A Realistic Simulation for Swarm UAVs and Performance Metrics for Operator User Interfaces

Robots have been utilized to support disaster mitigation missions through exploration of areas that are either unreachable or hazardous for human rescuers [1]. The great potential for robotics in disaster mitigation has been recognized by the research community and during the last decade, a lot of research has been focused on developing robotic systems for this purpose. In this thesis, we present a description of the usage and classification of UAVs and performance metrics that affect controlling of UAVs. We also present new contributions to the UAV simulator developed by ECSL and RRL: the integration of flight dynamics of Hummingbird quadcopter, and distance optimization using a Genetic algorithm

Aerospace medicine and biology: A continuing bibliography with indexes (supplement 324)

This bibliography lists 200 reports, articles and other documents introduced into the NASA Scientific and Technical Information System during May, 1989. Subject coverage includes: aerospace medicine and psychology, life support systems and controlled environments, safety equipment, exobiology and extraterrestrial life, and flight crew behavior and performance

SARSCEST (human factors)

People interact with the processes and products of contemporary technology. Individuals are affected by these in various ways and individuals shape them. Such interactions come under the label 'human factors'. To expand the understanding of those to whom the term is relatively unfamiliar, its domain includes both an applied science and applications of knowledge. It means both research and development, with implications of research both for basic science and for development. It encompasses not only design and testing but also training and personnel requirements, even though some unwisely try to split these apart both by name and institutionally. The territory includes more than performance at work, though concentration on that aspect, epitomized in the derivation of the term ergonomics, has overshadowed human factors interest in interactions between technology and the home, health, safety, consumers, children and later life, the handicapped, sports and recreation education, and travel. Two aspects of technology considered most significant for work performance, systems and automation, and several approaches to these, are discussed

A socio-technical approach for assistants in human-robot collaboration in industry 4.0

The introduction of technologies disruptive of Industry 4.0 in the workplace integrated through human cyber-physical systems causes operators to face new challenges. These are reflected in the increased demands presented in the operator's capabilities physical, sensory, and cognitive demands. In this research, cognitive demands are the most interesting. In this perspective, assistants are presented as a possible solution, not as a tool but as a set of functions that amplify human capabilities, such as exoskeletons, collaborative robots for physical capabilities, virtual and augmented reality for sensory capabilities. Perhaps chatbots and softbots for cognitive capabilities, then the need arises to ask ourselves: How can operator assistance systems 4.0 be developed in the context of industrial manufacturing? In which capacities does the operator need more assistance? From the current paradigm of systematization, different approaches are used within the context of the workspace in industry 4.0. Thus, the functional resonance analysis method (FRAM) is used to model the workspace from the sociotechnical system approach, where the relationships between the components are the most important among the functions to be developed by the human-robot team. With the use of simulators for both robots and robotic systems, the behavior of the variability of the human-robot team is analyzed. Furthermore, from the perspective of cognitive systems engineering, the workspace can be studied as a joint cognitive system, where cognition is understood as distributed, in a symbiotic relationship between the human and technological agents. The implementation of a case study as a human-robot collaborative workspace allows evaluating the performance of the human-robot team, the impact on the operator's cognitive abilities, and the level of collaboration achieved in the human-robot team through a set of metrics and proven methods in other areas, such as cognitive systems engineering, human-machine interaction, and ergonomics. We conclude by discussing the findings and outlook regarding future research questions and possible developments.La introducción de tecnologías disruptivas de Industria 4.0 en el lugar de trabajo integradas a través de sistemas ciberfísicos humanos hace que los operadores enfrenten nuevos desafíos. Estos se reflejan en el aumento de las demandas presentadas en las capacidades físicas, sensoriales y cognitivas del operador. En esta investigación, las demandas cognitivas son las más interesantes. En esta perspectiva, los asistentes se presentan como una posible solución, no como una herramienta sino como un conjunto de funciones que amplifican las capacidades humanas, como exoesqueletos, robots colaborativos para capacidades físicas, realidad virtual y aumentada para capacidades sensoriales. Quizás chatbots y softbots para capacidades cognitivas, entonces surge la necesidad de preguntarnos: ¿Cómo se pueden desarrollar los sistemas de asistencia al operador 4.0 en el contexto de la fabricación industrial? ¿En qué capacidades el operador necesita más asistencia? A partir del paradigma actual de sistematización, se utilizan diferentes enfoques dentro del contexto del espacio de trabajo en la industria 4.0. Así, se utiliza el método de análisis de resonancia funcional (FRAM) para modelar el espacio de trabajo desde el enfoque del sistema sociotécnico, donde las relaciones entre los componentes son las más importantes entre las funciones a desarrollar por el equipo humano-robot. Con el uso de simuladores tanto para robots como para sistemas robóticos se analiza el comportamiento de la variabilidad del equipo humano-robot. Además, desde la perspectiva de la ingeniería de sistemas cognitivos, el espacio de trabajo puede ser estudiado como un sistema cognitivo conjunto, donde la cognición se entiende distribuida, en una relación simbiótica entre los agentes humanos y tecnológicos. La implementación de un caso de estudio como un espacio de trabajo colaborativo humano-robot permite evaluar el desempeño del equipo humano-robot, el impacto en las habilidades cognitivas del operador y el nivel de colaboración alcanzado en el equipo humano-robot a través de un conjunto de métricas y métodos probados en otras áreas, como la ingeniería de sistemas cognitivos, la interacción hombre-máquina y la ergonomía. Concluimos discutiendo los hallazgos y las perspectivas con respecto a futuras preguntas de investigación y posibles desarrollos.Postprint (published version

