But where are you going?! Motion is what is most important for real-world co-present mobile robots

Mobile robots are being introduced to industrial workplaces in roles that require copresence with humans. To develop effective robots that do not negatively impact humans, including their subjective experience and ability to get their work done, we must understand humans’ needs for working near these robots. In this paper, we examine what human workers need from copresent robots’ motion during work at a large warehouse. To do so, report and synthesize findings about robot motion from across five studies (e.g., focus group, observation, experiment). Results indicate that workers were most focused on robot movement, including consistency, distance, prioritizing people, and indicating when it sensed people. Researchers and practitioners can use these findings to prioritize what aspects of mobile robots to develop to improve human worker experiences around robots and team efficiency.