Michael J. Pettinati
Papers
7
Total Citations
34
H-Index
4
About
Michael J. Pettinati’s research sits at the intersection of human-robot interaction, ethics, and multi-agent systems, with a focus on using robots as social mediators in vulnerable contexts. His most influential work explores how peripheral robotic agents can preserve dignity and improve communication in stigmatized relationships, particularly for Parkinson’s disease patients with facial masking. In a 2016 study (9 citations), he demonstrated that a social robot’s presence can positively influence patient self-disclosure, while his 2015 paper (6 citations) proposed a computational model for ethical robots to uphold dignity in strained patient-caregiver dynamics. Pettinati also contributes to adversarial multi-robot teams, as seen in his 2019 work (8 citations) on shepherding and misdirection strategies, and his 2021 study (2 citations) on shill agents. His unique blend of robotics, psychology, and ethics has produced over 30 citations across his top papers, with notable achievements including a primate-inspired navigation algorithm (2014, 3 citations). By addressing real-world challenges like stigma and conflict, Pettinati’s work offers a compelling vision for robots as compassionate, relationship-focused tools in healthcare and beyond.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1The influence of a peripheral social robot on self-disclosure9 citations · 2016
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