Illustrating Robot Movements

In efforts to disseminate research on human-robot interaction, many researchers use illustrations in the form of sketches, photographs, and 3D models of robot movements. These illustrations are not only useful for building on the research, but they also capture ways researchers think about robot movement. In this paper, we review papers from the ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction in which such illustrations are presented supplementary to the text. We analyse a total of 181 illustrations from 137 papers to understand the diverse ways in which robot movements are illustrated as well as how each style supports and limits information about the movements. We identify 10 basic styles that are used. Based on a visual analysis of these styles, we provide a detailed examination of each. This paper contributes with an overview that can be used to support future dissemination within the HRI research community. We present four aspects to consider for future illustrations and a discussion on how our findings could be utilised in early design processes.