Achieving Autonomy by Learning from Sensor-Assisted Control in a Wheelchair-Based Human-Robot Collaborative System

感觉运动障碍患者必须经常依靠他人帮助他们完成日常生活的一般活动。该项目的目标是通过创建自适应人机协作系统（安装在轮椅上的机械臂）来提高独立性和生活质量，该系统可以从实例中学习，以最少的用户指导的方式帮助用户执行工具性活动。该项目有一个新的意图识别框架，尽管用户在对象交互过程中提供的远程操作提示不精确，但该框架仍能学习用户目标。该项目还实现并测试了一种新型的共享控制权限，该权限可自适应地在人和机器人之间分配工作负载，以最佳地利用用户的物理能力和认知资源。通过这样做，本项目将提高感觉运动障碍个体的独立性，增加轮椅辅助机器人的自主性，从而通过促进科学进步，促进国家健康和福利来推进NSF的使命。该项目将包括教育部分，为研究生进行研究提供培训。该项目还与坦帕科学与工业博物馆合作开发了一个动手展览，让游客探索康复工程领域。这项研究调查了新的控制方法，有望提高由感觉运动障碍患者操作的轮椅机械臂控制的自主性。该项目解决了物体灵巧遥控的关键步骤：物体检测、分类和可视性建模；用户意图估计；用户/机器人工作量分配；通过远程操作进行算法训练。方法包括计算机视觉、机器学习、概率图形建模和人类受试者实验，以开发和测试在活动期间的协作人/机器人系统，例如用拉式和旋钮式手柄打开/关闭门，以及在非结构化的人口稠密环境中抓取对象。这项技术的有效应用为身体残疾人士提供了实现高度独立、尊严和高质量生活的机会。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Individuals with sensorimotor impairment must often rely on others to help them perform common activities of daily living. The goal of this project is to improve independence and quality of life by creating an adaptive human-robot collaborative system (a wheelchair mounted robotic arm) that learns from example to assist its user perform instrumental activities in a way that requires minimal user guidance. The project has a novel intention recognition framework that learns user goals despite imprecision of telemanipulation cues provided by the user during object interactions. The project also implements and tests a novel form of shared control authority that adaptively allocates workload between the human and robot to optimally leverage the physical capabilities and cognitive resources of the user. By doing so, this project will improve the independence of individuals with sensorimotor impairment and increase the autonomy of a wheelchair mounted assistive robot, thereby advancing NSF's mission by promoting the progress of science and advancing the national health and welfare. The project will involve an educational component that provides training to graduate students in conducting research. The project also develops a hands-on exhibit in collaboration with the Tampa Museum of Science and Industry, allowing visitors to explore the field of rehabilitation engineering.This research investigates new control methodologies that promise improved autonomy in the control of a wheelchair mounted robotic arm operated by individuals with sensorimotor impairment. The project addresses key steps in the dexterous telemanipulation of objects: object detection, classification, and affordance modeling; user intention estimation; user / robot workload distribution; and algorithm training through teleoperation. Methods include computer vision, machine learning, probabilistic graphical modeling, and human subject experimentation to develop and test the collaborative human / robot system during performance of activities such as opening/closing doors with pull and knob style handles, and fetching objects in an unstructured populated environment. Effective application of the technology promises persons with physical disabilities opportunity to achieve a high level of independence, dignity, and quality of life.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.