Chapter 6.4 - Toward a Human–Robot Symbiotic System

Abstract

Partnership between a person and a robot could be simplified if the robot were intelligent enough to understand human intentions and perform accordingly. During the last decade, we have been developing such an intelligent robot called Intelligent Soft-Arm Control (ISAC). Originally, ISAC was designed to assist the physically disabled, but gradually became a test bed for more robust human-robot teaming (see: http://eecs.vanderbilt.edu/CIS/). In this chapter, we will describe a framework for human-robot interaction, a multi-agent based robot control architecture, and short-term and long-term memory structures for the robot brain. Two applications will illustrate how ISAC interacts with humans.