Understanding Multi-Robot Systems: on the Concept of Legibility

Abstract

Legibility can be defined as the ability of a robot to communicate its intent to the user. Legibility is relatively little investigated in multi-robot systems, but, in the literature, studies exist where the trajectory of manipulators is analyzed as a factor to improve the collaboration between robots and users. In this paper, we focus on the legibility of a group of mobile robots. To this end, we consider a set of motion-variables: trajectory, dispersion and stiffness. They are typical parameters that determine the motion of a group of robots. To analyze the effect of the motion-variables over legibility, Fisher's exact test and ANOVA (analysis of variance) were carried out. The data for the statistical analysis cover a full factorial plan and they were collected in a virtual reality set-up, where the users shared the environment with a group of robots. We investigate two aspects of legibility: the correctness and the rapidity of communication, namely if the communication happens correctly and how fast it happens. Trajectory was found to be relevant to correctly communicate the intention of the robots, while stiffness and dispersion were relevant for the rapidity of legibility.