Forest Resources Professor Ingrid Schneider’s research investigates the intersection of emerging technology and public acceptance in natural resource management. Focused on improving monitoring efficiency and visitor experiences, her research involves some unique companions: LoCO, an autonomous underwater vehicle, and Unitree Go1, a quadruped companion robot. Here, Schneider speaks with us about her work.
How did you get interested and involved in robotics?
In 2021 during COVID, I was coordinating a national team to estimate distances between trail visitors and observe their behaviors. A news story revealed a quadruped (i.e., dog-like robot) was performing distancing measures between park visitors and then "barking" a message to those who were closer than the recommended 6 feet. I was impressed with Singapore’s ability to quickly create and launch such an impressive monitoring and management intervention and wanted to learn more. I started exploring this emerging area and, a few years later, I was fortunate to spend a semester leave with researchers in New Zealand and Australia working with field robots and robots in public spaces. Since then, I’ve been exploring both managerial and public responses to robot use in publicly protected areas.
How can robots be used in parks and/or water recreation? What needs do they meet?
Robots and automated systems (RAS) can fill any number of roles. Humanoids and field robots can augment most tasks within a protected area, from providing visitor information to monitoring conditions and mowing grassy areas. RAS offer efficiencies when public land management is increasingly challenged by reduced staffing and resources. My systematic literature review revealed that, as of 2023, aerial drones are the most commonly used and are typically used for monitoring.
What are you using the robot to study?
My primary interest is in the acceptance of these new technologies and their diffusion. Robots "in the wild" present unique challenges related to both the environments they operate in and how much people value those environments. The LoCo team is working to increase and improve water quality monitoring and aquatic invasive species (AIS) detection. For example, the robot can augment monitoring and save time by quickly performing monitoring functions, scoping areas where AIS are most prevalent and where divers or treatment should occur, and providing timely data sharing with managers. The ground robot team is collaborating on ways to improve terrestrial invasive species detection and forest management, as well as ways to improve robot-human interactions.
What have public reactions to the robot been like? What are you learning, and why does it matter?
The public is most frequently curious, and then has a number of questions. Concerns understandably arise, mostly focused on safety and privacy. The water robots have been the primary research focus to date. Our interviews and surveys reveal the public finds LoCO performing water quality monitoring or detecting AIS ‘acceptable’ across settings. Of course, when they encounter LoCO, there may be different reactions. For the robotic dog, most people really delight in it, want to know its name, its function, and what tricks it can do. Its utility as a monitoring tool and companion are our next foci. [These reactions] are important because public land managers are often legally required to engage the public and understand their responses to management ideas. In addition, if and when robots are integrated into management, the public will know their function and perhaps be more accepting of them. As this physical AI expands, so will public land management possibilities: both managers and visitors need to be prepared.
This multidisciplinary water-based study is in collaboration with researchers from the Minnesota Robotics Institute1, College of Science & Engineering2, and the College of Veterinary Medicine3. The quadruped explorations are in collaboration with CFANS and CSE Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering Department.
The water robot project is funded by the Institute on the Environment and the UMN Research and Innovation Office’s Grants in Aid, with Drs. Junaed Sattar1, 2 and Amy Kinsley3. The quadruped team includes Drs. Ce Yang1, 3 and Zhu-Tian Chen1, 2. Thank you to collaborator Stephan Guy1, 2 for graciously loaning the team the Unitree Go1.
This research has been presented in New Zealand, Australia, Austria, and a variety of domestic conferences, most recently at the National Outdoor Recreation Conference in Duluth, MN. Read the initial literature review: z.umn.edu/RobotsinPPA