Robot programming by human demonstration: the use of human variation in identifying obstacle free trajectories

Abstract

Programming by Human Demonstration is an intuitive method of robot programming, in which the programmer demonstrates how a task is performed using a humadrobot teaching device that measures human motion, and the data gathered is used to generate the robot program. A direct duplication of the demonstrated trajectory would result in unnecessary robot motion due to human "wiggles" and unintended motion. To identify a more satisfactory robot trajectory, a method is presented that uses multiple demonstrations of the same task. Variation in human trajectories between trials is attributed to human inconsistency and is used to define an obstacle free region, by applying the Jordan curve theorem. The shortest path within the obstacle free region is determined, resulting in a shorter robot path than any of the demonstrations. Thus the presence of human inconsistency is used to improve robot performance. The analysis is restricted to planar translational motion.

Graph-based trajectory planning through programming by demonstration

“…This entails the (usually implicit) assumption that all the blended demonstrations are compatible, that is, that they represent the same strategy. This assumption is made explicit in one work [36], which requires the user to assert that all example trajectories are homotopic. This helps ensure that the plans generated by the learner safely avoid obstacles in the environment.…”

“…A series of papers by Delson and West [36][37][38] provides a useful insight when operating within the plane. This approach relies on the teacher, when providing examples, to ensure that all examples are homotopic (i.e.…”

“…This collision-free space is used to find the shortest possible path from start to goal. A potential extension to three dimensions is also presented [36].…”

A New Approach to Construction Robot Programming

“…Yet, often the complexity of the programming process limits more widespread use of robotic technology (Delson and West 1994). Researchers and practitioners alike are constantly looking for new methods of programming robots to save programming time and costs.…”

“…The programmer demonstrates how the task is performed using a human/robot teaching device that measures the human 's forces and positions (Delson and West 1994). The data gathered from the human is used to generate the robot's program.…”