Control architecture for human-robot integration: application to a robotic wheelchair

IEEE Trans Syst Man Cybern B Cybern. 2006 Oct;36(5):1053-67. doi: 10.1109/tsmcb.2006.874131.

Abstract

Completely autonomous performance of a mobile robot within noncontrolled and dynamic environments is not possible yet due to different reasons including environment uncertainty, sensor/software robustness, limited robotic abilities, etc. But in assistant applications in which a human is always present, she/he can make up for the lack of robot autonomy by helping it when needed. In this paper, the authors propose human-robot integration as a mechanism to augment/improve the robot autonomy in daily scenarios. Through the human-robot-integration concept, the authors take a further step in the typical human-robot relation, since they consider her/him as a constituent part of the human-robot system, which takes full advantage of the sum of their abilities. In order to materialize this human integration into the system, they present a control architecture, called architecture for human-robot integration, which enables her/him from a high decisional level, i.e., deliberating a plan, to a physical low level, i.e., opening a door. The presented control architecture has been implemented to test the human-robot integration on a real robotic application. In particular, several real experiences have been conducted on a robotic wheelchair aimed to provide mobility to elderly people.

Publication types

  • Evaluation Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Artificial Intelligence*
  • Equipment Design
  • Equipment Failure Analysis
  • Feedback
  • Humans
  • Man-Machine Systems*
  • Robotics / instrumentation*
  • Robotics / methods
  • Systems Integration
  • Therapy, Computer-Assisted / instrumentation*
  • Therapy, Computer-Assisted / methods
  • User-Computer Interface*
  • Wheelchairs*