Human-in-the-Loop Robot Control for Human-Robot Collaboration

Ashwin P. Dani, Iman Salehi, Ghananeel Rotithor, Daniel Trombetta, Harish Ravichandar

IEEE Control Systems Magazine, 2020.

Abstract

The prospect of a collaborative work environment between humans and robotic automation in a manufacturing setting provides the motivation for finding innovative solutions to human-in-the-loop control for safe, efficient, and trustworthy human-robot collaboration (HRC), or HR interaction (HRI), in cyberphysical-human systems (CPHSs). Recent studies show that collaborative automation can be beneficial to 90% of approximately 300,000 small-to-medium-scale enterprises in the United States. In the paradigm of human-centered automation, human safety, ergonomics, and the collaborative efficiency of the work are given the utmost importance. Traditional methods to ensure the safety of humans around factory robots involve the use of cages. Recent work looked beyond cage-based safety to provide robot control and sensing-driven solutions for human safety around robots.