Special Issue on Human–Robot Interaction (HRI)

Abstract

Human–robot interaction (HRI) is one of the most rapidly growing research fields in robotics and promising for the future of robotics technology. Despite the fact that numerous significant research results in HRI have been presented during the last years, there are still challenges in several critical topics of HRI, which could be summarized as: (i) collision and safety, (ii) virtual guides, (iii) cooperative manipulation, (iv) teleoperation and haptic interfaces, and (v) learning by observation or demonstration. In physical HRI research, the complementarity of the human and the robot capabilities is carefully considered for the advancement of their cooperation in a safe manner. New advanced control systems should be developed so the robot will acquire the ability to adapt easily to the human intentions and to the given task. The possible applications requiring co-manipulation are cooperative transportation of bulky and heavy objects, manufacturing processes such as assembly and surgery.

Real-time multitask multihuman–robot interaction based on context awareness

“…Human-robot interaction (HRI) system enables human operators to work together with the robot, and has a great potential for improving production efficiency [1,2]. Compared with traditional robotic manufacturing systems [3], the HRI system allows human operators to work together with the robots without time or space separation.…”

Design of PEIS: A Low-Cost Pipe Inspector Robot

“…In the last decade, we have been experiencing a growing demand for robotic systems aimed at assisting and collaborating with humans toward unsafe or difficult tasks, widening a great market potential for service robotics applications as reported, for example, in [1]. In-pipe robots are one of the emerging areas of practical service applications where a robot can explore a pipe from the inside to perform various inspections and maintenance tasks.…”