Rachel Kirby
Robotics Institute
Carnegie Mellon University
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
In general, I am interested in human-robot social interaction. Currently, my work focuses on spatial interaction; that is, how a robot should move around in social situations. I am advised by Reid Simmons and Jodi Forlizzi.
Much of my research is chronicled on my research wiki.
See my publications page for more information on any of these projects.
Robot Navigation for Social Tasks
My thesis work focuses on how robots should navigate in populated environments, around people who are unlikely to be familiar with robots. I believe that these robots should behave in social ways, observing human social conventions like personal space and tending to the right side of hallways.
My thesis proposal document is available in pdf form here: proposal.pdf
A Person-Following Robot
In some of the work contributing to my thesis proposal, I designed two person-following behaviors for a mobile robot and analyzed people's perceptions of the robot's behaviors.
An Affective Model for Social Robots
The first several years of my work in the PhD program focused on designing a model of affect (moods, emotions, and attitudes) for social robots. I implemented the model on the Roboceptionist robot and performed several studies regarding how the robot's displays of moods and emotions influenced how people interacted with it.
