Efficiently Approaching Groups of People in a Socially Acceptable Manner in Environments with Obstacles

Advancements in mobile robotics have allowed humans and robots to interact in different environments and ways. A problem of great interest in Human-Robot Interaction is how to approach individuals, e.g., to gather information, in a socially acceptable manner. We present a new method for planning sequential visits to various groups of people in cluttered environments. The problem is formulated as a Set Orienteering Problem, where each group denotes a cluster with a set of possible approaching points considering different F-formations. We use the concept of a social probabilistic roadmap to determine safe paths between groups. Simulations considering different cases show that methodology produces efficient tours that maximize the number of approached individuals while respecting social norms of distance and a limited budget.