10 research outputs found
VFH+ based shared control for remotely operated mobile robots
This paper addresses the problem of safe and efficient navigation in remotely
controlled robots operating in hazardous and unstructured environments; or
conducting other remote robotic tasks. A shared control method is presented
which blends the commands from a VFH+ obstacle avoidance navigation module with
the teleoperation commands provided by an operator via a joypad. The presented
approach offers several advantages such as flexibility allowing for a
straightforward adaptation of the controller's behaviour and easy integration
with variable autonomy systems; as well as the ability to cope with dynamic
environments. The advantages of the presented controller are demonstrated by an
experimental evaluation in a disaster response scenario. More specifically,
presented evidence show a clear performance increase in terms of safety and
task completion time compared to a pure teleoperation approach, as well as an
ability to cope with previously unobserved obstacles.Comment: 8 pages,6 figure
A Hierarchical Variable Autonomy Mixed-Initiative Framework for Human-Robot Teaming in Mobile Robotics
This paper presents a Mixed-Initiative (MI) framework for addressing the
problem of control authority transfer between a remote human operator and an AI
agent when cooperatively controlling a mobile robot. Our Hierarchical
Expert-guided Mixed-Initiative Control Switcher (HierEMICS) leverages
information on the human operator's state and intent. The control switching
policies are based on a criticality hierarchy. An experimental evaluation was
conducted in a high-fidelity simulated disaster response and remote inspection
scenario, comparing HierEMICS with a state-of-the-art Expert-guided
Mixed-Initiative Control Switcher (EMICS) in the context of mobile robot
navigation. Results suggest that HierEMICS reduces conflicts for control
between the human and the AI agent, which is a fundamental challenge in both
the MI control paradigm and also in the related shared control paradigm.
Additionally, we provide statistically significant evidence of improved,
navigational safety (i.e., fewer collisions), LOA switching efficiency, and
conflict for control reduction.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, ICHMS 2022, First two Authors contributed equall
COVID-19 Infection among Elite Football Players: A Nationwide Prospective Cohort Study
Little is known about the risk of COVID-19 infection among footballers. We aimed to investigate the incidence and characteristics of COVID-19 infection among footballers. In total, 480 football players of Super League Greece and 420 staff members participated in a prospective cohort study, which took place from May 2020 to May 2021. Nasopharyngeal swabs were collected from footballers and staff members weekly. All samples (n = 43,975) collected were tested using the reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test for the detection of “SARS-CoV-2”. In total, 190 positive cases (130 among professional football players and 60 among staff) were recorded. Out of the 190 cases that turned positive, 64 (34%) cases were considered as symptomatic, and 126 (66%) cases were asymptomatic. The incidence rate of a positive test result for footballers was 0.57% (confidence interval (CI) 0.48–0.68%) and for staff members it was 0.27% (CI 0.20%, 0.34%), respectively. Footballers recorded a twofold increased risk of COVID-19 infection in comparison to staff members (relative risk = 2.16; 95% CI = 1.59–2.93; p-value < 0.001). No significant transmission events were observed during the follow-up period. We found a low incidence of COVID-19 infection among professional footballers over a long follow-up period. Furthermore, the implementation of a weekly diagnostic testing (RT-PCR) was critical to break the transmission chain of COVID-19, especially among asymptomatic football players and staff members