Human-Robot Collaborative Planning for Navigation Based on Optimal Control Theory

Sousso Kelouwani

Hydrogen Research Institute, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, Canada.

DOI: 10.4236/ojop.2013.23010                

Abstract

Navigation modules are capable of driving a robotic platform without direct human participation. However, for some specific contexts, it is preferable to give the control to a human driver. The human driver participation in the robotic control process when the navigation module is running raises the share control issue. This work presents a new approach for two agents collaborative planning using the optimal control theory and the three-layer architecture. In particular, the problem of a human and a navigation module collaborative planning for a trajectory following is analyzed. The collaborative plan executed by the platform is a weighted summation of each agent control signal. As a result, the proposed architecture could be set to work in autonomous mode, in human direct control mode or in any aggregation of these two operating modes. A collaborative obstacle avoidance maneuver is used to validate this approach. The proposed collaborative architecture could be used for smart wheelchairs, telerobotics and unmanned vehicle applications.

Keywords

Robotic Architecture; Share Control; Three-Layer Architecture; Cooperative Control; Collaborative Control; Optimal Control

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	M. Pantic, A. Pentland, A. Nijholt and T. S. Huang, “Human Computing and Machine Understanding of Human Behavior: A Survey,” Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 4451 NAI, Hyderabad, 2007, pp. 47-71,
[2]	M. Chatterjee, “Design Research: Building Human-Centered System,” IEEE International Professional Communication Conference (IPCC 2007), Seattle, 1-3 October 2007, pp. 453-458.
[3]	J.-M. Hoc, “Towards a Cognitive Approach to HumanMachine Cooperation in Dynamic Situations,” International Journal of Human Computer Studies, Vol. 54, No. 4, 2001, pp. 509-540.
[4]	S. Krysztof, “Control of a Team of Mobile Robots Based on Non-Ccoperative Equilibra with Partial Coordination,” International Journal Applied Mathematic Computer Science, Vol. 15, No. 1, 2005, pp. 89-97.
[5]	K. Sousso, B. Patrice and C. Paul, “Architecture for Human-Robot Collaborative Navigation,” International Conference on Health Informatics, Valencia, 20 January 2010, pp. 316-323.
[6]	S. Katsura and K. Ohnishi, “Human Cooperative Wheelchair for Haptic Interaction Based on Dual Compliance Control,” IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, Vol. 51, No. 1, 2004, pp. 221-228.
[7]	Z. Qiang, B. Rebsamen, E. Burdet and L. T. Chee, “A Collaborative Wheelchair System,” IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering, Vol. 16, No. 2, 2008, pp. 161-170.
[8]	C. Urdiales, A. Poncela, I. Sanchez-Tato, F. Galluppi, M. Olivetti and F. Sandoval, “Efficiency Based Reactive Shared Control for Collaborative Human/Robot Navigation,” Proceedings of the 2007 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, San Diego, 29 October-2 November 2007.
[9]	T. Hamagami and H. Hirata, “Development of Intelligent Wheelchair Acquiring Autonomous, Cooperative, and Collaborative Behavior,” IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics, The Hague, 10-13 October 2004, pp. 3525-3530.
[10]	T. Taha, J. V. Miro and G. Dissanayake, “Wheelchair Driver Assistance and Intention Prediction Using POMDPs,” Proceedings of the 2007 International Conference on Intelligent Sensors, Sensor Networks and Information Processing, Melbourne, 3-6 December 2007, pp. 449-454. doi:10.1109/ISSNIP.2007.4496885
