Usability

In robotics, usability means how easily a human can operate, configure, and trust a system. For humanoids, it’s not just about capability — but how quickly someone can deploy it, safely and without deep expertise.

Modern systems prioritize intuitive interfaces, rapid setup, and fail-safes that degrade gracefully. A robot that needs a PhD to operate it fails the usability test.

Low-code and natural language interfaces are shifting expectations. Tools like SayCan, VoxPoser, and RobotGPT let users issue high-level commands  instead of writing ROS behavior trees, enabling non-experts to control complex systems.

One example of this usability trend is the integration of ChatGPT to turn natural language commands into ROS 2 robot control, simplifying interaction. Source: Reducing Latency in LLM-Based Natural Language Commands Processing for Robot Navigation