NRI: Small: Assistive Robots for Blind Travelers

PI：Dias，M. Bernadine;斯坦菲尔德，亚伦提案编号：1317989总结：随着机器人技术发展到合作机器人成为现实的阶段，我们需要确保它们同样能够与残疾人互动。拟议的工作解决了这一挑战，探索有意义的人机交互的背景下，辅助机器人盲人旅行者。对于残疾人来说，独立的交通仍然是就业和生活质量的主要障碍。此外，需要撤离的紧急情况是他们面临的最大恐惧之一。我们在拟议的工作中寻求回答的关键问题是：合作机器人在帮助残疾人安全地前往和导航陌生环境方面可以发挥什么作用？我们假设，合作机器人可以帮助这些旅行者有效地在不熟悉的城市环境中导航，并在疏散时提供支持，从而提高他们的安全性和独立性。我们开始我们提出的工作与需求评估，以了解盲人旅客的喜好和挑战。最终目标是提高盲人旅行者的安全性和独立性。智力优点：拟议的工作探讨了三个主要的研究领域，适用于三个场景相关的盲人旅行者辅助机器人：（1）信息交换和对象操作，（2）辅助定位，（3）城市导航和紧急建筑疏散。我们计划探索的研究领域是无障碍界面，辅助互动模式和有效的合作机制。设想的场景包括机器人辅助人类使用感知、机器人定位和众包的组合在必要的分辨率和上下文内进行定位，机器人辅助人类取回丢失或掉落的物体或定位感兴趣的物体或人，机器人辅助人类与环境的其他方面交互，例如阅读通知，以及机器人在建筑物的紧急疏散期间辅助人类。我们还将探索这些旅行者“教”机器人做他们感兴趣的任务的方法。机器人将不得不智能地推理它们之间的任务分配，并在需要时与人类协调。总的来说，拟议的研究将大大推进辅助机器人如何与残疾旅客进行有意义和有效互动的知识。所提出的研究的独特性是捕获的接口的可访问性，丰富的互动方式，以及合作机制的灵活性和范围。 这些贡献的结合将显著推进辅助技术以及人机交互的最新技术水平。更广泛的影响：该团队对本科研究经验有着坚定的承诺。由首席研究员和联合首席研究员指导的学生中有75%以上是妇女、少数民族或残疾人。这一承诺延伸到团队的教学活动。团队成员定期将研究成果纳入课堂演示，客座讲座和研讨会。该小组还致力于社区外展。迪亚斯和斯坦菲尔德都定期与非学者交谈，并将在此类会谈中包括该项目的各个方面。最后的教育成果将是在我们的伙伴组织举办几个计划中的讲习班，拟议工作的成果预计将影响这些组织的业务和使用的方法。研究人员和伙伴组织组成的小组进一步加强了这一建议的广泛影响。首席研究员Dias是该大学和该学科为数不多的女性机器人教员之一。她参与了许多指导和领导活动，以鼓励和维持妇女参与计算，并解决技术服务不足的社区的需求。由本科生、研究生和博士后研究助理组成的拟议团队也将通过参与这项研究获得重要的指导和教育。行业互动超出了常规接触，由于教师参与高调中心。研究和评估方案专门针对残疾人。因此，拟议工作的贡献将在实现残疾人安全和独立旅行的愿景方面取得重大进展。拟议工作的结果将通过各种渠道广泛传播，所有研究成果将以无障碍格式提供给社区伙伴及其网络。

PI: Dias, M. Bernadine; Steinfeld, AaronProposal Number: 1317989Summary: As robotics technology evolves to a stage where co-robots become a reality, we need to ensure they are equally capable of interacting with humans with disabilities. The proposed work addresses this challenge by exploring meaningful human-robot interaction in the context of assistive robots for blind travelers. For people with disabilities independent transportation remains a major barrier to employment and quality of life. Furthermore, emergency situations necessitating evacuation is one of the greatest fears they face. The key question we seek to answer in the proposed work is: what role can co-robots play in empowering people with disabilities to safely travel to and navigate unfamiliar environments? We hypothesize that co-robots can enhance the safety and independence of these travelers by assisting them to navigate unfamiliar urban environments effectively and providing support when evacuating. We begin our proposed work with a needs assessment to understand the preferences and challenges of blind travelers. The ultimate objective is to enhance the safety and independence of blind travelers.Intellectual Merit: The proposed work explores three principal research areas applied to three scenarios relevant to assistive robots for blind travelers: (1) information exchange and object manipulation, (2) assistive localization, and (3) urban navigation and emergency building evacuation. The research areas we plan to explore are accessible interfaces, assistive interaction modalities, and effective cooperation mechanisms. Envisioned scenarios include robots assisting humans to localize within necessary resolution and context using a combination of perception, robot localization, and crowdsourcing, robots assisting humans to retrieve lost or fallen objects or locate objects or people of interest, robots assisting humans to interact with other aspects of the environment such as reading notices, and robots assisting humans during emergency evacuation of buildings. We will also explore means of these travelers "teaching" the robots to do tasks of interest to them. The robots will have to reason intelligently about task allocation among themselves and coordinating with humans when needed. Overall, the proposed research will significantly advance the knowledge of how assistive robots can meaningfully and effectively interact with travelers with disabilities. The uniqueness of the proposed research is captured in the accessibility of the interfaces, the richness of the interaction modalities, and the flexibility and range of the cooperation mechanisms. The combination of these contributions will significantly advance the state of the art in assistive technology as well as human-robot interaction.Broader Impact: The team has a strong commitment to undergraduate research experience. Over 75% of the students mentored by the Principal Investigator and Co-Principal Investigator have been women, minorities, or people with disabilities. This commitment extends to the team's instructional activities. Team members regularly incorporate research findings into class presentations, guest lectures, and seminars. The team is also committed to community outreach. Both Dias and Steinfeld regularly speak to non-academics and will include aspects of this project in such talks. A final educational outcome will be several planned workshops at our partner organizations and the outcomes from the proposed work are expected to impact operations and methodologies used at these organizations. The assembled team of researchers and partner organizations further enhances the broader impact of this proposal. Principal Investigator Dias is one of the very few female robotics faculty members at the university and in the discipline. She is engaged in many mentoring and leadership activities to encourage and sustain the participation of women in computing and to address the needs of technologically underserved communities. The proposed team of undergraduate students, a graduate student, and a postdoctoral research assistant will also gain significant mentoring and education through their participation in this research. Industry interaction extends beyond regular contact due to faculty involvement in high profile centers. The research and evaluation program is specifically geared towards people with disabilities. Therefore, the contributions of the proposed work will make significant advancements towards realizing the vision of safe and independent travel for people with disabilities. The results of the proposed work will be disseminated broadly through a variety of avenues and all outcomes of the research will be made available in accessible formats to the community partners and their networks.