Shared autonomy in assistive mobile robots: a review

Abstract

Purpose

Shared autonomy has played a major role in assistive mobile robotics as it has the potential to effectively balance user satisfaction and smooth functioning of systems by adapting itself to each user’s needs and preferences. Many shared control paradigms have been developed over the years. However, despite these advancements, shared control paradigms have not been widely adopted as there are several integral aspects that have not fully matured. The purpose of this paper is to discuss and review various aspects of shared control and the technologies leading up to the current advancements in shared control for assistive mobile robots.

Methods

A comprehensive review of the literature was conducted following a dichotomy of studies from the pre-2000 and the post-2000 periods to focus on both the early developments and the current state of the art in this domain.

Results

A systematic review of 135 research papers and 7 review papers selected from the literature was conducted. To facilitate the organization of the reviewed work, a 6-level ladder categorization was developed based on the extent of autonomy shared between the human and the robot in the use of assistive mobile robots. This taxonomy highlights the chronological improvements in this domain.

Conclusion

It was found that most prior studies have focussed on basic functionalities, thus paving the way for research to now focus on the higher levels of the ladder taxonomy. It was concluded that further research in the domain must focus on ensuring safety in mobility and adaptability to varying environments.

Implications for rehabilitation

• Shared autonomy in assistive mobile robots plays a vital role in effectively adapting to ensure safety while also considering the user comfort.

• User’s immediate desires should be considered in decision making to ensure that the users are in control of the assistive robots.

• The current focus of research should be towards successful adaptation of the assistive mobile robots to varying environments to assure safety of the user.

Keywords:

• Shared autonomy
• assistive mobile robots
• human-robot interaction
• robotic wheelchair
• powerchair

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).