human Sidewalk Interactions

Ali Hassan*, Muhammad Usman, Melissa Kremer, Seungho Yang, Michael Luubert, Petros Faloutsos, G. Brent Hall, Gunho Sohn

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

This paper investigates the interactions between sidewalk delivery robots and pedestrians in urban settings to evaluate pedestrian safety and robot efficiency in shared spaces. We developed a 3D digital twin environment model that allows realistic simulation of robot-human and robot-cityscape interactions, adopting the Pedestrian Aware Model (PAM) to ensure effective and safe navigation. Using an agent-based modeling approach, we analyze various scenarios involving pedestrians, wheelchair users, and robots sharing sidewalk spaces. Our findings reveal that robots do not inherently contribute to sidewalk congestion and can be programmed to maintain a buffer zone that allows for both safety and efficiency, suggesting their potential for smooth coexistence with pedestrians. We observed that robots caused most collisions, while pedestrians were primarily responsible for proximity violations of minimum distance thresholds, emphasizing the need for further research and strategies to reduce further the risks associated with these incidents. The results suggest that with careful design-oriented planning and continued research, robots can safely and comfortably share sidewalks with pedestrians, contributing to a more harmonious and efficient urban landscape. Our proposed simulation model can assist urban planners, policymakers, and researchers in evaluating the influence of various design interventions and policies on human-robot coexistence in cities, marking a crucial step toward accommodating both humans and robots in urban spaces.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationRecent Advances in 3D Geoinformation Science - Proceedings of the 18th 3D GeoInfo Conference
EditorsThomas H. Kolbe, Andreas Donaubauer, Christof Beil
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH
Pages645-668
Number of pages24
ISBN (Print)9783031436987
DOIs
StatePublished - 2024
EventInternational 3D GeoInfo Conference, 3DGeoInfo 2023 - Munich, Germany
Duration: 12 Sep 202314 Sep 2023

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Geoinformation and Cartography
ISSN (Print)1863-2246
ISSN (Electronic)1863-2351

Conference

ConferenceInternational 3D GeoInfo Conference, 3DGeoInfo 2023
Country/TerritoryGermany
CityMunich
Period12/09/2314/09/23

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024.

Keywords

  • Digital twin
  • Human-robot interaction
  • Pedestrian behaviour
  • Sidewalk autonomous delivery robots

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Civil and Structural Engineering
  • Geography, Planning and Development
  • Earth-Surface Processes
  • Computers in Earth Sciences

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