Abstract:
This review paper focuses on different aspects of perceived safety for a number of autonomous physical systems. This is a major
aspect of robotics research, as more and more applications allow human and autonomous systems to share their space, with crucial
implications both on safety and on its perception. The alternative terms used to express related concepts (e.g., psychological
safety, trust, comfort, stress, fear, and anxiety) are listed and explained. Then, the available methods to assess perceived safety
(i.e., questionnaires, physiological measurements, behavioral assessment, and direct input devices) are described. Six categories of
autonomous systems are considered (industrial manipulators, mobile robots, mobile manipulators, humanoid robots, drones, and
autonomous vehicles), providing an overview of the main themes related to perceived safety in the specific domain, a description
of selected works, and an analysis of how motion and characteristics of the system influence the perception of safety. The survey
also discusses experimental duration and location of the reviewed papers as well as identified trends over time.