“What is the level of human trust in robots? Do we trust their reliability implicitly? Under what circumstances do we rely on machines? What characterises a successful collaboration with a robot? – asked students from the AGH University of Science and Technology (AGH) in Kraków in a study of the level of trust in robots.

In the tests, the students used Kalman, a Mars rover that has been created for five years by Nina Bażela and Paweł Graczak, both members of the AGH Space Systems Scientific Club. 

As the survey results show, the level of confidence in the rover was similar among all team members and was described as high (on a scale of one to five, it was close to four). Team members are aware of Kalman’s limitations, but this does not negatively affect the level of trust in and emotional attachment to the robot. 

The only factor that correlated with the level of trust was the amount of sleep the previous night. The less sleep someone had, the higher their level of trust in the rover.