12 accepted papers
Obstacle avoidance is a fundamental requirement for safe and reliable robot operation. Due to the lack of techniques capable of efficiently and accurately computing volumetric distances and their derivatives, many obstacle avoidance frameworks neglect the volumetric characteristics of objects by usi
General robot skill adaptation requires expressive representations robust to varying task configurations. While recent learning-based skill adaptation methods refined via Reinforcement learning (RL) have shown success, existing skill models often lack sufficient representational capacity for anythin
When performing total hip replacement (THR) surgery, high-quality preparation of acetabulum is critical as it contributes to the patient’s recovery speed and the consistency of bone ingrowth. Conventionally, surgeons prepare the acetabulum manually by reaming it with a handheld electric drill and a
Mobile robots are increasingly deployed in shared environments where they must learn to navigate alongside humans. Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) techniques have shown promise in developing navigation policies that account for interactions within crowds, fostering socially acceptable movement. Ho
The Rating Scale method has been long deemed the standard for measuring subjective perceptions. However, in the field of physical human-robot collaboration (pHRC), its aptness should be put under scrutiny due to inherent challenges such as response bias, between-subject variations, and the granulari…
In this paper, we propose a robot skill-learning method that facilitates fast adaption to new tasks online. Our method is based on a hybrid learning from demonstration and reinforcement learning approach, which seeds learning with a compact and structured skill model, leading to efficient and stable…
Mobile physical human-robot collaboration (pHRC) using collaborative robots (cobots) and mobile robots has attracted much research attention. Many researchers have focused on improving the control performance to comply with human intentions. However, a problem that generally exists with mobile pHRC…
Role arbitration in human-robot collaboration (HRC) is a dynamically changing process that is affected by many factors such as physical workload, environmental changes and trust. In order to address this dynamic process, a trust-based role arbitration method is studied in this research. A computatio…
Trust is key to achieving successful Human-Robot Interaction (HRI). Besides trust of the human co-worker in the robot, trust of the robot in its human co-worker should also be considered. A computational model of a robot’s trust in its human co-worker for physical human-robot collaboration (p
When a robot manipulator approaches a kinematic singular configuration, control strategies need to be employed to ensure safe and robust operation. If this manipulator is being controlled by a human through physical human-robot collaboration, the choice of strategy for handling singularities can hav…
We present the ANBOT, an intelligent robotic coworker for physical human-robot collaboration. The ANBOT system assists workers performing industrial abrasive blasting, shielding them from the large forces experienced during this physically demanding task. The co-operative robotic system combines the…
This paper presents a new configuration for single axis tactile sensor arrays molded in rubber to enable tri-axial force measurement. The configuration requires the sensing axis of each sensor in the array to be rotated out of alignment with respect to external forces. This angled sensor array measu