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- Title
- THE EFFECTS OF VIDEO FRAME DELAY AND SPATIAL ABILITY ON THE OPERATION OF MULTIPLE SEMIAUTONOMOUS AND TELE-OPERATED ROBOTS.
- Creator
-
Sloan, Jared, Stanney, Kay, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
The United States Army has moved into the 21st century with the intent of redesigning not only the force structure but also the methods by which we will fight and win our nation's wars. Fundamental in this restructuring is the development of the Future Combat Systems (FCS). In an effort to minimize exposure of front line soldiers the future Army will utilize unmanned assets for both information gathering and when necessary engagements. Yet this must be done judiciously, as the bandwidth for...
Show moreThe United States Army has moved into the 21st century with the intent of redesigning not only the force structure but also the methods by which we will fight and win our nation's wars. Fundamental in this restructuring is the development of the Future Combat Systems (FCS). In an effort to minimize exposure of front line soldiers the future Army will utilize unmanned assets for both information gathering and when necessary engagements. Yet this must be done judiciously, as the bandwidth for net-centric warfare is limited. The implication is that the FCS must be designed to leverage bandwidth in a manner that does not overtax computational resources. In this study alternatives for improving human performance during operation of teleoperated and semi-autonomous robots were examined. It was predicted that when operating both types of robots, frame delay of the semi-autonomous robot would improve performance because it would allow operators to concentrate on the constant workload imposed by the teleoperated while only allocating resources to the semi-autonomous during critical tasks. An additional prediction was that operators with high spatial ability would perform better than those with low spatial ability, especially when operating an aerial vehicle. The results can not confirm that frame delay has a positive effect on operator performance, though power may have been an issue, but clearly show that spatial ability is a strong predictor of performance on robotic asset control, particularly with aerial vehicles. In operating the UAV, the high spatial group was, on average, 30% faster, lazed 12% more targets, and made 43% more location reports than the low spatial group. The implications of this study indicate that system design should judiciously manage workload and capitalize on individual ability to improve performance and are relevant to system designers, especially in the military community.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2005
- Identifier
- CFE0000430, ucf:46379
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0000430
- Title
- THE ROLE OF THEORY OF MIND IN HUMAN-ROBOT INTERACTION.
- Creator
-
Jaramillo, Isabella, McConnell, Daniel, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Theory of Mind (ToM) has repeatedly been defined as the ability to understand that others believe their own things based on their own subjective interpretations and experiences, and that their thoughts are determined independently from your own. In this study, we wanted to see if individual differences in ToM are capable of causing different perceptions of an individual's interactions with human like robotics and highlight whether or not individual differences in ToM account for different...
Show moreTheory of Mind (ToM) has repeatedly been defined as the ability to understand that others believe their own things based on their own subjective interpretations and experiences, and that their thoughts are determined independently from your own. In this study, we wanted to see if individual differences in ToM are capable of causing different perceptions of an individual's interactions with human like robotics and highlight whether or not individual differences in ToM account for different levels of how individuals experience what is called the "Uncanny Valley phenomenon" and to see whether or not having a fully developed theory of mind is essential to the perception of the interaction. This was assessed by inquiring whether or not individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) perceive robotics and artificially intelligent technology in the same ways that typically developed individuals do; we focused on the growing use of social robotics in ASD therapies. Studies have indicated that differences of ToM exist between individuals with ASD and those who are typically developed. Comparably, we were also curious to see if differences in empathy levels also accounted for differences in ToM and thus a difference in the perceptions of human like robotics. A robotic image rating survey was administered to a group of University of central Florida students, as well as 2 surveys - the Autism Spectrum Quotient (ASQ) and the Basic Empathy Scale (BES), which helped optimize a measurement for theory of mind. Although the results of this study did not support the claim that individuals with ASD do not experience the uncanny valley differently than typically developed individuals, there were significant enough results to conclude that different levels of empathy may account for individual differences in the uncanny valley. People with low empathy seemed to have experienced less of an uncanny valley feeling, while people with higher recorded empathy showed to experience more of an uncanny valley sensitivity.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2015
- Identifier
- CFH0004858, ucf:45457
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004858
- Title
- IS PERCEIVED INTENTIONALITY OF A VIRTUAL ROBOT INFLUENCED BY THE KINEMATICS?.
