Leader tracking for a walking logistics robot

A key challenge of developing robots that work closely with people is creating a user interface that allows a user to communicate complex instructions to a robot quickly and easily. We consider a walking logistics support robot, which is designed to carry heavy loads to locations that are too difficult to reach with a wheeled or tracked vehicle. In this application the robot is carrying equipment and supplies for a group of pedestrians, and the primary task for the user interface is to keep the robot traveling with the overall group in the right formation. This paper presents a marker tracking system that uses near infrared cameras, retro-reflective markers, and LIDAR to allow a particular user to designate himself as the robot´s leader, and guide the robot along a desired path. We provide an extensive quantitative evaluation to show that the proposed system is able to detect and track a leader through unconstrained and cluttered off-road environments under a wide variety of illumination and motion conditions.