M. Nagurka; "Design and Control of Robotic Systems for...", 10.06.2005

Design and Control of Robotic Systems for
Enhanced Human-Machine Interaction and Performance

Professor Mark Nagurka
Dept. of Industrial Eng. & Management Ben-Gurion Univ. of the Negev
Dept. of Mechanical and Industrial Eng., Marquette Univ., Milwaukee, WI, USA

Research is aimed at a more complete understanding of the way in which humans and machines interact, with the goal of improving the performance and information transfer in controlled tasks. Of particular interest are strategies that enhance the control and increase the communication bandwidth for humans directing, cooperating, and working with robots. In executing a task, a human operator may (i) manually direct a robot by physically contacting the robotic end-effector and carrying it through desired motions, or (ii) communicate with the robot, as with a human colleague, intuitively and naturally by verbal commands, pointing and gestures. For an operator to interact safely and seamlessly with a robot, the research challenge is create an impedance-matched interface involving a subtle interplay between position and force demands.
Advances in human-machine interaction promise operators super-human abilities. Telerobotic control systems can be designed with motion and force scaling that amplifies or attenuates human motion/force commands. Assistive devices, such as exoskeletons worn by humans, offer features such as force amplification and tremor control (e.g., unwanted tremors in human arm motions can be filtered out). The latter would be suited for operators of fine-motion manual tasks, such as microsurgeons, enhancing their ability for extremely refined and sensitive motions.
The seminar highlights several projects that illustrate progress and current research in human-machine interaction, in particular, related to the dynamics and control of robotic systems working in conjunction with or directed by human operators.

June 10, 2005, 11:00-12:00, FASS 1097