From Industrial Robots to Everyday Life: My Journey into Service Robots – Part 3

03 Mar 2026

How Service Robots Are Tested Before They Meet the Public

One thing people rarely think about when they see a service robot in a restaurant or hotel is how much work goes into testing it before it ever meets a real customer. Most of the time, people just see a friendly machine rolling around delivering food or guiding guests. It looks simple, almost effortless. But behind that effortless behaviour is a huge amount of testing, checking, adjusting, and redesigning.

Before I started learning about service robot safety, I imagined testing would be straightforward, e.g., press a few buttons, check whether the robot can move, and that’s it. But once I joined the standards committee and began working with other stakeholders, many of them actual service robot manufacturers, I realised I was completely wrong. The amount of testing, checking, and verification that goes into making a robot safe is far beyond what I expected. Testing a service robot is less like testing a machine and more like preparing it to survive in a very unpredictable world.

The biggest challenge is this: robots do not operate in clean, controlled labs. They operate around us humans and we are not predictable. We walk too fast, too slow, diagonally, backwards, or without looking. We stop suddenly. We bend down to pick up something we dropped. We get distracted by our phones. Children run straight into the robot’s path without hesitation. Pets lie down in front of it like it is a warm cushion. Real life is messy, and the robot must stay safe in all of it.

So, what does testing look like?

Well, imagine a group of adults deliberately trying to confuse a robot. They walk directly in front of it. They stop suddenly. They reach out and touch it unexpectedly. They crouch down like toddlers. They stand behind it quietly. They grab items from its tray while it is moving. They even bump it gently from the side to see if it stays stable. It sometimes looks funny, but this is exactly the kind of behaviour robots will experience in the real world.

Safety engineers also pay close attention to how the robot moves. A robot should never feel “jumpy” or unpredictable. It should accelerate smoothly, turn gently, and stop calmly. People feel safe around robots that behave politely. A robot that rushes or jerks suddenly can make anyone nervous, especially children or elderly users. Good motion behaviour is a big part of safety.

Another part of testing is making sure contact is safe. Even slow robots can hurt someone if they push too hard. So Safety engineers check how much force the robot uses if it bumps into a person. The ideal bump should feel more like a soft nudge than anything else. If it feels uncomfortable, the robot needs to be adjusted.

And then there is the invisible part: how the robot behaves when something goes wrong internally. Sensors fail, software freezes, networks drop, batteries get low, and these things happen. A safe robot must “fail safely,” meaning it slows down or stops rather than doing something unpredictable. People can forgive a robot that pauses. They cannot forgive a robot that suddenly moves in a strange or unexpected way.

Testing is not just about the robot, it is also about the environment. Robots have to handle carpets, slopes, tight corners, reflective surfaces, loud noises, and poor lighting. They must stay stable even with uneven loads or when someone brushes past them. Real environments are not tidy, and neither is testing.

One of the things you often see in service robot testing is people trying to “outsmart” the robot just to observe how it behaves. Someone might wave an arm dramatically, and the robot simply pauses. Another person may step awkwardly in front of it, and the robot slows down without any fuss. These quiet, controlled reactions are exactly what show a robot is behaving safely and is ready for the real world.

In the end, testing is what turns a machine into a trustworthy helper. When you see a service robot moving confidently through a busy space, it is not luck it is the result of countless hours of testing and thoughtful design. Good robots are not just functional. They are safe, predictable, and prepared for the unpredictable behaviour of the humans around them.

In the next blog, I will talk about the challenges robots face once they leave the test lab regulations, cybersecurity, AI behaviour, interactions with buildings, and everything else that makes the real world such an interesting place for service robots.