FRAME

Motivation

One of the obstacles to the use of assistance robots in everyday life is still their inability to open any doors or use elevators. Therefore, they either have to be technically retrofitted to be operated by remote control, or the robots are equipped with manipulators to be able to become active themselves. However, both of these options have hardly been practical so far, either because retrofitting is time-consuming and costly or because the ability of robots to open doors and operate elevators under real conditions is still too underdeveloped.

Goals and approach  

The goal of the project is to equip autonomous piloting, transportation, and inspection robots with the basic skills of recognizing humans as potential assistants, contacting them, and motivating them to assist briefly in order to use an elevator or navigate locked rooms. Both basic skills require innovative basic services of human-robot interaction in order to operate successfully under everyday conditions - starting with autonomous recognition of the need situation, robust person perception and determination of the readiness of potential assistants to provide support, person-centered, safe navigation in the environment of persons, and finally dialog design and communication of the concrete need for support.

Innovations and perspectives

The support of a robot by actively involving nearby helpers will be the central innovation of this form of human-robot collaboration. In the future, this will open up a wide range of previously closed fields of application - from clinics and nursing homes, to government agencies and public buildings, to retail, the hotel industry and industrial production.