Building an Autonomous Humanoid Tool User
Abstract
To make the transition from a technological curiosity to productive tools, humanoid robots will require key advances in many areas, including mechanical design, sensing, embedded avionics, power, and navigation. Using the NASA Johnson Space Center's Robonaut as a test-bed, the DARPA Mobile Autonomous Robot Software (MARS) Humanoids team is investigating technologies that will enable humanoid robots to work effectively with humans and autonomously work with tools. The team consists of the Dexterous Robotics Laboratory at the NASA Johnson Space Center, the Laboratory for Perceptual Robotics at the University of Massachusetts, the Robotic Life Group at the MIT Media Lab, the Intelligent Robotics Laboratory at Vanderbilt University, the Center for Robotics and Embedded Systems at the University of Southern California, and the Information Technology Division at the Naval Research Lab. A novel learning approach is being applied that enables the robot to learn both from a remote human teleoperating the robot and an adjacent human giving instructions. When the remote human performs tasks teleoperatively, the robot learns the salient sensory-motor features for executing the task. Once learned, the task may be carried out by fusing the skills required to perform the task, guided by on-board sensing. The adjacent human takes advantage of previously learned skills to sequence the execution of these skills. Preliminary results from initial experiments using a drill to tighten lug nuts on a wheel are discussed.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 01, 2004
- Accession Number
- ADA597963
Entities
People
- Andrew Brooks
- Andy Fagg
- Cynthia Breazeal
- Eric Huber
- Michael Rosenstein
- Myron Diftler
- Robert Ambrose
- Robert Platt
- Roderick Grupen
- William Bluethmann
Organizations
- University of Southern California