Advances in Human-Robot Handshaking

The use of social, anthropomorphic robots to support humans in various industries has been on the rise. During Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), physically interactive non-verbal behaviour is key for more natural interactions. Handshaking is one such natural interaction used commonly in many social contexts. It is one of the first non-verbal interactions which takes place and should, therefore, be part of the repertoire of a social robot. In this paper, we explore the existing state of Human-Robot Handshaking and discuss possible ways forward for such physically interactive behaviours.Comment: Accepted at The 12th International Conference on Social Robotics (ICSR 2020) 12 Pages, 1 Figur

A Novel Greeting Selection System for a Culture-Adaptive Humanoid Robot

Robots, especially humanoids, are expected to perform human-like actions and adapt to our ways of communication in order to facilitate their acceptance in human society. Among humans, rules of communication change depending on background culture: greetings are a part of communication in which cultural differences are strong. Robots should adapt to these specific differences in order to communicate effectively, being able to select the appropriate manner of greeting for different cultures depending on the social context. In this paper, we present the modelling of social factors that influence greeting choice, and the resulting novel culture-dependent greeting gesture and words selection system. An experiment with German participants was run using the humanoid robot ARMAR-IIIb. Thanks to this system, the robot, after interacting with Germans, can perform greeting gestures appropriate to German culture in addition to a repertoire of greetings appropriate to Japanese culture

A novel greeting selection system for a culture-adaptive humanoid robot

Robots, especially humanoids, are expected to perform human-like actions and adapt to our ways of communication in order to facilitate their acceptance in human society. Among humans, rules of communication change depending on background culture: greetings are a part of communication in which cultural differences are strong. Robots should adapt to these specific differences in order to communicate effectively, being able to select the appropriate manner of greeting for different cultures depending on the social context. In this paper, we present the modelling of social factors that influence greeting choice, and the resulting novel culture-dependent greeting gesture and words selection system. An experiment with German participants was run using the humanoid robot ARMARIIIb. Thanks to this system, the robot, after interacting with Germans, can perform greeting gestures appropriate to German culture in addition to a repertoire of greetings appropriate to Japanese culture

Human-Robot Handshaking: A Review

For some years now, the use of social, anthropomorphic robots in various situations has been on the rise. These are robots developed to interact with humans and are equipped with corresponding extremities. They already support human users in various industries, such as retail, gastronomy, hotels, education and healthcare. During such Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) scenarios, physical touch plays a central role in the various applications of social robots as interactive non-verbal behaviour is a key factor in making the interaction more natural. Shaking hands is a simple, natural interaction used commonly in many social contexts and is seen as a symbol of greeting, farewell and congratulations. In this paper, we take a look at the existing state of Human-Robot Handshaking research, categorise the works based on their focus areas, draw out the major findings of these areas while analysing their pitfalls. We mainly see that some form of synchronisation exists during the different phases of the interaction. In addition to this, we also find that additional factors like gaze, voice facial expressions etc. can affect the perception of a robotic handshake and that internal factors like personality and mood can affect the way in which handshaking behaviours are executed by humans. Based on the findings and insights, we finally discuss possible ways forward for research on such physically interactive behaviours.Comment: Pre-print version. Accepted for publication in the International Journal of Social Robotic

Physical Analysis of Handshaking Between Humans: Mutual Synchronisation and Social Context

International audienceOne very popular form of interpersonal interaction used in various situations is the handshake (HS), which is an act that is both physical and social. This article aims to demonstrate that the paradigm of synchrony that refers to the psychology of individuals' temporal movement coordination could also be considered in handshaking. For this purpose, the physical features of the human HS are investigated in two different social situations: greeting and consolation. The duration and frequency of the HS and the force of the grip have been measured and compared using a prototype of a wearable system equipped with several sensors. The results show that an HS can be decomposed into four phases, and after a short physical contact, a synchrony emerges between the two persons who are shaking hands. A statistical analysis conducted on 31 persons showed that, in the two different contexts, there is a significant difference in the duration of HS, but the frequency of motion and time needed to synchronize were not impacted by the context of an interaction