- Creator
-
Sasser, Jordan, McConnell, Daniel S., University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Research has shown that in Human-Human Interactions kinematic information reveals that competitive and cooperative intentions are perceivable and suggests the existence of a cooperation bias. The present study invokes the same question in a Human-Robot Interaction by investigating the relationship between the acceleration of a virtual robot within a virtual reality environment and the participants perception of the situation being cooperative or competitive by attempting to identify the...
Show moreResearch has shown that in Human-Human Interactions kinematic information reveals that competitive and cooperative intentions are perceivable and suggests the existence of a cooperation bias. The present study invokes the same question in a Human-Robot Interaction by investigating the relationship between the acceleration of a virtual robot within a virtual reality environment and the participants perception of the situation being cooperative or competitive by attempting to identify the social cues used for those perceptions. Five trials, which are mirrored, faster acceleration, slower acceleration, varied acceleration with a loss, and varied acceleration with a win, were experienced by the participant; randomized within two groups of five totaling in ten events. Results suggest that when the virtual robot's acceleration pattern were faster than the participant's acceleration the situation was perceived as more competitive. Additionally, results suggest that while the slower acceleration was perceived as more cooperative, the condition was not significantly different from mirrored acceleration. These results may indicate that there may be some kinematic information found in the faster accelerations that invoke stronger competitive perceptions whereas slower accelerations and mirrored acceleration may blend together during perception; furthermore, the models used in the slower acceleration conditions and the mirrored acceleration provide no single identifiable contributor towards perceived cooperativeness possibly due to a similar cooperative bias. These findings are used as a baseline for understanding movements that can be utilized in the design of better social robotic movements. These movements would improve the interactions between humans and these robots, ultimately improving the robot's ability to help during situations.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2019
- Identifier
- CFH2000524, ucf:45668
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH2000524
- Title
- PERCEPTION AND DISPLAYS FOR TELEOPERATED ROBOTS.
- Creator
-
Upham Ellis, Linda, Sims, Valerie, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
In remote or teleoperational tasks involving humans and robots, various aspects of the remote display system may greatly influence the individual's interactions with the teleoperated entity. This dissertation examined various configurations of display systems on several measures of operator performance, physiological states, and perceptions of the task. Display configurations included altering the camera placement (attached to the robot or placed overhead), screen orientation (horizontal...
Show moreIn remote or teleoperational tasks involving humans and robots, various aspects of the remote display system may greatly influence the individual's interactions with the teleoperated entity. This dissertation examined various configurations of display systems on several measures of operator performance, physiological states, and perceptions of the task. Display configurations included altering the camera placement (attached to the robot or placed overhead), screen orientation (horizontal or vertical), and screen size (small or large). Performance was measured in terms of specific task goals, accuracies, strategies, and completion times. Physiological state was assessed through physiological markers of arousal, specifically heart rate and skin conductance. Operator perception of the task was measured with a self-reported perception of workload and frustration. Scale model live simulation was used to create a task driven environment to test the display configurations. Screen size influenced performance on complex tasks in mixed ways. Participants using a small screen exhibited better problem solving strategies in a complex driving task. However, participants using the large screen exhibited better driving precision when the task required continual attention. These findings have value in design decisions for teleoperated interfaces where the advantages and disadvantages of screen size must be considered carefully. Orientation of the visual information seems to have much less impact on the operator than the source of the information, though it was an important factor of the display system when taken together with screen size and camera view. Results show strong influence of camera placement on many of the performance variables. Interestingly, the participants rated a higher frustration in the overhead condition, but not a higher task load, indicating that while they realized that the task was frustrating and perhaps they could have done better, they did not recognize the task as overloading. This was the case even though they took longer to complete the task and experienced more errors related to turning in the overhead camera condition. This finding may indicate a potential danger for systems in which the operator is expected to recognize when he or she is being overloaded. This type of performance decrease due to added frames of reference may be too subtle to register in the operator's self awareness
Show less - Date Issued
- 2008
- Identifier
- CFE0002330, ucf:47818
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002330
- Title
- Design and Motion Control of a Four Degree of Freedom Robotic Needle Guide for MRI-Guided Intervention.
