In this project, we developed and evaluated various control methods and interfaces for mobile remote presence robots (MRP) for remote K-12 education. In the two papers published at the International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN), we conducted a user study and evaluated our system.
The following project description is taken from Interaction Lab website.
Within the field of Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), a growing subfield is forming that focuses specifically on interactions between one or more robots and multiple people, known as Multi-Party Human-Robot Interaction (MP-HRI). MP-HRI encompasses the challenges of single-user HRI (interaction dynamics, human perception, etc.) and extends them to the challenges of multi-party interactions (within-group turn taking, dyadic dynamics, and group dynamics).
To address these, MP-HRI requires new methods and approaches. Effective MP-HRI enables robotic systems to function in many contexts, including service, support, and mediation. In realistic human contexts, service and support robots need to work with varying numbers of individuals, particularly when working within team structures. In mediation, robotic systems must by definition, be able to work with multiple parties. These contexts often overlap, and algorithms that work in one context can benifit work in another.
This project will advance the basic research in trust and influence in MP-HRI contexts. This will involve exploring how robots and people establish, maintain, and repair trust in MP-HRI. Specifically, this research will examine robot group mediation for group conseling, with extensions to team performance in robot service and support teams.
Development Detail
We used an Ohmni robot equipped with an arm and a Linux PC.
For project development, my contributions consist of the following:
- Developed customized web user interface for robot arm control
- Designed and implemented communication protocol and software between the Linux PC and the Ohmni server
- Developed user interface with a turning dial for robot arm control
Related Publications
Zijian Hu
Machine Learning Research Engineer
My research interests include computer vision, machine learning, natural language processing, and robotics.