A Tangible Interface for Transferring Skills

Abstract

Our research focuses on exploring new modalities to make robots acquire skills in a fast and user-friendly manner. In this work we present a novel active interface with perception and projection capabilities for simplifying the skill transfer process. The interface allows humans and robots to interact with each other in the same environment, with respect to visual feedback. During the learning process, the real workspace is used as a tangible interface for helping the user to better understand what the robot has learned up to then, to display information about the task or to get feedback and guidance. Thus, the user is able to incrementally visualize and assess the learner’s state and, at the same time, focus on the skill transfer without disrupting the continuity of the teaching interaction. We also propose a proof-of-concept, as a core element of the architecture, based on an experimental setting where a pico-projector and an rgb-depth sensor are mounted onto the end-effector of a 7-DOF robotic arm.