- Creator
-
Zhang, Shihao, Song, Sang-Eun, Xu, Yunjun, Bagci, Ulas, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
In the past several MRI compatible robotic needle guide devices for targeted prostate biopsy have been developed. The large and complex structure have been identified as the major limitations of those devices. Such limitations, in addition to complex steps for device to image registration have prevented widespread implementation of MRI-guided prostate biopsy despite the advantages of MRI compared to TRUS. We have designed a compact MRI-guided robotic intervention with the capability to have...
Show moreIn the past several MRI compatible robotic needle guide devices for targeted prostate biopsy have been developed. The large and complex structure have been identified as the major limitations of those devices. Such limitations, in addition to complex steps for device to image registration have prevented widespread implementation of MRI-guided prostate biopsy despite the advantages of MRI compared to TRUS. We have designed a compact MRI-guided robotic intervention with the capability to have angulated insertion to avoid damage to any anatomical feature along the needle path. The system consists of a novel mechanism driven Robotic Needle Guide (RNG). The RNG is a 4-DOF robotic needle manipulator mounted on a Gross Positioning Module (GPM), which is locked on the MRI table. The RNG consists of four parallel stacked disks with an engraved profile path. The rotary motion and positioning of the discs at an angle aids in guiding the biopsy needle. Once a clinician selects a target for needle insertion, the intervention provides possible insertion angles. Then, the most suitable angle is selected by the clinician based on the safest trajectory. The selected target and insertion angle are then computed as control parameters of RNG i.e. the discs are then rotated to the required angle. Insertion is followed by quick confirmation scans to ascertain needle position at all times.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2018
- Identifier
- CFE0007116, ucf:51942
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007116
- Title
- Color-Ratio Based Strawberry Plant Localization and Nutrition Deficiency Detection.
- Creator
-
Kong, Xiangling, Xu, Yunjun, Elgohary, Tarek, Fu, Qiushi, Wu, Dazhong, Wang, Liqiang, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
In recent years, precision agriculture has become popular anticipating to partially meet the needs of an ever-growing population with limited resources. Plant localization and nutrient de?ciency detection are two important tasks in precision agriculture. In this dissertation, these two tasks are studied by using a new color-ratio(C-R) index technique. Firstly, a low cost and light scene invariant approach is proposed to detect green and yellow leaves based on the color-ratio (C-R) indices. A...
Show moreIn recent years, precision agriculture has become popular anticipating to partially meet the needs of an ever-growing population with limited resources. Plant localization and nutrient de?ciency detection are two important tasks in precision agriculture. In this dissertation, these two tasks are studied by using a new color-ratio(C-R) index technique. Firstly, a low cost and light scene invariant approach is proposed to detect green and yellow leaves based on the color-ratio (C-R) indices. A plant localization approach is then developed using the relative pixel relationships of adjacent plants. Secondly, the Sobel operator and morphology techniques are applied to segment the target strawberry leaf from a ?eld image. The characterized color for a speci?c nutrient de?ciency is detected by the C-R indices. The pattern of the detected color on the leaf is then examined to determine the speci?c nutrient de?ciency. The proposed approaches are validated in a commercial strawberry farm.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2019
- Identifier
- CFE0007666, ucf:52482
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007666
- Title
- Exploring Natural User Abstractions For Shared Perceptual Manipulator Task Modeling (&) Recovery.
- Creator
-
Koh, Senglee, Laviola II, Joseph, Foroosh, Hassan, Zhang, Shaojie, Kim, Si Jung, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
State-of-the-art domestic robot assistants are essentially autonomous mobile manipulators capable of exerting human-scale precision grasps. To maximize utility and economy, non-technical end-users would need to be nearly as efficient as trained roboticists in control and collaboration of manipulation task behaviors. However, it remains a significant challenge given that many WIMP-style tools require superficial proficiency in robotics, 3D graphics, and computer science for rapid task modeling...
