3,798 research outputs found
Evidencing the "robot phase transition" in experimental human-algorithmic markets
No full textJohnson, Zhao, Hunsader, Meng, Ravindar, Carran, and Tivnan (2012) recently suggested the existence of a phase transition in the dynamics of financial markets in which there is free interaction between human traders and algorithmic trading systems ("robots"). Above a particular time-threshold, humans and robots trade with one another; below the threshold all transactions are robot-to-robot. We refer to this abrupt system transition as the "robot phase transition". Here, we conduct controlled experiments where human traders interact with 'robot' trading agents in minimal models of electronic financial markets to see if correlates of the two regimes suggested by Johnson et al. (2012) occur in such laboratory conditions. Our results indicate that when trading robots act on a super-human timescale, the market starts to fragment, with statistically lower human-robot interactions than we would expect from a fully mixed market. We tentatively conclude that this is the first empirical evidence for the robot phase transition occurring under controlled experimental conditions
Human-Mechanical system interaction in Virtual Reality
No full textThe present work aims to show the great potential of Virtual Reality (VR) technologies in the field of Human-Robot Interaction (HRI).
Indeed, it is foreseeable that in not too distant future cooperating robots will be increasingly present in human environments.
Many authors actually believe that after the current information revolution, we will witness the so-called "robotics revolution", with the spread of increasingly intelligent and autonomous robots capable of moving into our own environments.
Since these machines must be able to interact with human beings in a safe way, new design tools for the study of Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) are needed. The author believes that VR is an ideal design tool for the study of the interaction between humans and automatic machines, since it allows the designers to interact in real-time with virtual robotic systems and to evaluate different control algorithms, without the need of physical prototypes. This also shields the user from any risk related to the physical experimentation.
However, VR technologies have also a more immediate application in the field of HRI, such as the study of usability of interfaces for real-time controlled robots. In fact, these robots, such as robots for microsurgery or even "teleoperated" robots working in a hostile environments, are already quite common. VR allows the designers to evaluate the usability of such interfaces by relating their physical input with a virtual output.
In particular, the author has developed a new software application aimed at simulating automatic robots and, more generally, mechanical systems in a virtual environment. The user can interact with one or more virtual manipulators and also control them in real-time by means of several input devices.
Finally, an innovative approach to the modeling and control of a humanoid robot with high degree of redundancy is discussed.
VR implementation of a virtual humanoid is useful for the study of both humanoid robots and human beings
Memory-Based Personalization for Fostering a Long-Term Child-Robot Relationship
No full textAfter the novelty effect wears off children need a new motivator to keep interacting with a social robot. Enabling children to build a relationship with the robot is the key for facilitating a sustainable long-term interaction. We designed a memory-based personalization strategy that safeguards the continuity between sessions and tailors the interaction to the child's needs and interests to foster the child-robot relationship. A longitudinal (five sessions in two months) user study (N = 46, 8-10 y.o) showed that the strategy kept children interested longer in the robot, fosters more closeness, elicits more positive social cues, and adds continuity between sessions.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Interactive Intelligenc
Probabilistic Model-based Imitation Learning
No full text18.10.13 KB. Ok to add author version to spiral. Sag
Modeling Human Behavior in Human-Robot Interactions
No full textThis interdisciplinary workshop aims to break boundaries between the researchers who develop human models (e.g., from the fields of human factors, cognitive psychology, and computational neuroscience) and roboticists who use human models in different human-robot interaction (HRI) contexts. The keynote talks, contributed submissions, and interactive discussions will focus on the questions such as: How can modeling humans help us understand and design human-robot interactions? What kinds of models are useful for which HRI contexts (physical/cognitive interactions) and purposes (behavior prediction/personalization/theory-of-mind/etc.)? What common lessons can be learned from human behavior modeling in HRI across different application domains? How can modeling humans in HRI tasks help us to better understand human cognition/behavior? By stimulating an interdisciplinary conversation around these questions, we aim to raise awareness of the benefits of modeling and expose the wider HRI community to a variety of different modeling approaches, and facilitate the HRI researchers who already engage in modeling to exchange views on methodology of modeling and best practices from diverse fields.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Human-Robot InteractionInteractive Intelligenc
Investigating human altruism towards robots with a novel and reconfigurable interactive social robot
No full textAs robots become increasingly popular and co-inhabit spaces with people, there is a need for designing robots that people are comfortable interacting with. For robots to successfully integrate into human society, it is important to design robots in a way that enhances the quality of the human-robot interaction. While the human-robot relationship typically exists to serve people, there will be instances when robots require human assistance. This project aims to investigate people’s interactions with robots that need their assistance. It employs a robot designed to test people’s willingness to help it achieve a goal under various scenarios.The project in its entirety was quite an ambitious one given the limited scope of a graduation project. A literature review carried at the beginning helped identify key features a robot and an interaction should have, in order for it to be perceived positively by humans interacting with it. This review culminated in a list of design considerations which informed the design and the interaction. These design considerations were referred to throughout the project, while choosing ideas for the interaction and while detailing the chosen scenario. A state machine was used to