7,324 research outputs found
A Dynamical System Approach to Task-Adaptation in Physical Human-Robot Interaction
The goal of this work is to enable robots to intelligently and compliantly adapt their motions to the intention of a human during physical Human-Robot Interaction (pHRI) in a multi-task setting. We employ a class of parameterized dynamical systems that allows for smooth and adaptive transitions between encoded tasks. To comply with human intention, we propose a mechanism that adapts generated motions (i.e., the desired velocity) to those intended by the human user (i.e., the real velocity) thereby switching to the most similar task. We provide a rigorous analytical evaluation of our method in terms of stability, convergence, and optimality yielding an interaction behavior which is safe and intuitive for the human. We investigate our method through experimental evaluations ranging in different setups: a 3-DoF haptic device, a 7-DoF manipulator and a mobile platform
Evolutionary Robotics: a new scientific tool for studying cognition
We survey developments in Artificial Neural Networks, in Behaviour-based Robotics and Evolutionary Algorithms that set the stage for Evolutionary Robotics in the 1990s. We examine the motivations for using ER as a scientific tool for studying minimal models of cognition, with the advantage of being capable of generating integrated sensorimotor systems with minimal (or controllable) prejudices. These systems must act as a whole in close coupling with their environments which is an essential aspect of real cognition that is often either bypassed or modelled poorly in other disciplines. We demonstrate with three example studies: homeostasis under visual inversion; the origins of learning; and the ontogenetic acquisition of entrainment
Learning Human-Robot Collaboration Insights through the Integration of Muscle Activity in Interaction Motion Models
Recent progress in human-robot collaboration makes fast and fluid
interactions possible, even when human observations are partial and occluded.
Methods like Interaction Probabilistic Movement Primitives (ProMP) model human
trajectories through motion capture systems. However, such representation does
not properly model tasks where similar motions handle different objects. Under
current approaches, a robot would not adapt its pose and dynamics for proper
handling. We integrate the use of Electromyography (EMG) into the Interaction
ProMP framework and utilize muscular signals to augment the human observation
representation. The contribution of our paper is increased task discernment
when trajectories are similar but tools are different and require the robot to
adjust its pose for proper handling. Interaction ProMPs are used with an
augmented vector that integrates muscle activity. Augmented time-normalized
trajectories are used in training to learn correlation parameters and robot
motions are predicted by finding the best weight combination and temporal
scaling for a task. Collaborative single task scenarios with similar motions
but different objects were used and compared. For one experiment only joint
angles were recorded, for the other EMG signals were additionally integrated.
Task recognition was computed for both tasks. Observation state vectors with
augmented EMG signals were able to completely identify differences across
tasks, while the baseline method failed every time. Integrating EMG signals
into collaborative tasks significantly increases the ability of the system to
recognize nuances in the tasks that are otherwise imperceptible, up to 74.6% in
our studies. Furthermore, the integration of EMG signals for collaboration also
opens the door to a wide class of human-robot physical interactions based on
haptic communication that has been largely unexploited in the field.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, 2 tables. As submitted to Humanoids 201
Using Parameterized Black-Box Priors to Scale Up Model-Based Policy Search for Robotics
The most data-efficient algorithms for reinforcement learning in robotics are
model-based policy search algorithms, which alternate between learning a
dynamical model of the robot and optimizing a policy to maximize the expected
return given the model and its uncertainties. Among the few proposed
approaches, the recently introduced Black-DROPS algorithm exploits a black-box
optimization algorithm to achieve both high data-efficiency and good
computation times when several cores are used; nevertheless, like all
model-based policy search approaches, Black-DROPS does not scale to high
dimensional state/action spaces. In this paper, we introduce a new model
learning procedure in Black-DROPS that leverages parameterized black-box priors
to (1) scale up to high-dimensional systems, and (2) be robust to large
inaccuracies of the prior information. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our
approach with the "pendubot" swing-up task in simulation and with a physical
hexapod robot (48D state space, 18D action space) that has to walk forward as
fast as possible. The results show that our new algorithm is more
data-efficient than previous model-based policy search algorithms (with and
without priors) and that it can allow a physical 6-legged robot to learn new
gaits in only 16 to 30 seconds of interaction time.Comment: Accepted at ICRA 2018; 8 pages, 4 figures, 2 algorithms, 1 table;
Video at https://youtu.be/HFkZkhGGzTo ; Spotlight ICRA presentation at
https://youtu.be/_MZYDhfWeL
On inferring intentions in shared tasks for industrial collaborative robots
Inferring human operators' actions in shared collaborative tasks, plays a crucial role in enhancing the cognitive capabilities of industrial robots. In all these incipient collaborative robotic applications, humans and robots not only should share space but also forces and the execution of a task. In this article, we present a robotic system which is able to identify different human's intentions and to adapt its behavior consequently, only by means of force data. In order to accomplish this aim, three major contributions are presented: (a) force-based operator's intent recognition, (b) force-based dataset of physical human-robot interaction and (c) validation of the whole system in a scenario inspired by a realistic industrial application. This work is an important step towards a more natural and user-friendly manner of physical human-robot interaction in scenarios where humans and robots collaborate in the accomplishment of a task.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version
Embodied Robot Models for Interdisciplinary Emotion Research
Due to their complex nature, emotions cannot be properly understood from the perspective of a single discipline. In this paper, I discuss how the use of robots as models is beneficial for interdisciplinary emotion research. Addressing this issue through the lens of my own research, I focus on a critical analysis of embodied robots models of different aspects of emotion, relate them to theories in psychology and neuroscience, and provide representative examples. I discuss concrete ways in which embodied robot models can be used to carry out interdisciplinary emotion research, assessing their contributions: as hypothetical models, and as operational models of specific emotional phenomena, of general emotion principles, and of specific emotion ``dimensions''. I conclude by discussing the advantages of using embodied robot models over other models.Peer reviewe
The implications of embodiment for behavior and cognition: animal and robotic case studies
In this paper, we will argue that if we want to understand the function of
the brain (or the control in the case of robots), we must understand how the
brain is embedded into the physical system, and how the organism interacts with
the real world. While embodiment has often been used in its trivial meaning,
i.e. 'intelligence requires a body', the concept has deeper and more important
implications, concerned with the relation between physical and information
(neural, control) processes. A number of case studies are presented to
illustrate the concept. These involve animals and robots and are concentrated
around locomotion, grasping, and visual perception. A theoretical scheme that
can be used to embed the diverse case studies will be presented. Finally, we
will establish a link between the low-level sensory-motor processes and
cognition. We will present an embodied view on categorization, and propose the
concepts of 'body schema' and 'forward models' as a natural extension of the
embodied approach toward first representations.Comment: Book chapter in W. Tschacher & C. Bergomi, ed., 'The Implications of
Embodiment: Cognition and Communication', Exeter: Imprint Academic, pp. 31-5
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