Impact of Arm Configurations on Motor Interference in Human-Robot Cooperation

• Applicant: Professor Dr.-Ing. Kolja Ernst Kühnlenz
• Subject Area: Automation, Mechatronics, Control Systems, Intelligent Technical Systems, Robotics ; Human Factors, Ergonomics, Human-Machine Systems
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 459624609

In cooperative human-robot interaction, human hand movements are influenced by hand movements of a robotic counterpart, if the latter is at least partially perceived as human-like. Incongruent movements lead to deviations of human hand movements from task movements, which lead to deterioration of cooperative task completion or may even pose a safety risk. This successor project investigates the impact of configuration space variations on motor interference for deriving a computational model based on a strongly controlled human-robot interaction study with a redundant robot arm, where in a first step various combinations of human and robot arm configurations are investigated towards the resulting extent of motor interference, with strictly specified required hand movements in task-space. In a second study, more general movements in task-space are investigated under controlled variation of robot arm configuration within a cooperative pick-and-place-scenario, where in addition to the induced progression of movement deviations and uncertainties, also continuous changes of manipulability of the human arm are investigated. The impact of variations in configuration space on motor interference has not yet been treated in literature. So, this project provides a further contribution to model-based prediction of movement deviations during interaction with human-like robots for future application within robotic planning and control architectures with the potential of increasing quality and safety of cooperative task completion.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants