A Method for Representing Motion Intentions of Flying Robots Utilizing Light Signals

With the increasingly widespread application of flying robots in various spatial environments, their auxiliary role in collaborative tasks has become more prominent. These tasks often necessitate close interaction with humans. Consequently, designers must thoroughly consider how humans perceive and interpret the behavior of flying robots. However, existing research has yet to accurately represent all motion states of flying robots. This study aims to explore the design space for enabling flying robots to communicate their flight intentions to nearby users. It proposes a set of lighting language rules, utilizing eight lights, to effectively convey the intentions of flying robots and precisely represent their motion states. Firstly, this study systematically decomposed and analyzed the motion states of flying robots in operational scenarios, identifying a total of 14 key motion states. Based on this analysis, design interviews were conducted to summarize design rules, and three schemes of lighting signal schemes were developed for the flying robots. Subsequently, through user studies, the effectiveness of each scheme of signal schemes was evaluated, and participants were required to predict the intentions of the robots. The results demonstrated that the proposed design significantly improved observers’ response speed and accuracy by 10.7%, while reducing their mental workload by 31.1%. The design scheme significantly enhanced users' ability to understand and predict the flight intentions of robots. The summarized design principles and design schemes laid an important foundation for the promotion and application of future flying robots in various operational contexts.