Show moreState-of-the-art domestic robot assistants are essentially autonomous mobile manipulators capable of exerting human-scale precision grasps. To maximize utility and economy, non-technical end-users would need to be nearly as efficient as trained roboticists in control and collaboration of manipulation task behaviors. However, it remains a significant challenge given that many WIMP-style tools require superficial proficiency in robotics, 3D graphics, and computer science for rapid task modeling and recovery. But research on robot-centric collaboration has garnered momentum in recent years; robots are now planning in partially observable environments that maintain geometries and semantic maps, presenting opportunities for non-experts to cooperatively control task behavior with autonomous-planning agents exploiting the knowledge. However, as autonomous systems are not immune to errors under perceptual difficulty, a human-in-the-loop is needed to bias autonomous-planning towards recovery conditions that resume the task and avoid similar errors.In this work, we explore interactive techniques allowing non-technical users to model task behaviors and perceive cooperatively with a service robot under robot-centric collaboration. We evaluate stylus and touch modalities that users can intuitively and effectively convey natural abstractions of high-level tasks, semantic revisions, and geometries about the world. Experiments are conducted with `pick-and-place' tasks in an ideal `Blocks World' environment using a Kinova JACO six degree-of-freedom manipulator. Possibilities for the architecture and interface are demonstrated with the following features; (1) Semantic `Object' and `Location' grounding that describe function and ambiguous geometries (2) Task specification with an unordered list of goal predicates, and (3) Guiding task recovery with implied scene geometries and trajectory via symmetry cues and configuration space abstraction. Empirical results from four user studies show our interface was much preferred than the control condition, demonstrating high learnability and ease-of-use that enable our non-technical participants to model complex tasks, provide effective recovery assistance, and teleoperative control.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2018
- Identifier
- CFE0007209, ucf:52292
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007209
- Title
- Bio-Inspired Visual Servo Control of a Picking Mechanism in an Agricultural Ground Robot.
- Creator
-
Defterli, Sinem, Xu, Yunjun, Kauffman, Jeffrey L., Lin, Kuo-Chi, Song, Sang-Eun, Zheng, Qipeng, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
For a recently constructed disease detection agricultural ground robot, the segregation of unhealthy leaves fromstrawberry plants is a major task of the robot's manipulation subsystem in field operations. In this dissertation, the motion planning of a custom-designedpicking mechanism in the ground robot's subsystem is studied in two sections. First, a set of analytical, suboptimal semi-analyticaland numerical algorithms are studied to solve the inverse kinematics problem of the handling...
Show moreFor a recently constructed disease detection agricultural ground robot, the segregation of unhealthy leaves fromstrawberry plants is a major task of the robot's manipulation subsystem in field operations. In this dissertation, the motion planning of a custom-designedpicking mechanism in the ground robot's subsystem is studied in two sections. First, a set of analytical, suboptimal semi-analyticaland numerical algorithms are studied to solve the inverse kinematics problem of the handling mechanism in firmcircumstances. These premeditated approaches are built on the computation of the joint variables by an identified 3Dposition data of the target leaf only. The outcomes of the three solution algorithms are evaluated in terms of the performanceindexes of energy change and the CPU time cost. The resultant postures of the mechanism for different target pointlocations are observed both in simulations and the hardware experiments with each IK solution. Secondly, after the manipulation task of the mechanism via the proposed inverse kinematicalgorithms is performed, some compensation may be needed due to the sudden and unpredicted deviation of the targetposition under field conditions.For the purpose of finding optimal joint values under certain constraints, a trajectory optimization problem in image-based visual servoing method via the camera-in-handconfiguration is initiated when the end-effector is in the close proximity of the target leaf. In this part of the study, a bio-inspired trajectory optimization problem in image-basedvisual servoing method is constructed based on the mathematical model derived from the prey-predatorrelationships in nature. In this biological phenomenon, the predator constructs its path in a certain subspace whilecatching the prey. When this motion strategy is applied to trajectory optimization problems, it causes a significantreduce in the computation cost since it finds the optimum solution in a certain manifold. The performance of the introducedbio-inspired trajectory optimization in visual servoing is validated with the hardware experiments both in laboratory settings and in fieldconditions.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2018
- Identifier
- CFE0007170, ucf:52247
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007170
- Title
- Enhancing the effectiveness of Human-Robot teaming with a closed-loop system.
