A Proactive Approach of Robotic Framework for Making Eye Contact with Humans

Making eye contact is a most important prerequisite function of humans to initiate a conversation with others. However, it is not an easy task for a robot to make eye contact with a human if they are not facing each other initially or the human is intensely engaged his/her task. If the robot would like to start communication with a particular person, it should turn its gaze to that person and make eye contact with him/her. However, such a turning action alone is not enough to set up an eye contact phenomenon in all cases. Therefore, the robot should perform some stronger actions in some situations so that it can attract the target person before meeting his/her gaze. In this paper, we proposed a conceptual model of eye contact for social robots consisting of two phases: capturing attention and ensuring the attention capture. Evaluation experiments with human participants reveal the effectiveness of the proposed model in four viewing situations, namely, central field of view, near peripheral field of view, far peripheral field of view, and out of field of view

A New 100-GHz Band Front-End System with a Waveguide-Type Dual-Polarization Sideband-Separating SIS Receiver for the NRO 45-m Radio Telescope

We developed a waveguide-type dual-polarization sideband-separating SIS receiver system of the 100-GHz band for the 45-m radio telescope at the Nobeyama Radio Observatory, Japan. This receiver is composed of an ortho-mode transducer and two sideband-separating SIS mixers, which are both based on the waveguide technique. The receiver has four intermediate frequency bands of 4.0--8.0 GHz. Over the radio frequency range of 80--120 GHz, the single-sideband receiver noise temperatures are 50--100 K and the image rejection ratios are greater than 10 dB. We developed new matching optics for the telescope beam as well as new IF chains for the four IF signals. The new receiver system was installed in the telescope, and we successfully observed the 12CO, 13CO and C18O emission lines simultaneously toward the Sagittarius B2 region to confirm the performance of the receiver system. The SSB noise temperature of the system, including the atmosphere, became approximately half of that of the previous receiver system. The Image Rejection Ratios (IRRs) of the two 2SB mixers were calculated from the 12CO and HCO+ spectra from the W51 giant molecular cloud, resulting in > 20 dB for one polarization and > 12 dB for the other polarization.Comment: 10 pages, 13 figures, Accepted for publication in PASJ, version with high resolution figures is available via http://www.nro.nao.ac.jp/library/report/list.htm

Development of Smart Wheelchair System for a User with Severe Motor Impairment

AbstractUsers with severe motor impairment may find it difficult to operate a wheelchair when they are in tight space (e.g., passing doorway) or when avoiding obstacles since they cannot command the wheelchair by means of a conventional joystick. Here we propose a framework that can assist users to overcome such circumstances using a hierarchical semi-autonomous control strategy. Initially multimodal user inputs based on momentary switch and yaw head angle are analyzed to decide a maneuvering mode and assign the direction of travel. Then, environmental information is perceived using the combination of a laser range finder and the Kinect sensor for determining safety map around wheelchair's vicinity. Eventually, the user's inputs are provided to the navigation planner along with the safety map to moderate motion that is collision free and the best for user preference. Experimental results demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed approach

A Study on Proactive Methods for Initiating Interaction with Human by Social Robots

This paper reports on the trending literature of Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) methods for proactively initiating interaction with human by social robots in social spaces. The discussion explores the state-of-the-art proactive HRI methods and pinpoints the necessity of dedicated attention to initiate successful proactive interaction by social robots with human. The findings suggest that although reactive HRI methods are well established in social spaces but very few proactive methods are implemented. More research should be paid to introduce social robot’s proactive HRI approach properly in social spaces. The literature further showed that robust human detection and tracking method is crucial to read human’s is interests and intentions from their behaviors before introducing proactive HRI with human in social spaces. Finally, future potential applications of social robots are addressed