explain the general behavioural states of the robot, and the electronic components that facilitated the desired interaction were chosen. These components were coded to reflect the desired behaviour of the robot during the interaction. Alongside this process, the robot was embodied as sub-assemblies incorporating these components. Once the robot was given a form, the components were designed to fit within a modular body that accounted for zoomorphic and anthropomorphic features, while retaining functionality of the components inside. During its embodiment, the robot was given the ability to express itself through displayed speech, sounds, facial expressions and body language. Additional structures like "nests" were also designed to support the robot's interaction. Once the interaction was designed and embodied, the robot was then plot tested, before being used as a research probe to conduct human-robot interaction (HRI) experiments to address the research questions outlined at the start of the project. Data was gathered through data logging via the robot, user observations and interviews. The results of the experiments indicate that people's willingness to help a robot is influenced by the narrative of a human-robot interaction, the effort level of the task required to help the robot, as well as individuals' attitudes towards robots. Increasing the effort level reduced people's willingness to help the robot, but only when the narrative of the interaction was simple and functional, demonstrating that a narrative which tries to engage emotionally with participants has a positive effect on their altruistic response. The experiments were also able to shed some light on the social dynamics that emerge when a robot co-inhabits a space with people, as more people informed others about the robot.https://github.com/AkmalAhmed23/boop-reconfigurable-social-interactive-robot The project's GitHub repository containing supporting files such as the code and CAD files.Integrated Product Desig
Child’s Personality and Self-Disclosures to a Robot Persona “In-The-Wild”
No full textSocial robots can support children in their socio-emotional development [38]. To improve the cooperation between a child and a social robot, a good relationship is vital. Self-disclosure is an essential element for building personal relationships. Yet, knowledge about the effects of self-disclosure in child-robot interactions is still lacking. To investigate effects of robot persona, child personality, and self-disclosure category on self-disclosure in child-robot interaction, we have conducted a field study at a science festival in which children had a conversation with a robot that either behaved human-like or robot-like. The results show a significant difference in the amount of self-disclosure (in conversation duration) between the two robot personas. Additionally, significant relationships were found between conscientiousness and extraversion and amount of self-disclosure (in word count). The participant disclosed significantly more about the category `Attitudes and Opinions’ than about ‘School’. Finally, a thematic analysis shows that the content of the conversations can be categorised in five plus one themes. Between robot personas, the content of the conversations did not differ in terms of conversation themes. However, in both conditions, we found that children generally feel comfortable sharing unpleasant experiences about present themes (such as COVID) in a first encounter with a robot.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Interactive Intelligenc
Meta-control and Self-Awareness for the UX-1 Autonomous Underwater Robot
No full textAutonomous underwater robots, such as the UX-1 developed in the UNEXMIN project, need to maintain reliable autonomous operation in hazardous and unknown environments. Because of the lack of any kind of real-time communications with a human operated command and control station, the control architecture needs to be enhanced with mission-level self-diagnosis and self-adaptation properties an additional provided by some kind of supervisory or “metacontrol” component to ensure its reliability. In this paper, we propose an ontological implementation of such component based on Web Ontology Language (OWL) and the Semantic Web Rule Language (SWRL). The solution is based on an ontology of the functional architecture of autonomous robots, which allows inferring the effects of the performance of its constituents components in the functions required during the robot mission, and generate the reconfigurations needed to maintain operation reliably. The concept solution has been validated using a hypothetical set of scenarios implemented in an OWL ontology and an OWLAPI-based reasoner, which we aim at validating by integrating the metacontrol reasoning with a realistic simulation of the underwater robot.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Robot Dynamic
Beyond shared autonomy: Joint perception and action for human-in-the-loop mobile robot navigation systems
No full textIn this study, we present a road map from shared to full autonomy for human-in-the-loop mobile robot navigation systems. We proposed a shared autonomy framework that incorporates human-robot joint perception and action to enhance the practicality and applicability of the mobile robot navigability. Accuracy of robotic sensing and precision of robotic action are employed as autonomous safety in the loop of human control. In shared autonomy, autonomous safety is incorporated into human-teleoperated robot control and their integration is adjusted through an online user-customizable arbitration function. Beyond the current state of the art in shared autonomy, social skills and social preferences in terms of human perception, as well as cognitive decision-making and action, are compiled into autonomous behaviors through learning from demonstration method. Autonomous behaviors exported from the trained neural networks are integrated with autonomous safety and then adjusted by user-desired control arbitration for robot autonomy. The transition of shared and full autonomy is easily managed by users, depending on specific applications. To validate the methodological approach, we implemented the framework on two mobile robot platforms to evaluate its feasibility, practicability, and reproducibility. Our experimental results showed that the shared autonomy framework was well applied to incorporating personal skills and social preferences in mobile robot navigation systems. To a certain extent, the framework plays the role of the road map guiding how to take advantage of human cognitive perception and decision and precision of robotic action in developing mobile robot navigation systems that can be deployed and applied to real-world applications.Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canad
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