HAND-SHAPED INTERFACE FOR INTUITIVE HUMAN-ROBOT COMMUNICATION THROUGH HAPTIC MEDIA

摘要

Aiming at realization of direct and intuitive communication between human and robot, we propose an interface system for an autonomous mobile robot that can take physical communication with its user via haptic, or hand-to-hand force interaction. The hand-shaped device equipped on the robot has 1 DOF at the finger part and is capable of grasping a human hand when actuated. A micro-switch on the bottom side of the hand is used to sense grasping of human. Intentional force information is acquired by strain gages on the flexible rubber-made arm that physically supports the hand. The robot' s motion is determined by the force input and/or the environmental condition. The robot recognizes obstacles by using bumper sensors and ultrasonic sensors around the body. When it touches an obstacle, the robot changes the route regardless of the user' s intentional force and thus informs the user of such situation of obstacle avoidance. In this research, we design simple algorithms for both human-following and human-leading motions, and devise experiments with human users. Qualitative and quantitative evaluations of the experimental results are also presented.