Control in Human-Robot Interaction

Robots are increasingly pervasive in our lives and need to safely interact with humans in unstructured environments. This course covers the design principles and control strategies to ensure a safe and intuitive interaction between humans and these collaborative robots. A particular attention is put to the fundamentals needed to build and control robotic systems that physically interact with humans.

The course is split between interactive theory lectures and hands-on practical assignments using haptic interfaces. During the practical assignments, the theory is applied: first during a guided scenario, then with an open-ended mini-project. The first two assignments will teach you how to program real-time haptic rendering and to implement a teleoperation loop. The mini-projet will cover how to implement haptic guidance and validate the approach with human subjects.

After the practical assignments, additional lectures expand the perspective beyond the fundamental theory to industrial and consumer oriented applications. The course ends on an overview of the current state-of-the-art and remaining open challenges of the human-robot interaction field.

THEORY SUBJECTS

Fundamentals of physical interaction

• Motivation and relevance

• Existing examples

Impedance control

• Motivation behind modulating impedance of a robot

• Impedance and admittance control principles

• Hybrid force/impedance controller design

• Manipulability and its impact on interaction

• Implemented examples

Teleoperation

• Applications: when and why?

• Types: unilateral and bilateral

• Scaling position commands and force feedback

Tele-impedance

• Actively adapt robot impedance to achieve the desired interaction

• Impedance-command interfaces

• Implemented examples

Force feedback with virtual environments

• Providing human with physical virtual sensations

• Haptic rendering of virtual impedances

• Contact and Friction

  
  Control of haptic interfaces
  

• Study of the stability with the Virtual Wall problem

• Effect of sampling on stability

• Transparency and Z-width to evaluate performance of haptic devices

Surface haptics (touch panel applications)

• Vibrotactile

• Ultrasonic

• Electroadhesion

Evaluation of human robot interaction

• Measuring performance with Fitts’ and Steering Law

• Learning effects with haptic guidance

Ergonomics in human-robot collaboration

• Basic human biomechanics

• Ergonomic metrics (manipulability, joint torque, muscle fatigue)

• Implemented examples

Haptic guidance

• Virtual fixtures

• Dynamic guidance

• Shared control

Mechatronics of HRI devices

• Sensors, actuators and linkages

• Designing the mechanical impedance

• Trade-off between performance and workspace

• Serial elastic actuators and soft robotics

Future outlook

• State-of-the-art research

• Emerging technologies

• Conclusion

PRACTICAL ASSIGNMENTS

Assignment 1: Haptic rendering (individual)

• Implement virtual environment

• Implement impedance/admittance control

• Observe and analyze stability issues

Assignment 2: Teleoperation (individual)

• Design a hybrid force/impedance controller

• Derive and visualize manipulability ellipsoid

• Implement teleoperation and tele-impedance

• Create a real-time UDP communication

Assignment 3: mini-project (individual or by group of 2)

• Design and build a scenario to test the effect of haptic guidance on operators performance

• Analyze the results and evaluate the performance of haptic guidance

• Present the results to peers (and give feedback)