Gaze-Based Human-Robot Interaction by the Brunswick Model

We present a new paradigm for human-robot interaction based on social signal processing, and in particular on the Brunswick model. Originally, the Brunswick model copes with face-to-face dyadic interaction, assuming that the interactants are communicating through a continuous exchange of non verbal social signals, in addition to the spoken messages. Social signals have to be interpreted, thanks to a proper recognition phase that considers visual and audio information. The Brunswick model allows to quantitatively evaluate the quality of the interaction using statistical tools which measure how effective is the recognition phase. In this paper we cast this theory when one of the interactants is a robot; in this case, the recognition phase performed by the robot and the human have to be revised w.r.t. the original model. The model is applied to Berrick, a recent open-source low-cost robotic head platform, where the gazing is the social signal to be considered

Overview of Human-Robot Collaboration in Manufacturing

Human-robot collaboration (HRC) in the manufacturing context aims to realise a shared workspace where humans can work side by side with robots in close proximity. In human-robot collaborative manufacturing, robots are required to adapt to human behaviours by dynamically changing their pre-planned tasks. However, the robots used today controlled by rigid native codes can no longer support effective human-robot collaboration. To address such challenges, programming-free and multimodal communication and control methods have been actively explored to facilitate the robust human-robot collaborative manufacturing. They can be applied as the solutions to the needs of the increased flexibility and adaptability, as well as higher effort on the conventional (re)programing of robots. These high-level multimodal commands include gesture and posture recognition, voice processing and sensorless haptic interaction for intuitive HRC in local and remote collaboration. Within the context, this paper presents an overview of HRC in manufacturing. Future research directions are also highlighted.</p