The STRANDS Project: Long-Term Autonomy in Everyday Environments

TLDR

Robots are increasingly capable, and there is growing demand for autonomous service robots that can operate in real environments for extended periods. The STRANDS project aims to meet this demand by integrating state‑of‑the‑art AI and robotics research into mobile service robots for long‑term deployment in security and care settings. We enable long‑term autonomous operation by deploying these robots in everyday environments and leveraging their extended run times to continually improve performance. Across four deployments, the robots operated autonomously for 104 days, completing end‑user defined tasks and covering 116 km.

Abstract

Thanks to the efforts of the robotics and autonomous systems community, robots are becoming ever more capable. There is also an increasing demand from end-users for autonomous service robots that can operate in real environments for extended periods. In the STRANDS project we are tackling this demand head-on by integrating state-of-the-art artificial intelligence and robotics research into mobile service robots, and deploying these systems for long-term installations in security and care environments. Over four deployments, our robots have been operational for a combined duration of 104 days autonomously performing end-user defined tasks, covering 116km in the process. In this article we describe the approach we have used to enable long-term autonomous operation in everyday environments, and how our robots are able to use their long run times to improve their own performance.