Papers
36
Total Citations
1,135
H-Index
16
About
Paul Robinette is a prominent researcher whose work sits at the intersection of human-robot interaction, trust, and autonomous systems. Best known for his groundbreaking investigations into how humans respond to robots in high-stakes situations, Robinette has fundamentally shaped our understanding of human-robot trust dynamics. His landmark 2016 study, "Overtrust of Robots in Emergency Evacuation Scenarios," which has accumulated over 360 citations, revealed the striking and counterintuitive finding that people will follow a robot's guidance even when it has previously demonstrated unreliable behavior — a discovery with profound implications for public safety and robot deployment ethics. Building on this work, Robinette has systematically explored how robot performance, timing, and communication modalities affect trust formation and repair, demonstrating that even a single robot error can cause significant trust erosion, while a well-timed apology can partially restore confidence. His 2017 follow-up on trust in time-critical situations (203 citations) further cemented his reputation as a leading voice in this space. More recently, he has expanded into autonomous maritime systems and computational trust modeling, reflecting a career characterized by both rigorous experimental science and ambitious theoretical frameworks. His cumulative body of work makes him essential reading for anyone studying human-robot collaboration and safety-critical autonomous systems.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1Overtrust of robots in emergency evacuation scenarios360 citations · 2016
- 2Effect of Robot Performance on Human–Robot Trust in Time-Critical Situations203 citations · 2017
- 3Timing Is Key for Robot Trust Repair116 citations · 2015
- 4Modeling the Human-Robot Trust Phenomenon51 citations · 2018
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- 7Information propagation applied to robot-assisted evacuation28 citations · 2012
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