[11]	Y. Qi, Z. Wang and Y. Huang, “A Non-Contact Eye-Gaze Tracking System for Human Computer Interaction,” Proceedings of the 2007 International Conference on Wavelet Analysis and Pattern Recognition, Beijing, 2-4 November 2008.
[12]	A. Huntemann, E. Demeester, et al., “Bayesian Plan Recognition and Shared Control under Uncertainty: Assisting Wheelchair Drivers by Tracking Fine Motion Paths,” Proceedings of the 2007 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, San Diego, 29 October-2 November 2007, pp. 3360-3366
[13]	T. Okawa, E. Sato and T. Yamaguchi, “Information Support System with Case-Based Reasoning Using Motion Recognition in Human-Centered City” Proceedings of the SICE Annual Conference, Takamatsu, 17-20 September 2007, pp. 610-613.
[14]	J. B. Cruz Jr., “Leader-Follower Strategies for Multilevel Systems,” IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, Vol. 23, No. 2, 1978, pp. 244-255. doi:10.1109/TAC.1978.1101716
[15]	M. Simaan and J. B. Cruz Jr., “On the Stackelberg Strategy in Nonzero-Sum Games,” Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications, Vol. 11, No. 5, 1973, pp. 533-555. doi:10.1007/BF00935665
[16]	Y. C. Ho, P. Luh and G. Olsder, “Control-Theoretic View on Incentives,” Automatica, Vol. 18, No. 2, 1982, pp. 167-179. doi:10.1016/0005-1098(82)90106-6
[17]	H. J. Toby, Collett, et al., “Player 2.0: Toward a Practical Robot Programming Framework,” Proceedings of the Australasian Conference on Robotics and Automation (A CRA 2005), Sydney, 5-7 December 2005.
[18]	A. B. Rodney, “A Robust Layered Control System for a Mobile Robot,” IEEE Journal on Robotics and Automation, Vol. 2, 1986, p. 1.
[19]	G. Erann, R. P. Bonnasso, R. Murphy and A. Press, “On Three-Layer Architectures,” Artificial Intelligence and Mobile Robots, 1998, pp. 195-210.
[20]	A. Lankenau, “Avoiding Mode Confusion in Service Robots: The Bremen Autonomous Wheelchair as an Example,” Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Rehabilitation Robots, Evry, 25-27 April 2001, pp. 162-167.
[21]	S. Carberry, “Techniques for Plan Recognition,” User Modeling and User-Adapted Interaction, Vol. 11, No. 1-2, 2001, pp. 31-48. doi:10.1023/A:1011118925938
[22]	J. Borenstein and Y. Koren, “The Vector Field Histogram-Fast Obstacle Avoidance for Mobilerobots,” IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation, Vol. 7, No. 3, 1991, pp. 278-288.
[23]	J. J. Abbott and A. M. Okamura, “Stable Forbidden-Region Virtual Fixtures for Bilateral Telemanipulation,” Transactions of the ASME, Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement and Control, Vol. 128, No. 1, 2006, pp. 53-64. doi:10.1115/1.2168163
[24]	A. Astolfi, “Exponential Stabilization of a Wheeled Mobile Robot via Discontinuous Control,” Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement, and Control, Vol. 121, No. 1, 1999, pp. 121-126. doi:10.1115/1.2802429
[25]	Y. Kanayama, K. Yoshihiko, F. Miyazaki and T. Noguchi, “A Stable Tracking Control Method for an Autonomous Mobile Robot,” Proceeding of 90 IEEE International Conference Robotics and Automation, Cincinnati, 13-18 May 1990, pp. 384-389. doi:10.1109/ROBOT.1990.126006
[26]	S. Belkhous, A. Azzouzi, M. Saad, C. Nerguizian and V. Nerguizian, “A Novel Approach for Mobile Robot Navigation with Dynamic Obstacles Avoidance,” Journal of Intelligent and Robotic Systems, Vol. 44, 2005, pp. 187-201. doi:10.1007/s10846-005-9010-8
[27]	D. J. Balkcom and M. T. Mason, “Time Optimal Trajectories for Bounded Velocity Differential Drive Vehicles,” International Journal of Robotics Research, Vol. 21, No. 3, 2002, pp. 199-217. doi:10.1177/027836402320556403