障害物認識型振動触覚フィードバックによる人とロボットの協調搬送の強化
Enhancing Human-Robot Collaboration Transportation through Obstacle-Aware Vibrotactile Feedback
ロボットがLIDARで周囲の障害物を検知し、振動触覚ベルトで人間の操作者に位置と距離を伝えることで、大型物体の協調搬送時の安全性を高める手法を提案した論文。
著者: Doganay Sirintuna, Idil Ozdamar, Juan M. Gandarias, Arash Ajoudani
分類: cs.RO
原文アブストラクト
Transporting large and heavy objects can benefit from Human-Robot Collaboration (HRC), increasing the contribution of robots to our daily tasks and reducing the risk of injuries to the human operator. This approach usually posits the human collaborator as the leader, while the robot has the follower role. Hence, it is essential for the leader to be aware of the environmental situation. However, when transporting a large object, the operator's situational awareness can be compromised as the object may occlude different parts of the environment. This paper proposes a novel haptic-based environmental awareness module for a collaborative transportation framework that informs the human operator about surrounding obstacles. The robot uses two LIDARs to detect the obstacles in the surroundings. The warning module alerts the operator through a haptic belt with four vibrotactile devices that provide feedback about the location and proximity of the obstacles. By enhancing the operator's awareness of the surroundings, the proposed module improves the safety of the human-robot team in co-carrying scenarios by preventing collisions. Experiments with two non-expert subjects in two different situations are conducted. The results show that the human partner can successfully lead the co-transportation system in an unknown environment with hidden obstacles thanks to the haptic feedback.