Perfectionnement des algorithmes de contrôle-commande des robots manipulateur électriques en interaction physique avec leur environnement par une approche bio-inspirée

Automated production lines integrate robots which are isolated from workers, so there is no physical interaction between a human and robot. In the near future, a humanoid robot will become a part of the human environment as a companion to help or work with humans. The aspects of coexistence always presuppose physical and social interaction between a robot and a human. In humanoid robotics, further progress depends on knowledge of cognitive mechanisms of interpersonal interaction as robots physically and socially interact with humans. An illustrative example of interpersonal interaction is an act of a handshake that plays a substantial social role. The particularity of this form of interpersonal interaction is that it is based on physical and social couplings which lead to synchronization of motion and efforts. Studying a handshake for robots is interesting as it can expand their behavioral properties for interaction with a human being in more natural way. The first chapter of this thesis presents the state of the art in the fields of social sciences, medicine and humanoid robotics that study the phenomenon of a handshake. The second chapter is dedicated to the physical nature of the phenomenon between humans via quantitative measurements. A new wearable system to measure a handshake was built in Donetsk National Technical University (Ukraine). It consists of a set of several sensors attached to the glove for recording angular velocities and gravitational acceleration of the hand and forces in certain points of hand contact during interaction. The measurement campaigns have shown that there is a phenomenon of mutual synchrony that is preceded by the phase of physical contact which initiates this synchrony. Considering the rhythmic nature of this phenomenon, the controller based on the models of rhythmic neuron of Rowat-Selverston, with learning the frequency during interaction was proposed and studied in the third chapter. Chapter four deals with the experiences of physical human-robot interaction. The experimentations with robot arm Katana show that it is possible for a robot to learn to synchronize its rhythm with rhythms imposed by a human during handshake with the proposed model of a bio-inspired controller. A general conclusion and perspectives summarize and finish this work.Les robots intégrés aux chaînes de production sont généralement isolés des ouvriers et ne prévoient pas d'interaction physique avec les humains. Dans le futur, le robot humanoïde deviendra un partenaire pour vivre ou travailler avec les êtres humains. Cette coexistence prévoit l'interaction physique et sociale entre le robot et l'être humain. En robotique humanoïde les futurs progrès dépendront donc des connaissances dans les mécanismes cognitifs présents dans les interactions interpersonnelles afin que les robots interagissent avec les humains physiquement et socialement. Un bon exemple d'interaction interpersonnelle est l'acte de la poignée de la main qui possède un rôle social très important. La particularité de cette interaction est aussi qu'elle est basée sur un couplage physique et social qui induit une synchronisation des mouvements et des efforts. L'intérêt d'étudier la poignée de main pour les robots consiste donc à élargir leurs propriétés comportementales pour qu'ils interagissent avec les humains de manière plus habituelle.Cette thèse présente dans un premier chapitre un état de l'art sur les travaux dans les domaines des sciences humaines, de la médecine et de la robotique humanoïde qui sont liés au phénomène de la poignée de main. Le second chapitre, est consacré à la nature physique du phénomène de poignée de main chez l'être humain par des mesures quantitatives des mouvements. Pour cela un système de mesures a été construit à l'Université Nationale Technique de Donetsk (Ukraine). Il est composé d'un gant instrumenté par un réseau de capteurs portés qui permet l'enregistrement des vitesses et accélérations du poignet et les forces aux points de contact des paumes, lors de l'interaction. Des campagnes de mesures ont permis de montrer la présence d'un phénomène de synchronie mutuelle précédé d'une phase de contact physique qui initie cette synchronie. En tenant compte de cette nature rythmique, un contrôleur à base de neurones rythmiques de Rowat-Selverston, intégrant un mécanisme d'apprentissage de la fréquence d'interaction, est proposé et etudié dans le troisième chapitre pour commander un bras robotique. Le chapitre quatre est consacré aux expériences d'interaction physique homme/robot. Des expériences avec un bras robotique Katana montrent qu'il est possible d'apprendre à synchroniser la rythmicité du robot avec celle imposée par une per-sonne lors d'une poignée de main grâce à ce modèle de contrôleur bio-inspiré. Une conclusion générale dresse le bilan des travaux menés et propose des perspectives