Proof of concept for a user-centered system for sharing cooperative plan knowledge over extended periods and crew changes in space-flight operations

Abstract

With the Robonaut-2 humanoid robot now permanently flying on the ISS, the potential role for robots participating in cooperative activity in space is becoming a reality. Recent research has demonstrated that cooperation in the joint achievement of shared goals is a promising framework for human interaction with robots, with application in space. Perhaps more importantly, with the turn-over of crew members, robots could play an important role in maintaining and transferring expertise between outgoing and incoming crews. In this context, the current research builds on our experience in systems for cooperative human-robot interaction, introducing novel interface and interaction modalities that exploit the long-term experience of the robot. We implement a system where the human agent can teach the Nao humanoid new actions by physical demonstration, visual imitation, and spoken command. These actions can then be composed into joint action plans that coordinate the cooperation between agent and human. We also implement algorithms for an Autobiographical Memory (ABM) that provides access to of all of the robots interaction experience. These functions are assembled in a novel interaction paradigm for the capture, maintenance and transfer of knowledge in a five-tiered structure. The five tiers allow the robot to 1) learn simple behaviors, 2) learn shared plans composed from the learned behaviors, 3) execute the learned shared plans efficiently, 4) teach shared plans to new humans, and 5) answer questions from the human to better understand the origin of the shared plan. Our results demonstrate the feasibility of this system and indicate that such humanoid robot systems will provide a potential mechanism for the accumulation and transfer of knowledge, between humans who are not co-present. Applications to space flight operations as a target scenario are discussed.