Aerospace medicine and biology: A continuing bibliography with indexes (supplement 320)

This bibliography lists 125 reports, articles and other documents introduced into the NASA Scientific and Technical Information System during January, 1989. Subject coverage includes: aerospace medicine and psychology, life support systems and controlled environments, safety equipment, exobiology and extraterrestrial life, and flight crew behavior and performance

HUMAN CONTROL OF COOPERATING ROBOTS

Advances in robotic technologies and artificial intelligence are allowing robots to emerge fromresearch laboratories into our lives. Experiences with field applications show that we haveunderestimated the importance of human-robot interaction (HRI) and that new problems arise inHRI as robotic technologies expand. This thesis classifies HRI along four dimensions - human,robot, task, and world and illustrates that previous HRI classifications can be successfullyinterpreted as either about one of these elements or about the relationship between two or moreof these elements. Current HRI studies of single-operator single-robot (SOSR) control andsingle-operator multiple-robots (SOMR) control are reviewed using this approach.Human control of multiple robots has been suggested as a way to improve effectiveness inrobot control. Unlike previous studies that investigated human interaction either in low-fidelitysimulations or based on simple tasks, this thesis investigates human interaction with cooperatingrobot teams within a realistically complex environment. USARSim, a high-fidelity game-enginebasedrobot simulator, and MrCS, a distributed multirobot control system, were developed forthis purpose. In the pilot experiment, we studied the impact of autonomy level. Mixed initiativecontrol yielded performance superior to fully autonomous and manual control.To avoid limitation to particular application fields, the present thesis focuses on commonHRI evaluations that enable us to analyze HRI effectiveness and guide HRI design independentlyof the robotic system or application domain. We introduce the interaction episode (IEP), whichwas inspired by our pilot human-multirobot control experiment, to extend the Neglect ToleranceHUMAN CONTROL OF COOPERATING ROBOTSJijun Wang, Ph.D.University of Pittsburgh, 2007vmodel to support general multiple robots control for complex tasks. Cooperation Effort (CE),Cooperation Demand (CD), and Team Attention Demand (TAD) are defined to measure thecooperation in SOMR control. Two validation experiments were conducted to validate the CDmeasurement under tight and weak cooperation conditions in a high-fidelity virtual environment.The results show that CD, as a generic HRI metric, is able to account for the various factors thataffect HRI and can be used in HRI evaluation and analysis

Trust-Based Control of Robotic Manipulators in Collaborative Assembly in Manufacturing

Human-robot interaction (HRI) is vastly addressed in the field of automation and manufacturing. Most of the HRI literature in manufacturing explored physical human-robot interaction (pHRI) and invested in finding means for ensuring safety and optimized effort sharing amongst a team of humans and robots. The recent emergence of safe, lightweight, and human-friendly robots has opened a new realm for human-robot collaboration (HRC) in collaborative manufacturing. For such robots with the new HRI functionalities to interact closely and effectively with a human coworker, new human-centered controllers that integrate both physical and social interaction are demanded. Social human-robot interaction (sHRI) has been demonstrated in robots with affective abilities in education, social services, health care, and entertainment. Nonetheless, sHRI should not be limited only to those areas. In particular, we focus on human trust in robot as a basis of social interaction. Human trust in robot and robot anthropomorphic features have high impacts on sHRI. Trust is one of the key factors in sHRI and a prerequisite for effective HRC. Trust characterizes the reliance and tendency of human in using robots. Factors within a robotic system (e.g. performance, reliability, or attribute), the task, and the surrounding environment can all impact the trust dynamically. Over-reliance or under-reliance might occur due to improper trust, which results in poor team collaboration, and hence higher task load and lower overall task performance. The goal of this dissertation is to develop intelligent control algorithms for the manipulator robots that integrate both physical and social HRI factors in the collaborative manufacturing. First, the evolution of human trust in a collaborative robot model is identified and verified through a series of human-in-the-loop experiments. This model serves as a computational trust model estimating an objective criterion for the evolution of human trust in robot rather than estimating an individual\u27s actual level of trust. Second, an HRI-based framework is developed for controlling the speed of a robot performing pick and place tasks. The impact of the consideration of the different level of interaction in the robot controller on the overall efficiency and HRI criteria such as human perceived workload and trust and robot usability is studied using a series of human-in-the-loop experiments. Third, an HRI-based framework is developed for planning and controlling the robot motion in performing hand-over tasks to the human. Again, series of human-in-the-loop experimental studies are conducted to evaluate the impact of implementation of the frameworks on overall efficiency and HRI criteria such as human workload and trust and robot usability. Finally, another framework is proposed for the cooperative manipulation of a common object by a team of a human and a robot. This framework proposes a trust-based role allocation strategy for adjusting the proactive behavior of the robot performing a cooperative manipulation task in HRC scenarios. For the mentioned frameworks, the results of the experiments show that integrating HRI in the robot controller leads to a lower human workload while it maintains a threshold level of human trust in robot and does not degrade robot usability and efficiency