Human–robot interaction review and challenges on task planning and programming

Abstract

The wide interest of research and industry in the human–robot interaction (HRI) related topics is proportional to the increased productivity and flexibility of the production lines, as it combines human and robot capabilities. This paper presents a review of recent research and progress on HRI, related to task planning/coordination and programming with emphasis on the manufacturing/production environment. Human–robot task allocation and scheduling, metrics for HRI, as well as the social aspects are reviewed. The role of digital human modelling systems for human–robot task planning related issues is also discussed. The process of learning by demonstration as well as the instructive systems is reviewed, focussing mainly on programming through visual guidance and imitation, voice commands and haptic interaction. The aspect of physical HRI as well as the safety related issues are also discussed. Additionally, a survey on multimodal communication frameworks is presented. Challenges encountered and directions for future research are discussed.

Keywords:

• human–robot interaction
• programming by demonstration
• learning
• human–computer interaction
• robot applications
• robotic cells

Acknowledgment

This study was partially supported by the project X-act/ FoF-ICT-314355 (http://www.xact-project.eu/), funded by the European Commission in the 7th Framework Programme.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.