Evaluation of supervisory vs. peer-peer interaction with human-robot teams

Abstract

We submit that the most interesting and fruitful humanrobot interaction (HRI) may be possible when the robot is able to interact with the human as a true team member, rather than a tool. However, the benefits of shared control can all too easily be overshadowed by challenges inherent to blending human and robot initiative. The most important requirements for peer-peer interaction are system trust and ability to predict system behavior. The human must be able to understand the reason for and effects of robot initiative. These requirements can only be met through careful application of human factors principles and usability testing to determine how users will interact with the system. This paper discusses the recent human participant usability testing, which took our current implementation to task using a search and rescue scenario within a complex, real-world environment. The purpose of testing was to examine how human operators work with the robotic system at each level of autonomy, and how interaction with the robot should be structured to enable situation awareness and task completion. Analyses revealed that our architecture equally supported situation awareness and target detection by novices and experts, although experienced users were more likely to have more performance expectations of the interface. Results also had implications regarding the ability of participants to effectively utilize the collaborative workspace and, most importantly, their ability to understand and willingness to accept robot initiative.

Supporting Complex Robot Behaviors with Simple Interaction Tools

“…While intelligent behavior has the potential to make the user's life easier, experiments have also demonstrated the potential for collaborative control to result in a struggle for control or a suboptimal task allocation between human and robot (Marble et al, 2003;Marble et al, 2004;. In fact, the need for effective task allocation remains one of the most important challenges facing the field of human-robot interaction (Burke et al, 2004).…”

How elderly users of a socially interactive robot experience adaptiveness, adaptability and user control

“…Should a system ask for confirmation before it autonomously adapts? Several studies addressed these questions, finding that indeed the desire for user control limits the acceptance of autonomy [24][25][26], which means there is a delicate balance between automation/autonomous behavior and user control. We want to know how this intervenes with the interpretation and perception of adaptivity by our target group of aging adults.…”

Hardware-assisted multiple object tracking for human-robot-interaction

“…This workspace splitting does not take advantage of the po tential for humans and robots to work together as a team, where each member has the possibility to actively assume control and contribute towards solving a given task based on their capabilities. Such a mixed-initiative system supports a spectrum of control levels, allowing the human and robot to support each other in different ways, as needs and capa bilities change throughout a task [4]. With the subsequent flexibility and adaptability of a human-robot collaboration team, production scenarios in permanently changing envi ronments as well as the manufacturing of highly customized products become possible.…”