Related papers: Navigation beyond Wayfinding: Robots Collaborating…
The field of Human-Robot Collaboration (HRC) has seen a considerable amount of progress in recent years. Thanks in part to advances in control and perception algorithms, robots have started to work in increasingly unstructured environments,…
This paper presents a hierarchical control strategy based on hybrid systems theory, nonlinear control, and safety-critical systems to enable cooperative locomotion of robotic guide dogs and visually impaired people. We address…
Recent advancements in robotics have increased the possibilities for integrating robotic systems into human-involved workplaces, highlighting the need to examine and optimize human-robot coordination in collaborative settings. This study…
Robot-to-human object handover is an important step in many human robot collaboration tasks. A successful handover requires the robot to maintain a stable grasp on the object while making sure the human receives the object in a natural and…
Robot-to-human handovers often rely on static, open-loop strategies (or, at best, approaches that adapt only the position), which generally do not consider how the object will be grasped by the human, thus requiring the user to adapt. This…
Guide dogs play a critical role in the lives of many, however training them is a time- and labor-intensive process. We are developing a method to allow an autonomous robot to physically guide humans using direct human-robot communication.…
Low vision involves a range of visual impairments that significantly impact daily activities, particularly navigation in urban environments. Individuals with low vision often develop adaptive strategies to compensate for visual deficits,…
Individuals who are differently-able in vision cannot proceed with their day-to-day activities as smoothly as other people do. Especially independent walking is a hard target to achieve with their visual impairment. Assistive electronic…
Moving in dynamic pedestrian environments is one of the important requirements for autonomous mobile robots. We present a model-based reinforcement learning approach for robots to navigate through crowded environments. The navigation policy…
Industrial warehouses are congested with moving forklifts, shelves and personnel, making robot teleoperation particularly risky and demanding for blind and low-vision (BLV) operators. Although accessible teleoperation plays a key role in…
Getting robots to navigate to multiple objects autonomously is essential yet difficult in robot applications. One of the key challenges is how to explore environments efficiently with camera sensors only. Existing navigation methods mainly…
Navigation is one of the most heavily studied problems in robotics, and is conventionally approached as a geometric mapping and planning problem. However, real-world navigation presents a complex set of physical challenges that defies…
The deployment of robot assistants in large indoor spaces has seen significant growth, with escorting tasks becoming a key application. However, most current escorting robots primarily rely on navigation-focused strategies, assuming that…
Navigating unfamiliar environments presents significant challenges for household robots, requiring the ability to recognize and reason about novel decoration and layout. Existing reinforcement learning methods cannot be directly transferred…
Climate change is one of the defining challenges of the 21st century, and many in the robotics community are looking for ways to contribute. This paper presents a roadmap for climate-relevant robotics research, identifying high-impact…
Service and assistive robots are increasingly being deployed in dynamic social environments; however, ensuring transparent and explainable interactions remains a significant challenge. This paper presents a multimodal explainability module…
Indoor navigation is a challenging activity for persons with disabilities, particularly, for those with low vision and visual impairment. Researchers have explored numerous solutions to resolve these challenges; however, several issues…
Robot navigation in human semi-static and crowded environments can lead to the freezing problem, where the robot can not move due to the presence of humans standing on its path and no other path is available. Classical approaches of robot…
Understanding the intentions of human teammates is critical for safe and effective human-robot interaction. The canonical approach for human-aware robot motion planning is to first predict the human's goal or path, and then construct a…
Harnessing human movements to command an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) holds the potential to revolutionize their deployment, rendering it more intuitive and user-centric. In this research, we introduce a novel methodology adept at…