Lionel P. Robert Jr.

#Robots have to take in heaps of #data and act on it quickly. Scientists have found a way to enable robots to make better, faster choices in dangerous situations: making them feel fear.
spectrum.ieee.org/robot-risk-a...

Jury Says Tesla Was Partly to Blame for Fatal Crash

Jury Says Tesla Was Partly to Blame for Fatal Crash www.nytimes.com/2025/08/01/b...

Thanks … add me also

Waymo to launch autonomous ride-hailing in Dallas next year Alphabet's Waymo said on Monday it will roll out its autonomous ride-hailing service in Dallas in 2026, accelerating its U.S. expansion as electric vehicle maker Tesla pushes to grow its recently launched robotaxi business.

Waymo to launch autonomous ride-hailing in Dallas next year reut.rs/4f9Skqh

Robert: People love confident robots, but relate more to anxious ones | umsi UMSI professor Lionel Robert discusses how different robot personalities impact human connection.

www.si.umich.edu/about-umsi/n...

#robotics

People like extroverted robots — but they relate to the neurotic ones Neurotic personalities are a staple of science fiction. Researchers who study how people react to robot personalities have recently found that neurotic traits in a robot can make them seem more relata...

I'm excited to be part of this NPR story on neurotic robots. "Neurotic robots can be more relatable than extroverted bots, study finds" by Nell Greenfieldboyce
#robotics #robots #ai

www.npr.org/2025/07/25/n...

Tesla on trial: What caused fatal crash — driver or autopilot? A jury in Florida can reshape the future of self-driving cars as it considers how much Elon Musk’s company is to blame for 22-year-old’s death in crash

A jury in Florida can reshape the future of self-driving cars as it considers how much Elon Musk’s company is to blame for 22-year-old’s death in crash

How AI Will Change Your Relationship With Your Pet AI facial recognition studies are being conducted on dogs to train technology to recognize pain, emotional distress, or sickness.

Recently quoted in a great news article, "How AI Will Change Your Relationship With Your Pet" by Alicia Kort in Kinship.
#robotics #AI #pets

www.kinship.com/dog-lifestyl...

#Robotics

As Robotaxi Rides Begin, We Still Don't Know the Mystery of Tesla’s Human Helpers Neither the US federal government nor the City of Austin will say how teleoperations, self-driving’s critical safety feature, will be used in the service launching in Austin in just a matter of days.

Neither the US federal government nor the City of Austin will say how teleoperations, self-driving’s critical safety feature, will be used in the service launching in Austin in just a matter of days. www.wired.com/story/as-rob...

#robotics

Call for Papers:

We invite researchers to submit their work to the Human-Robot Interaction and Collaboration minitrack at the Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS) 2026!
#robotics

Deadline: June 15, 2025
Maui, Hawaii
submission details: lnkd.in/dAtSpDb

Artificial intelligence voice gender, gender role congruity, and trust in automated vehicles - Scientific Reports Scientific Reports - Artificial intelligence voice gender, gender role congruity, and trust in automated vehicles

Are you curious how an automated vehicle's (AV) voice can impact your trust? This research reveals that gender similarity enhances trust when the voice aligns with expected gender roles. Explore how ingrained societal biases influence our perceptions.
#robotics #AV

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Artificial intelligence voice gender, gender role congruity, and trust in automated vehicles - Scientific Reports Scientific Reports - Artificial intelligence voice gender, gender role congruity, and trust in automated vehicles

Are you curious how an automated vehicle's (AV) voice can impact your trust? This research reveals that gender similarity enhances trust when the voice aligns with expected gender roles. Explore how ingrained societal biases influence our perceptions.
#robotics #AV

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

I know of at least one other person who had a similar dream recently …

Amazon Has Made a Robot With a Sense of Touch Vulcan, a robot with tactile senses, is a step towards automating more of picking and stowing work done by humans inside Amazon’s fulfillment centers.

Vulcan, a robot with tactile senses, is a step towards automating more of picking and stowing work done by humans inside Amazon’s fulfillment centers. www.wired.com/story/ai-lab...

A new paper on human-robot intimacy, Sexual and Emotional Intimacy with Robots:...Review, merges theory and practice to redefine emotional and sexual closeness.

#Robotics

dx.doi.org/10.7302/25453

Congrats!!!

Study finds robots struggle to repair broken human trust | umsi New research by UMSI PhD candidate Connor Esterwood finds that when robots mess up, saying ‘sorry’ to humans helps, but only a little.

www.si.umich.edu/about-umsi/n...

#robotics

How about “very little is know about”?

How Chef Robotics found success by turning away its original customers | TechCrunch A few years ago, Chef Robotics was hurting. But founder Rajat Bhageria turned it around by doing something that early-stage founders fear to do.

A few years ago, Chef Robotics was hurting. But founder Rajat Bhageria turned it around by doing something that early-stage founders fear to do.

Robotics market is looking at the 'dawn of a new supercycle' The stock market (^GSPC, ^IXIC, ^DJI) is struggling to maintain gains as fears over tariff risks linger. VettaFi senior research analyst Zeno Mercer joins Market Domination to discuss the po...

finance.yahoo.com/video/roboti...

Serve Robotics Saddles Up for Autonomous Delivery in Dallas-Fort Worth Via Uber Eats DALLAS, April 03, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Serve Robotics Inc. (“Serve”) (Nasdaq: SERV), a leading autonomous sidewalk delivery company, today announced the launch of its service in the Dallas-Fort Wo...

finance.yahoo.com/news/serve-r...

Invasion of the Home Humanoid Robots Dozens of companies are building robots that look like humans. One of them is training a machine to be a butler and will soon test them in homes.

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/04/t...

#robotics

UBtech humanoids working in a Geely EV factory in China

Congrats

A hopping robot shows off its squirrel-like skills Salto the jumping robot can take a flying leap and land on a narrow pipe — just like a squirrel soaring from branch to branch.

A one-legged robot can hop from one narrow pipe to another and land balanced, like a squirrel leaping between branches.

Do HRI researchers need physical robots for valid results, or can virtual alternatives suffice? The answer might surprise you.

Check out, "Virtually the Same or Realistically Different?: A Meta-analysis of Real vs. 'Not So Real' Robots."
#robots #HRI2025

dx.doi.org/10.7302/24927

A great #hri25 conference and looking forward to seeing the continued work of some excellent scholars and colleagues.