The Robotability Score

The Robotability Score is an Interaction Research Lab (IRL) @ Cornell Tech project focused on developing an operationalization of robot navigation, while being fundamentally considerate of existing urban fabric and human mobility patterns. Robotability advocates for ‘harmony’ when introducing new actors into the sidewalk ballet, rather than just plopping robots arbitrarily onto crowded and already-trafficked streets.

Robotability consisted of expert interviews, a citywide empirical proof-of-concept for New York City (computed using over 20 NYC OpenData datasets), and real-world deployments of IRL’s TrashBot (a wheeled trashcan robot) in areas of high and low robotability. The team’s hope is that Robotability informs ongoing and future robot deployments in cities, already being piloted by companies like Serve Robotics and Amazon.