CMU Thesis proposal: Common Ground-Based Human-Robot Interaction

Kristen Stubbs, Robotics Institute
Carnegie Mellon University

Abstract
Building more effective human-robot systems requires that we understand the complex interactions that occur within such systems. As human-robot interaction (HRI) develops, we are becoming more ambitious about the types of interactions we envision for our robots and their users. In particular, we have become interested in the deployment of autonomous robots that are designed to work in complex, real-world settings. Our users are not likely to be experts in robotics, and they may possess inaccurate mental models of robotic technologies. In order to facilitate successful interactions, I am interested in promoting common ground between users and robots: that is, I wish to increase users' understanding of robots and foster accurate mental models, and, at the same time, enhance robots' understanding of users and their goals.

In particular, through an ethnographic study of the Life in the Atacama project, I have documented a number of challenges faced by a group of scientists as they used a remotely-located, autonomous robot to explore the Atacama Desert in Chile. I have used this data to hypothesize a basic, operational model of how scientists generate plans for the robot. I then use the data from this study to illustrate the need for three particular components which together form the proposed work: a representation of the scientists' goals, a plan validation system which alerts the science team when a given plan cannot meet these goals, and a plan repair system which, at execution time, uses the science goals to make intelligent decisions about what to do in the event actions fail. The major contributions of this work include detailed analyses of a particular human-robot system, explicit modeling of common ground, and software systems which will improve the grounding process and task performance for exploration robotics-related tasks.

Further Details
A copy of the thesis proposal document can be found at http://www.fieldrobotics.org/~kristen/proposal/kstubbs_proposal.pdf.