Object Transfer Point Estimation for Prompt Human to Robot Handovers

Handing over objects is the foundation of many human-robot interaction and collaboration tasks. In the scenario where a human is handing over an object to a robot, the human chooses where the object needs to be transferred. The robot needs to accurately predict this point of transfer to reach out proactively, instead of waiting for the final position to be presented. We first conduct a human-to-robot handover motion study to analyze the effect of user height, arm length, position, orientation and robot gaze on the object transfer point. Our study presents new observations on the effect of robot\u27s gaze on the point of object transfer. Next, we present an efficient method for predicting the Object Transfer Point (OTP), which synthesizes (1) an offline OTP calculated based on human preferences observed in the human-robot motion study with (2) a dynamic OTP predicted based on the observed human motion. Our proposed OTP predictor is implemented on a humanoid nursing robot and experimentally validated in human-robot handover tasks. Compared to using only static or dynamic OTP estimators, it has better accuracy at the earlier phase of handover (up to 45% of the handover motion) and can render fluent handovers with a reach-to-grasp response time (about 3.1 secs) close to natural human receiver\u27s response. In addition, the OTP prediction accuracy is maintained across the robot\u27s visible workspace by utilizing a user-adaptive reference frame

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

A computational model of human trust in supervisory control of robotic swarms

Trust is an important factor in the interaction between humans and automation to mediate the reliance action of human operators. In this work, we study human factors in supervisory control of robotic swarms and develop a computational model of human trust on swarm systems with varied levels of autonomy (LOA). We extend the classic trust theory by adding an intermediate feedback loop to the trust model, which formulates the human trust evolution as a combination of both open-loop trust anticipation and closed-loop trust feedback. A Kalman filter model is implemented to apply the above structure. We conducted a human experiment to collect user data of supervisory control of robotic swarms. Participants were requested to direct the swarm in a simulated environment to finish a foraging task using control systems with varied LOA. We implement three LOAs: manual, mixed-initiative (MI), and fully autonomous LOA. In the manual and autonomous LOA, swarms are controlled by a human or a search algorithm exclusively, while in the MI LOA, the human operator and algorithm collaboratively control the swarm. We train a personalized model for each participant and evaluate the model performance on a separate data set. Evaluation results show that our Kalman model outperforms existing models including inverse reinforcement learning and dynamic Bayesian network methods. In summary, the proposed work is novel in the following aspects: 1) This Kalman estimator is the first to model the complete trust evolution process with both closed-loop feedback and open-loop trust anticipation. 2) The proposed model analyzes time-series data to reveal the influence of events that occur during the course of an interaction; namely, a user’s intervention and report of levels of trust. 3) The proposed model considers the operator’s cognitive time lag between perceiving and processing the system display. 4) The proposed model uses the Kalman filter structure to fuse information from different sources to estimate a human operator's mental states. 5) The proposed model provides a personalized model for each individual

Real-Time Estimation of Drivers' Trust in Automated Driving Systems

Trust miscalibration issues, represented by undertrust and overtrust, hinder the interaction between drivers and self-driving vehicles. A modern challenge for automotive engineers is to avoid these trust miscalibration issues through the development of techniques for measuring drivers' trust in the automated driving system during real-time applications execution. One possible approach for measuring trust is through modeling its dynamics and subsequently applying classical state estimation methods. This paper proposes a framework for modeling the dynamics of drivers' trust in automated driving systems and also for estimating these varying trust levels. The estimation method integrates sensed behaviors (from the driver) through a Kalman lter-based approach. The sensed behaviors include eye-tracking signals, the usage time of the system, and drivers' performance on a non-driving-related task (NDRT). We conducted a study (n = 80) with a simulated SAE level 3 automated driving system, and analyzed the factors that impacted drivers' trust in the system. Data from the user study were also used for the identi cation of the trust model parameters. Results show that the proposed approach was successful in computing trust estimates over successive interactions between the driver and the automated driving system. These results encourage the use of strategies for modeling and estimating trust in automated driving systems. Such trust measurement technique paves a path for the design of trust-aware automated driving systems capable of changing their behaviors to control drivers' trust levels to mitigate both undertrust and overtrust.National Science FoundationBrazilian Army's Department of Science and TechnologyAutomotive Research Center (ARC) at the University of MichiganU.S. Army CCDC/GVSC (government contract DoD-DoA W56HZV14-2-0001).Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/162572/1/Azevedo Sa et al. 2020.pdfSEL

Prevalence of haptic feedback in robot-mediated surgery : a systematic review of literature

© 2017 Springer-Verlag. This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Journal of Robotic Surgery. The final authenticated version is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11701-017-0763-4With the successful uptake and inclusion of robotic systems in minimally invasive surgery and with the increasing application of robotic surgery (RS) in numerous surgical specialities worldwide, there is now a need to develop and enhance the technology further. One such improvement is the implementation and amalgamation of haptic feedback technology into RS which will permit the operating surgeon on the console to receive haptic information on the type of tissue being operated on. The main advantage of using this is to allow the operating surgeon to feel and control the amount of force applied to different tissues during surgery thus minimising the risk of tissue damage due to both the direct and indirect effects of excessive tissue force or tension being applied during RS. We performed a two-rater systematic review to identify the latest developments and potential avenues of improving technology in the application and implementation of haptic feedback technology to the operating surgeon on the console during RS. This review provides a summary of technological enhancements in RS, considering different stages of work, from proof of concept to cadaver tissue testing, surgery in animals, and finally real implementation in surgical practice. We identify that at the time of this review, while there is a unanimous agreement regarding need for haptic and tactile feedback, there are no solutions or products available that address this need. There is a scope and need for new developments in haptic augmentation for robot-mediated surgery with the aim of improving patient care and robotic surgical technology further.Peer reviewe