What is the Teacher's Role in Robot Programming by Demonstration? - Toward Benchmarks for Improved Learning

Robot programming by demonstration (RPD) covers methods by which a robot learns new skills through human guidance. We present an interactive, multimodal RPD framework using active teaching methods that places the human teacher in the robot's learning loop. Two experiments are presented in which observational learning is first used to demonstrate a manipulation skill to a HOAP-3 humanoid robot by using motion sensors attached to the teacher's body. Then, putting the robot through the motion, the teacher incrementally refines the robot's skill by moving its arms manually, providing the appropriate scaffolds to reproduce the action. An incremental teaching scenario is proposed based on insights from various fields addressing developmental, psychological, and social issues related to teaching mechanisms in humans. Based on this analysis, different benchmarks are suggested to evaluate the setup further

Multi-Modal Human-Machine Communication for Instructing Robot Grasping Tasks

A major challenge for the realization of intelligent robots is to supply them with cognitive abilities in order to allow ordinary users to program them easily and intuitively. One way of such programming is teaching work tasks by interactive demonstration. To make this effective and convenient for the user, the machine must be capable to establish a common focus of attention and be able to use and integrate spoken instructions, visual perceptions, and non-verbal clues like gestural commands. We report progress in building a hybrid architecture that combines statistical methods, neural networks, and finite state machines into an integrated system for instructing grasping tasks by man-machine interaction. The system combines the GRAVIS-robot for visual attention and gestural instruction with an intelligent interface for speech recognition and linguistic interpretation, and an modality fusion module to allow multi-modal task-oriented man-machine communication with respect to dextrous robot manipulation of objects.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figure

Building ArtBots to attract students into STEM learning

There is an increasing worldwide demand for people educated into science and technology. Unfortunately, girls and underprivileged students are often underrepresented in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education programs. We believe that by inclusion of art in these programs, educational activities might become more attractive to a broader audience. In this work we present an example of such an educational activity: an international robotics and art week for secondary school students. This educational activity builds up on the project-based and inquiry learning framework. This article is intended as a brief manual to help others organise such an activity. It also gives insights in how we led a highly heterogeneous group of students into learning STEM and becoming science and technology ambassadors for their peers