REINS

REINS项目是设计和研究人类代理人和移动机器人向导之间的触觉通信接口（REINS）。该缰绳将有助于在低能见度条件下（在消防中经常发生）联合导航和检查空间。人们发现，有限的视野和模糊的摄像机会增加人类在压力下工作的痛苦，因此重点关注触觉和触觉人机合作。在与导盲犬和骑马等场景中，人类自然会通过触觉反馈与动物互动；REINS项目旨在将这种实践扩展到人机交互。来自不同学科——设计、工程、机器人和通信——的专业知识将被带到设计一个通信界面的问题上，这个界面既要足够健壮，适合相关的物理环境，又要足够灵活，允许人类的判断和创造力在现场进行练习。缰绳项目的灵感来自于导盲犬的挽具和骑马或骑马的缰绳，该项目将研究和实验人机合作的触觉界面。低能见度/无能见度约束确保焦点仅放在触觉和触觉方面。目前，机器人并不能充分增强人类的信心。在人机合作中，人类（天生）会试图“解读”情境，并预测机器人同伴的动作。机器人装有阻抗滤波器，缰绳使人能够感觉到机器人的运动和行为。远程控制不直接可见的机器人的经验表明，“操作员花费更多的时间来收集关于机器人状态和环境状态的信息，而不是导航机器人”。REINS项目旨在绘制人类（消防员，以及视障人士）可能与机器人合作的交流景观，重点是触觉和触觉互动。我们设计了一个半自主的移动机器人，可以在人类面前导航。机器人提供了丰富的感官数据，并能够尝试它遇到的物体的机械阻抗。我们还设计并实现了软缰绳（绳索）、无线缰绳和硬缰绳（灵感来自导盲犬的牵引），使人类能够使用机器人主动探测物体。因此，该项目创造了探索触觉人机交互景观的手段。我们将从整合主义的角度出发，在这种角度下，传播者不仅仅是已有标识的使用者，而是标识的制造者；这些迹象是在不断协调和整合适应具体情况的活动中出现的。我们回顾了在（人类）消防员团队中发生的交流景观，此外还回顾了导盲犬和骑马的文献。一个研究问题是，信息是否应该被明确地编码为消息，还是可以保持隐式。在项目的初始阶段，对机器人进行了调整，并实施了缰绳的第一个原型；这个阶段的重点是向人类提供丰富的数据。第二阶段致力于调查通信景观。人机团队将在一个已知的低能见度环境中航行，那里可能会出现未知的障碍物。至少应用了两种不同类型的控制：一种要求显式地对消息进行编码，而另一种则隐式地传播信息。根据第一次试验的经验，可以调整缰绳以提高其可用性。专业的消防队员将是第一批尝试缰绳的受试者，随后也有经验的导盲犬志愿者可能加入实验。

The REINS project is to design and investigate haptic communicational interfaces (reins) between a human agent and a mobile robot guide. The reins will facilitate joint navigation and inspection of a space under conditions of low visibility (occurring frequently in fire fighting). The focus is on haptic and tactile human robot cooperation as it has been found that a limited visual field and obscured cameras adds to the distress of humans working under pressure. Humans naturally interact with animals using tactile feedback in scenarios such as working with guide dogs and horse riding; the REINS project aims to extend this practice to human robot interaction. Expertise from a number of different disciplines - design, engineering, robotics, and communication - will be brought to bear on the problem of designing a communicational interface which will be both sufficiently robust for the relevant physical environment and sufficiently flexible to allow for the on-the-spot exercise of human judgement and creativity.Inspired by the use of a harness for a guide dog and also the rein to ride or drive a horse, the REINS project will investigate and experiment with haptic interfaces for human-robot cooperation. The low/no visibility constraint ensures the focus is on the tactile and haptic aspects only. Currently, robots do not sufficiently enhance human confidence. In human-robot cooperation, the human (by nature) will try to 'read' the situation, and anticipate the movements of the robot companion. The robot is provided with an impedance filter and the rein enables the human to feel the robot's movements and behaviour. Experiences with remotely controlling a robot which is not directly visible show that 'operators spent significantly more time gathering information about the state of the robot and the state of the environment than they did navigating the robot'.The REINS project aims to map the communicational landscape in which humans (fire fighters, but also the visually impaired) might be working with robots, with the emphasis on tactile and haptic interaction. We adapt a semi-autonomous mobile robot for navigation in front of a human. The robot provides rich sensory data and is enabled to try the mechanical impedances of the objects it encounters. We also design and implement a soft rein (rope), a wireless rein and a stiff rein (inspired by the lead for guide dog) enabling the human to use the robot to actively probe objects. The project thus creates the means to explore the haptic Human-Robot Interaction landscape. We will work from an integrationist perspective in which the communicator is not a mere user of pre-existing signs but a sign-maker; the signs emerge in the ongoing coordination and integration of activities adapted to the particular circumstances. We review the communicational landscape occurring within a team of (human) fire fighters and in addition review literature on working guide dogs and horse riding. A research question is whether the information should be explicitly encoded as messages or can remain implicit.In the initial phase of the project the robot is adapted and the first prototypes of the reins are implemented; the emphasis in this phase is on providing rich data to the human. The second phase is dedicated to surveying the communicational landscape. The human-robot team will navigate a known environment with low visibility where unknown obstacles may occur. At least two different types of reins are applied: one requires that messages are explicitly coded, while the other propagates the information implicitly. Based on experiences in the first trials the reins might be adapted to improve their usability. Professional fire fighters will be the first group of subjects to try the reins, later on also volunteers experienced with guide dogs may join the experimentations.