Human Preferences in Using Damping to Manage Singularities During Physical Human-Robot Collaboration

Publisher:
IEEE
Publication Type:
Conference Proceeding
Citation:
2020 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2020, 00, pp. 10184-10190
Issue Date:
2020-09-15
Full metadata record
When a robot manipulator approaches a kinematic singular configuration, control strategies need to be employed to ensure safe and robust operation. If this manipulator is being controlled by a human through physical human-robot collaboration, the choice of strategy for handling singularities can have a significant effect on the feelings and impressions of the user. To date the preferences of humans during physical human-robot collaboration regarding strategies for managing kinematic singularities have yet to be thoroughly explored.This work presents an empirical study of a damping-based strategy for handling singularities with regard to the preferences of the human operator. Two different parameters, damping rate and damping asymmetry, are tested using a double-blind A/B pairwise comparison testing protocol. Participants included two cohorts made up of the general public (n=51) and people working within a robotic research centre (n=18). In total 105 individual trials were performed. Results indicate a preference for a faster, asymmetric damping behavior that slows motions towards singularities whilst allowing for faster motions away.
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