Developing autonomous behaviors for a consumer robot to hang out near people in the home

This paper describes the development of algorithms that decide when to move, where to move, and how to look for people in a home environment. We introduce a design framework that defines the design principles, key decision points, and technical approaches for a social robot to proactively be with people for companionship and assistance in the home. Through a series of evaluations ranging from simulations to longitudinal A/B studies, we demonstrate how to utilize the design framework to help guide the evaluation and selection of solutions. We deployed our autonomous robot in a longterm in-situ study and found our proposed approach to be more capable of being co-present with its household members compared to a baseline approach. Conducted in an industry setting, our research departs from typical academic practices as the motivations and constraints are inherently different. We share our perspective on the differences of industry research when developing a social robot as a commercial product.