Joining the blunt and the pointy end of the spear: towards a common framework of joint action, human–machine cooperation, cooperative guidance and control, shared, traded and supervisory control

Abstract

To introduce this special issue of shared and cooperative control, we will look into history of tools in cooperation between humans and aim to unify the plethora of related concepts and definitions that have been proposed in recent years, such as shared control, human-machine cooperation and cooperative guidance and control. Concretely, we provide definitions to relate these concepts and sketch a unifying framework of shared and cooperative control that sees the different concepts as different perspectives or foci on a common design space of shared intentionality, control and cooperation between humans and machines. One working hypothesis which the article explores is that shared control can be understood as cooperation at the control layer, while human-machine cooperation can include shared control, but can also extend towards cooperation at higher layers, e.g., of guidance and navigation, of maneuvers and goals. The relationship between shared control and humanmachine cooperation is compared to the relationship between the sharp, pointy tip and the (blunt) shaft of a spear. Shared control is where cooperation comes sharply into effect at the control layer, but to be truly effective it should be supported by cooperation on all layers beyond the operational layer, e.g., on the tactical and strategic layer. A fourth layer addresses the meta-communication about the cooperation and supports the other three layers in a traversal way.Publisher's Note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

A Review of Shared Control for Automated Vehicles: Theory and Applications

“…1) The concept "shared control" has presented ambiguity in the scientific literature. However, efforts in recent years have led to a formal and complete definition presented by Abbink et al [26] and a new representation in the context of human-machine cooperation and task support levels (see Flemisch et al [13]). This definition can be translated to the shared steering control of automated vehicles as follows:…”

“…One relevant group of investigators is located at TU Delft [20], [28], [82], with a focus on coupled model-free shared control techniques. Additionally, this institution participates in theoretical collaboration with Flemisch et al [13], [38], [48] regarding the conceptualization of shared control. Another relevant research group is hosted by the IRCCyN, located in France [23], [65], [123]; this group specializes in coupled model-based control techniques that include a driver model within the shared control framework.…”

“…On the other hand, Abbink et al [26] proposed a general framework for sharing the control of a task at all skill levels, permitting bidirectional learning and communication through knowledge-rule-skill behavior. These efforts were combined in a joint publication by Abbink and Flemisch, in which shared control was considered as part of human-machine cooperation at all cognitive levels [13].…”

“…Shared control was first defined by Sheridan and Verplank [12] as "the case where both automation and human work on the same task and at the same time" [12]. However, this definition is not standardized within the research community, which is working toward developing a common definition to separate shared control from other types of human-machine cooperation [13] (e.g., cooperative, traded, and supervisory control).…”

“…2) Input-mixing systems [14], [15], in which the automated system receives input from the driver and complements it with an additional control signal if necessary (suitable for vehicles with mechanically uncoupled steering systems). A review of the literature offers two main directions of research: 1) an ongoing effort to advance the theoretical comprehension of shared control [13], [14]; and 2) a diversity of system applications [16]- [18], with an increasing number of such works having emerged in recent years. However, there is no global synthesis of these efforts to evaluate the current state of this technology and serve as a basis for future developments.…”