SBIR Phase II: Personal Service Robotics with Tiered Human-in-the-Loop Assistance

SBIR 第二阶段：具有分层人在环协助的个人服务机器人

• 批准号: 1256643
• 负责人: Matei Ciocarlie
• 金额: $ 49.99万
• 依托单位: Willow Garage, Inc.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-03-15 至 2015-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1256643&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; II; Personal; Service

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase-II project will create the technological components, operator interfaces, and integration necessary to achieve practical Personal Service Robots. Personal service challenges robots with unstructured, cluttered, and ever-changing environments, and requires execution of complex tasks. Our novel approach allows autonomous algorithms to request human assistance as needed. Across multiple tiers, assistance can range from simply identifying a partially occluded object, to selecting an appropriate grasp configuration, or even to unsticking a wedged object by direct teleoperation; however, sustained operator involvement should only occur infrequently. This approach enables imperfect autonomy to complete full tasks while minimizing manual labor needs as compared to classical teleoperation. Efforts during Phase I established the feasibility of this combined approach while demonstrating the execution of typical household tasks. Developments under Phase II will focus on reducing the human workload. Major innovations will occur from three elements: (a) creating and optimizing distinct operator interfaces for different assistance needs, (b) refining autonomy to reduce the need for assistance, and (c) narrowing applications and support algorithms to relevant and desired service tasks. These developments will allow individual operators to support multiple robots in parallel, with the multiplicative effect amplifying manual labor savings.The broader impact/commercial potential of this project addresses the fact that the U.S., like many industrialized nations, is seeing its demographics shift to an older population. This implies a shrinking workforce as well as rising labor needs to support the older adult community, which will require greater assistance with tasks of daily living as they age. Robotics is often considered a solution to stretch a limited labor supply. The company specifically target personal service robotics to support older adults via either home care providers or assisted living facilities. By reducing operator workload and allowing a single operator to assist multiple robots performing personal service tasks, this R&D effort can increase the productivity of service labor and provide a higher quality of personal service than traditionally possible. This robotic approach can also more easily distribute the labor across physical distances. This will allow older adults to age in familiar housing, retain greater independence, and reduce their expenses at home or in assisted living facilities.

这个小型企业创新研究（SBIR）II期项目将创建技术组件，操作员界面以及实现实用个人服务机器人所需的集成。 个人服务以非结构化，混乱且不断变化的环境挑战机器人，需要执行复杂的任务。我们的新方法允许自主算法根据需要请求人为援助。 在多个层次上，援助可以从简单地识别部分遮挡的对象，到选择适当的掌握配置，甚至可以通过直接远程操作来拧下楔形对象；但是，持续的操作员参与只能很少发生。 这种方法使不完美的自主权能够完成完整的任务，同时与经典远程操作相比，在最大程度地减少了体力劳动的需求。第一阶段的努力确立了这种联合方法的可行性，同时证明了执行典型的家庭任务。第二阶段的发展将集中于减少人类的工作量。重大创新将从三个要素中进行：（a）为不同的援助需求创建和优化不同的操作员界面，（b）提炼自主权以减少援助的需求，以及（c）缩小应用程序和支持算法对相关和所需的服务任务。 这些事态发展将使单个操作员能够同时支持多个机器人，并具有乘法效应，从而放大了手动劳动力。该项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力解决了这样一个事实，即像许多工业化国家一样，美国正在看到其人口统计数据转移到老年人群中。 这意味着劳动力越来越不断，劳动力不断增加，以支持老年人社区，这将需要在年龄的日常生活中提供更多的帮助。 机器人技术通常被认为是扩展有限劳动力供应的解决方案。 该公司专门针对个人服务机器人技术，以通过家庭护理提供商或辅助生活设施为老年人提供支持。 通过减少操作员的工作量并允许单个操作员协助多个执行个人服务任务的机器人，这种研发工作可以提高服务劳动的生产率，并提供比传统上可能更高的个人服务质量。 这种机器人方法也可以更容易地在物理距离上分配劳动。 这将使老年人能够在熟悉的住房中衰老，保留更大的独立性，并减少在家中或辅助生活设施中的费用。