Current research on robot navigation is focused on clear recognition of the map and optimal path planning. The human cleaning path is, however, not optimal regarding time but optimal to the cleaning purpose. We have analyzed in this paper the cleaning behaviors in home environments and understood the user's path planning behaviors through usage tests of various vacuuming robots. We discovered that the actual user cleans with methods unique to specific areas of the house rather than following an optimal cleaning path. We not only suggest a path planning method for the vacuuming robot by using a layered map, but also a cleaning area designating method reflecting each area's characteristics. Based on these, we have designed a vacuuming robot's actions.

We consider robotic appliances, mobile and intelligent robots that perform household tasks, and study design method for autonomous behaviors of robotic appliances, a key component in human-robot and robot-environment interactions. Specifically, we develop robot behavior diagram, a visualized, robot-centric, chart-based behavior design method that is useful in describing robotic behaviors and transitions among them. This tool enables systematic construction of exhaustive set of autonomous behaviors, within the context of given set of robotic functionalities. First, the set of functionalities for a given robot is defined. Then, employing the defined functionalities, a diagram is constructed with behavioral states and events that can trigger transitions to other behaviors. For any given behavioral state, all plausible events are considered, and this is repeated until the diagram is complete with all the possible behaviors and events. We demonstrate that, via this method, a complete and robust behavioral scenario design is indeed attainable, by applying robot behavior diagram approach to an example household cleaning robot platform.