Robotics, Learning and Autonomy at Brown (r,lab)
Mobile Human-Robot Teaming Enabled by Depth-Imaging

Matthew Loper
Nathan Koenig
Sonia Chernova
Odest Chadwicke Jenkins
Chris Jones


Abstract

We demonstrate that structured light-based depth sensing with standard perception algorithms can enable mobile peer-to-peer interaction between humans and robots. We posit that the use of recent emerging devices for depth-based imaging can enable robot perception of non-verbal cues in human movement in the face of lighting and minor terrain variations. Toward this end, we have developed an integrated robotic system capable of person following and responding to verbal and non-verbal commands under varying lighting conditions and uneven terrain. The feasibility of our system for peer-to-peer HRI is demonstrated through two trials in indoor and outdoor environments.


Papers

M. Loper, N. Koenig, S. Chernova, C. Jones, and O. Jenkins. Mobile Human-Robot Teaming with Environmental Tolerance. To appear in Human-Robot Interaction (HRI 2009), page in press, San Diego, CA, USA, Mar 2009. [ bib | pdf ]


Video

Description and results for HRI 2009 paper (.mov, 29M)


Sponsors

DARPA IPTO, contract number W31P4Q-07-C-0096
Office of Naval Research, Award N00014-07-M-0123