CAREER: Design and Evaluation of Methods for Robot Learning by Demonstration

Board Of Regents, Nshe, Obo University Of Nevada, Reno, Reno NV

Investigators

Abstract

CAREER: Design and Evaluation of Methods for Robot Learning by Demonstration Abstract The goal of this career proposal is to create a research and educational program dedicated to developing and evaluating novel algorithms for robotic systems that learn from demonstration and interaction with human users. This program's research plan is to develop algorithms for automated generation of robot controllers from demonstration and interaction with human users. The main research questions of this project pertain to the investigation, design, and implementation of: (1) an autonomous robot control architecture that provides support for task knowledge acquisition from user provided demonstration, (2) algorithms for robot learning by demonstration that facilitate training of robot assistants by non-specialist users, (3) quantitative evaluation metrics that provide objective means for assessing the performance of human-robot interaction in the context of robot teaching by demonstration. The proposed robot control architecture will create the infrastructure for complex task learning and will provide a new representation for multiple action selection mechanisms. The learning by demonstration algorithms will use a novel approach for interpreting a user's demonstration, based on particle filtering that identifies superpositions of multiple concurrent activities. In addition, generalization algorithms will use inductive learning methods to capture and represent variations in task execution strategies. User feedback will allow for refinement of learned tasks, through verbal instructions or teleoperation interventions. The quantitative evaluation metrics will not only provide objective measures for the proposed interactive learning approach, but could also serve as more general tools for the broader field of HRI. This research will open new possibilities for the use of robots in everyday tasks, by allowing human users to customize robots to their own needs, without the necessity of being trained as computer scientists or robotics engineers. The educational plan of this project has three main components: (1) advancing and promoting teaching related activities, including the development of new robotics courses and establishing a new Robotics Laboratory at UNR, (2) outreach to local high-schools through seminars and internships and (3) dissemination of results in peer reviewed journals, conference proceedings, and on the Internet.