Researchers at the Technical University of Munich have developed a robot that can make its way through a crowd safely and without hesitation. A computer predicts the movement of nearby people and how they are likely to react. From this, it calculates the fastest route to its destination. Similar algorithms could someday be used for humanoid robots or autonomous vehicles to enable them to safely interact with people.

The robot uses lidar to create a 360-degree map of its environment with a special emphasis on people. Sensors measure the robot’s speed and how far it has traveled. A computer processes this information, calculates how far people will move in the next two seconds, and plans the best route to avoid them.