Human-machine guidance technology could be used by fire fighters

Sheffield Hallam University is taking part in a multi-disciplinary project that aims to develop a robot capable of guiding humans in areas of low visibility. It is hoped that the EPSRC-funded Reins project, involving King’s College London and Thales, will lead to a semi-autonomous mobile robot with sensory capabilities that can be shared with humans. The robot could be used as a toll by fire fighters and be adapted further for the visually impaired.

Key to the robot-human interaction are reins or lead-like tethers that provide communication between the robot and human. The robot would provide haptic feedback to the human handler in low-visibility conditions, while a human operator could provide instructions to the robot via the reins; a concept based on the relationship between rider and horse. Three types of reins have been proposed: flexible, stiff (inspired by guide-dog leads) and wireless (based on the Wii handset). Common to all designs will be vibrations that propagate through the veins. According to Dr Jacques Penders, head of the Centre for Automation and Robotics Research (CARR) at Sheffield Hallam, the laptop-sized robot will seek to improve robotic perception by creating a mechanism for impedance filtering so it can make a judgement on potential delays caused by unseen objects. ‘If you push the robot toward an empty box it will push it away, but if it meets a heavy obstacle, the robot will generate some pressure to that obstacle, ` said Penders. ‘Whether it can move the obstacle or not is an indication for the user of what they can expect. ` This approach is hoped to overcome robotic reliance on range finding and proximity sensing.

Sourced from "the Engineer" magazine 
BY JASON FORD