Recognizing interaction from a robot's perspective

For meaningful interaction between a robot and a human, an autonomous robot must recognize whether the experienced situation is created by people or by the environment. Using only proprioceptive data from a mobile robotic platform, we discover that it is possible to distinguish sensory data patterns involving interaction. These patterns are obtained whilst navigating varying environments, both human populated and unpopulated. The paper reports the initial set of trials using Roball, a spherical mobile robot. Also described is the experimental methodology currently followed to validate the hypothesis that child interaction can be perceived directly from navigation sensors onboard a robotic platform.