Theory and evaluation of human robot interactions

Human-robot interaction (HRI) for mobile robots is still in its infancy. Most user interactions with robots have been limited to tele-operation capabilities where the most common interface provided to the user has been the video feed from the robotic platform and some way of directing the path of the robot. For mobile robots with semiautonomous capabilities, the user is also provided with a means of setting way points. More importantly, most HRI capabilities have been developed by robotics experts for use by robotics experts. As robots increase in capabilities and are able to perform more tasks in an autonomous manner we need to think about the interactions that humans will have with robots and what software architecture and user interface designs can accommodate the human in-the-loop. We also need to design systems that can be used by domain experts but not robotics experts. This paper outlines a theory of human-robot interaction and proposes the interactions and information needed by both humans and robots for the different levels of interaction, including an evaluation methodology based on situational awareness.