# Transforming a Quadruped into a Guide Robot for the Visually Impaired: Formalizing Wayfinding, Interaction Modeling, and Safety Mechanism

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.14055 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2306.14055/

## Key facts

- Cited by 4 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 21 of its 62 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 24 Jun 2023.

## Builds on (most cited first, 21 of 21)

- [Matterport3D: Learning from RGB-D Data in Indoor Environments](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1709.06158/) (2017)
- [Habitat: A Platform for Embodied AI Research](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1904.01201/) (2019)
- [On Evaluation of Embodied Navigation Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1807.06757/) (2018)
- [Safe Reinforcement Learning via Shielding](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1708.08611/) (2017)
- [DD-PPO: Learning Near-Perfect PointGoal Navigators from 2.5 Billion Frames](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1911.00357/) (2019)
- [Crowd-Robot Interaction: Crowd-aware Robot Navigation with Attention-based Deep Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1809.08835/) (2018)
- [iGibson 1.0: a Simulation Environment for Interactive Tasks in Large Realistic Scenes](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2012.02924/) (2020)
- [Safe Reinforcement Learning by Imagining the Near Future](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2202.07789/) (2022)
- [Safe Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning via Shielding](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2101.11196/) (2021)
- [Motion Planning and Control for Mobile Robot Navigation Using Machine Learning: a Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2011.13112/) (2020)
- [Success Weighted by Completion Time: A Dynamics-Aware Evaluation Criteria for Embodied Navigation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.08022/) (2021)
- [Robotic Guide Dog: Leading a Human with Leash-Guided Hybrid Physical Interaction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.14300/) (2021)
- [Learning to Navigate Sidewalks in Outdoor Environments](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2109.05603/) (2021)
- [Improving Safety in Deep Reinforcement Learning using Unsupervised Action Planning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2109.14325/) (2021)
- [Quadruped Guidance Robot for the Visually Impaired: A Comfort-Based Approach](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2203.03927/) (2022)
- [System Configuration and Navigation of a Guide Dog Robot: Toward Animal Guide Dog-Level Guiding Work](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.13368/) (2022)
- [Flying Guide Dog: Walkable Path Discovery for the Visually Impaired Utilizing Drones and Transformer-based Semantic Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2108.07007/) (2021)
- [Benchmarking Augmentation Methods for Learning Robust Navigation Agents: the Winning Entry of the 2021 iGibson Challenge](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2109.10493/) (2021)
- [Hierarchical and Safe Motion Control for Cooperative Locomotion of Robotic Guide Dogs and Humans: A Hybrid Systems Approach](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1904.03158/) (2019)
- [Exploring Levels of Control for a Navigation Assistant for Blind Travelers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2301.02336/) (2023)
- [Quadrupedal Robotic Guide Dog with Vocal Human-Robot Interaction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2111.03718/) (2021)

## Built on by (most cited first, 4 of 4)

- [GuideNav: User-Informed Development of a Vision-Only Robotic Navigation Assistant For Blind Travelers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.06147/) (2025)
- [Seeing-Eye Quadruped Navigation with Force Responsive Locomotion Control](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.04370/) (2023)
- [GuideFetch: A Task Coordination Framework for Concurrent Navigation and Object Retrieval in Assistive Robot Dogs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.18292/) (2026)
- [Lightweight and Resource-Efficient Perception for Robotic Guide Dogs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2610.03187/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

This paper explores the principles for transforming a quadrupedal robot into a guide robot for individuals with visual impairments. A guide robot has great potential to resolve the limited availability of guide animals that are accessible to only two to three percent of the potential blind or visually impaired (BVI) users. To build a successful guide robot, our paper explores three key topics: (1) formalizing the navigation mechanism of a guide dog and a human, (2) developing a data-driven model of their interaction, and (3) improving user safety. First, we formalize the wayfinding task of the human-guide robot team using Markov Decision Processes based on the literature and interviews. Then we collect real human-robot interaction data from three visually impaired and six sighted people and develop an interaction model called the ``Delayed Harness'' to effectively simulate the navigation behaviors of the team. Additionally, we introduce an action shielding mechanism to enhance user safety by predicting and filtering out dangerous actions. We evaluate the developed interaction model and the safety mechanism in simulation, which greatly reduce the prediction errors and the number of collisions, respectively. We also demonstrate the integrated system on a quadrupedal robot with a rigid harness, by guiding users over 100+~m trajectories.