Control architecture for human-robot integration: application to a robotic wheelchair.
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.
Galindo
Cipriano
C
System Engineering and Automation Department, University of Málaga, Campus de Teatinos, 29071 Málaga, Spain. cipriano@ctima.uma.es
Gonzalez
Javier
J
Fernández-Madrigal
Juan-Antonio
JA
D001185:Artificial Intelligence; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D005246:Feedback; D006801:Humans; D008328:Man-Machine Systems; D012371:Robotics / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D018511:Systems Integration; D013813:Therapy, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D014910:Wheelchairs