Shared control for hand-held robots
File(s)
Author(s)
Elsdon, Joshua
Type
Thesis
Abstract
Hand-held robots are an exciting new extension to the toolkit of hand tools
at our disposal. They allow the benefits associated with robots, such as precision and task specific knowledge, to be integrated into a form factor that
is convenient and cost effective.
This work isolates two categories of hand-held robots: reduced degree of
freedom robots must rely on the human for at least some degrees of freedom
at the end effector; and locally capable robots have the facility to completely
decouple user motion of the handle of the robot from that of the end effector.
A robot of each variety is designed and built for a set of five degree of
freedom tasks, and algorithms for generating end effector trajectories are
implemented for both.
Both types of hand-held robots rely on a close collaboration with the user
to be successful. To facilitate information flow from the robot to the user
an Augmented Reality (AR) headset is used. The level of visualisation detail
required to form an effective collaboration is investigated. It is found that the
level of detail is less important to performance when the robot has control
of the interaction, though high fidelity visualisation are important when the
user is in control of the integration.
Which agent is in control of the interaction at a tactical and operational level
is also analysed. Reduced degree of freedom robots must share these levels of
planning with the user, and this is found to cause conflict with some users.
Complete allocation of these levels to an agent is possible with locally capable
robots. No strong evidence of conflict was observed when these roles were
more clearly allocated to the user or the robot.
at our disposal. They allow the benefits associated with robots, such as precision and task specific knowledge, to be integrated into a form factor that
is convenient and cost effective.
This work isolates two categories of hand-held robots: reduced degree of
freedom robots must rely on the human for at least some degrees of freedom
at the end effector; and locally capable robots have the facility to completely
decouple user motion of the handle of the robot from that of the end effector.
A robot of each variety is designed and built for a set of five degree of
freedom tasks, and algorithms for generating end effector trajectories are
implemented for both.
Both types of hand-held robots rely on a close collaboration with the user
to be successful. To facilitate information flow from the robot to the user
an Augmented Reality (AR) headset is used. The level of visualisation detail
required to form an effective collaboration is investigated. It is found that the
level of detail is less important to performance when the robot has control
of the interaction, though high fidelity visualisation are important when the
user is in control of the integration.
Which agent is in control of the interaction at a tactical and operational level
is also analysed. Reduced degree of freedom robots must share these levels of
planning with the user, and this is found to cause conflict with some users.
Complete allocation of these levels to an agent is possible with locally capable
robots. No strong evidence of conflict was observed when these roles were
more clearly allocated to the user or the robot.
Version
Open Access
Date Issued
2019-05
Date Awarded
2019-10
Copyright Statement
Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial Licence
Advisor
Demiris, Yiannis
Sponsor
James Dyson Foundation
Publisher Department
Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Publisher Institution
Imperial College London
Qualification Level
Doctoral
Qualification Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)