Publications

RIM produces publications which appear in a wide range of conference proceeding and research journals. The most recent publications can be found below. Full listing is available at the RIM@GT collection of the Center for Robotics and Intelligent Machines (RIM) repository at SMARTech.

M.J. Gielniak and A.L. Thomaz, "Spatiotemporal Correspondence as a Metric for Human-like Robot Motion" In Proceedings of the International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), 2011.
Coupled degrees-of-freedom exhibit correspondence, in that their trajectories in uence each other. In this paper we add evidence to the hypothesis that spatiotemporal corre- spondence (STC) of distributed actuators is a component of human-like motion. We demonstrate a method for making robot motion more human-like, by optimizing with respect to a nonlinear STC metric. Full text

Aaron R. Enes and Wayne J. Book, "Recursive Algorithm for Motion Primitive Estimation," 2011 IEEE international Conference on Robotics and Automation, May 9-13, 2011, Shangai, China.
The need for knowing future manipulator motion arises in several robotics applications, including notification or avoidance of imminent collisions and real-time optimization of velocity commands. This paper presents a real-time, low overhead algorithm for identification of future manipulator motions, based on measurements of prior motions and the instantaneous sensed actuator velocity commanded by an operator. Experimental results with a human-controlled, two degree of-freedom manipulator demonstrate the ability to quickly learn and accurately estimate future manipulator motions. Full text

T. Kunz, P. Kingston, M. Stilman, and M. Egerstedt. Dynamic Chess: Strategic Planning for Robot Motion. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Shanghai, China, May 2011.
We introduce and experimentally validate a novel algorithmic model for physical human-robot interaction with hybrid dynamics. Our computational solutions are complementary to passive and compliant hardware. We focus on the case where human motion can be predicted. In these cases, the robot can select optimal motions in response to human actions and maximizesafety. By representing the domain as a Markov Game, we enable the robot to not only react to the human but also to construct an infinite horizon optimal policy of actions and responses. Experimentally, we apply our model to simulated robot sword defense. Our approach enables a simulated 7-DOF robot arm to block known attacks in any sequence. We generate optimized blocks and apply game theoretic tools to choose the best action for the defender in the presence of an intelligent adversary. Full text

C.H. Park, A. Howard, "Visualize Your Robot with Your Eyes Closed: A Multi-modal Interactive Approach Using Environmental Feedback,” IEEE International Conferenceon Robotics and Automation (ICRA), Shanghai, China, May 2011.
In this paper, we discuss an approach for enabling students with a visual impairment (VI) to validate the program sequence of a robotic system operating in the real world. We introduce a method that enables the person with VI to feel their robot’s movement as well as the environment in which the robot is traveling. The design includes a human-robot interaction framework that utilizes multi-modal feedback to transfer the environmental perception to a human user with VI. Haptic feedback and auditory feedback are selected as primary methods for user interaction.

Yuichi Kurita, Minoru Shinohara and Jun Ueda, "Wearable Sensorimotor Enhancer for a Fingertip based on Stochastic Resonance, " the 2011 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 2011) 3790-3795, May 9-13, Shanghai, China, 2011.
This paper reports the initial experimental results of a wearable sensorimotor enhancer for a fingertip. A shorttime exposure of tactile receptors to sub-sensory white-noise vibration is known to improve the tactile sensitivity. This phenomenon, called “noise-enhanced tactile sensation” or stochastic resonance (SR) in the somato-sensory system, is expected to enhance the sense of touch when white-noise vibration is applied to a fingertip, and thereby improve associated motor skills. Full text