CAREER: Primitives and Policies for Complex Behavior in Human and Robotic Hands

每个人的指尖大约有2000个触觉传感器。刺激这些感应器会触发由脊椎调节的反应性握力反应。与人类手的灵巧能力相比，机器人在非结构化环境中的操作能力是粗糙的。当由人类操作员控制时，机器人操作器进一步受到人机界面上受限的信息流(命令和感知)的限制。所有的人机系统，从远程手术机器人到神经假体，都必须解决通信延迟的关键问题，根据人和机器之间的距离，通信延迟的范围从不到一秒到几个小时不等。对于人工操作，即使延迟一秒也会导致不良事件，如开放切口出血增加，或增加挫折感，最终停用先进的假体。从生物学中得到提示，在没有人参与的情况下，自主的低水平反射可以在没有人参与的情况下在机器人手中检测刺激并实施纠正反应，这可以为人机系统的交流、信息处理和决策赢得时间。PI的一个长期研究目标是利用抓握反射算法基元、人工触觉传感器和受人类手启发的通用抓取策略算法来推进机器人操作。在这个项目中，她将重点了解是什么驱动低水平反应性握力反应，类似自主原语的实施如何使人机性能受益，以及机械手可以学习哪些抓取策略。这项工作的贡献将包括表征人类双手的反应性抓握反应，开发受人类启发的抓握反射算法基元和用于机械手的触觉传感器，以及开发自主提取机械手一般抓取策略的学习算法。研究成果将加深我们对为灵巧操作提供基础的人类手中抓取基元的基本理解，并通过抓握反射算法基元和提取抓取策略的学习算法来提高机械手的功能。广泛影响：这项研究将通过使机器人抓取能够动态控制内收/外展自由度并使用仿生触觉传感器来改变人工操纵，从而彻底改变针对非结构化、访问受限或不安全环境(包括空间、水下、军事、救援、手术、辅助、康复和假肢)的机器人机械手，这些环境需要面对不确定性、控制延迟或人机接口上有限的信息流。与她的研究相结合，PI将致力于让学生在早期就参与探索丰富的机器人领域。为此，她将开发使用低成本材料教授中小学生机器人知识的动手教学模块，并将它们部署在当地，以造福于在科学、技术、工程和数学领域代表性不足的学生。她还将在机器手上为一家科学博物馆开发一个互动展览，并将其部署在当地，以造福于凤凰城地区的学龄儿童和普通公众。

Each human fingertip has approximately 2000 tactile sensors. Stimulation of these sensors triggers reactive grip responses that are mediated by the spine. In comparison to the dexterous capabilities of the human hand, robotic manipulation capabilities in unstructured environments are crude. When controlled by a human operator, robotic manipulators are further limited by restricted information flow (command and sensing) at the human-machine interface. All human-machine systems, from telesurgery robots to neuroprostheses, must address the critical issue of communication delays which can range, depending upon the distance between the human and the machine, from less than a second to hours. For artificial manipulation, even delays of one second can result in adverse events such as increased bleeding from an open incision or increased frustration and eventual disuse of an advanced prosthesis. Taking a cue from biology, autonomous low-level reflexes that detect stimuli and implement a corrective response in robotic hands without a human in the loop could buy time for communication, information processing, and decision-making in human-machine systems. A long-term research objective of the PI is to advance robotic manipulation with grip reflex algorithm primitives, artificial tactile sensors, and generalizable grasp policy algorithms inspired by the human hand. In this project, she will focus on understanding what drives low-level reactive grip responses, how human-machine performance can benefit from the implementation of similar autonomous primitives, and what grasp policies can be learned by a robotic hand. Contributions of this work will include characterization of the reactive grip responses in human hands, development of human-inspired grip reflex algorithm primitives and tactile sensors for robotic hands, and development of learning algorithms that autonomously extract general grasp policies for robotic hands. Research outcomes will enhance our fundamental understanding of grasp primitives in human hands that provide a foundation for dexterous manipulation, and improve the functionality of robotic hands through grip reflex algorithm primitives and learning algorithms that extract grasp policies.Broader Impacts: This research will transform artificial manipulation by enabling robotic grasp with dynamic control of adduction/abduction degrees-of-freedom and use of biomimetic tactile sensors, thereby revolutionizing robotic manipulators intended for unstructured, access-limited, or unsafe environments (including space, underwater, military, rescue, surgery, assistive, rehabilitative, and prosthetic) that require robustness in the face of uncertainty, control delays, or limited information flow at the human-machine interface. In conjunction with her research the PI will work to engage students at an early age in the exploration of the rich field of robotics. To that end, she will develop hands-on instructional modules for teaching elementary and middle school students about robotics using low-cost materials and deploy them locally for the benefit of students under-represented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields. She will also develop an interactive exhibit for a science museum on robotic hands deploy it locally for the benefit of school-aged children and the general public in the metropolitan Phoenix area.