Communication Through Haptics During Human Collaborative Manipulation

Abstract

This paper describes research towards understanding haptic communication during planar object manipulation. In particular, a classification algorithm that classifies four stages of manipulation of a planar object is described. This research was performed as a part of a broader research project which has the goal of developing a user-friendly communication interface for an elderly-assistive robot. The manipulation of planar object was studied in detail as it happened very frequently during user study involving a caregiver helping an elderly person with the activities of daily living. For observing human haptic interaction, a sensory glove was developed. Further data collection was conducted in the laboratory setting and data was analyzed using various machine learning techniques. Based on this analysis, decision rules were derived that give insight into human-to-human collaborative manipulation of planar objects and successfully identified several classes of manipulative actions. The developed decision tree-based algorithm was then tested on the data of a user study that involved a caregiver assisting an elderly person in the activities of daily living. The developed algorithm also successfully classifies manipulation actions in real-time. This information is particularly interesting as it does not depend on any particular sensor and thus can be used by other researchers to further study haptic communication.