- Creator
-
Teo, Grace, Szalma, James, Jentsch, Florian, Hancock, Peter, Matthews, Gerald, Reinerman, Lauren, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
With the development in robotics and the increasing deployment of robots, human-robot teams are set to be a mainstay in the future. However, our understanding of the effectiveness and impact of this new form of teaming is limited. Previous experience with technology and automa-tion has shown that technological aids do not always result in the intended consequences of im-proved performance and alleviation of workload and stress. No doubt a large part of this is due to the fact that the...
Show moreWith the development in robotics and the increasing deployment of robots, human-robot teams are set to be a mainstay in the future. However, our understanding of the effectiveness and impact of this new form of teaming is limited. Previous experience with technology and automa-tion has shown that technological aids do not always result in the intended consequences of im-proved performance and alleviation of workload and stress. No doubt a large part of this is due to the fact that the relationships among taskload, workload and performance are complex as hu-man operators interact dynamically with tasks and technology. Measures of workload are also varied and differentially sensitive. There is also the added challenge posed by multi-tasking envi-ronments which typify most real-world situations. Given all this, efforts in designing technologi-cal aids, such as an adaptive robot aid in the context of human-robot teaming, would require a workload model that reflects the intricate relationship between taskload and the individual opera-tor's experience of workload. Such a model can then be used to drive a closed-loop system on which adaptive robot aiding can be based. The present research sought to investigate the effec-tiveness of a closed-loop system, based on a model of workload, in enhancing performance in a simulated military mission involving a human-robot team. Results showed that adaptive robot aid driven by workload needs as assessed by physiological measures resulted in greater improve-ments in performance compared to robot aid that was imposed by the system.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2015
- Identifier
- CFE0006403, ucf:51485
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006403
- Title
- Approximated Control Affine Dynamics Mode For an Agricultural Field Robot Considering Wheel Terrain Interaction.
- Creator
-
Menendez-Aponte, Pablo, Xu, Yunjun, Lin, Kuo-Chi, Moslehy, Faissal, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
As populations and the demand for higher crop yields grow, so to does the need forefficient agricultural wheeled mobile robots. To achieve precise navigation through a fieldit is desirable that the control system is designed based on an accurate dynamic model. Inthis paper a control affine model for a custom designed skid-steer differential drive wheeledmobile robot is found. The Terramechanic wheel terrain interaction is adopted and modifiedto consider wheels with a torus geometry. Varying...
Show moreAs populations and the demand for higher crop yields grow, so to does the need forefficient agricultural wheeled mobile robots. To achieve precise navigation through a fieldit is desirable that the control system is designed based on an accurate dynamic model. Inthis paper a control affine model for a custom designed skid-steer differential drive wheeledmobile robot is found. The Terramechanic wheel terrain interaction is adopted and modifiedto consider wheels with a torus geometry. Varying slip ratios and slip angles are consideredin the terrain reaction forces, which is curve-fitted using a nonlinear least squares approachsuch that the achieved model is control affine. The parameters in the proposed model isidentified through an extended Kalman filter so that the state variables in the model arematched. Both simulation and experiments in a commercial farm validated the proposedmodel and the identification approach.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2016
- Identifier
- CFE0006480, ucf:51410
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006480
- Title
- Quantitative Framework For Social Cultural Interactions.
- Creator
-
Bhatia, Taranjeet, Boloni, Ladislau, Turgut, Damla, Sukthankar, Gita, Fiore, Stephen, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
For an autonomous robot or software agent to participate in the social life of humans, it must have a way to perform a calculus of social behavior. Such a calculus must have explanatory power (it must provide a coherent theory for why the humans act the way they do), and predictive power (it must provide some plausible events from the predicted future actions of the humans).This dissertation describes a series of contributions that would allow agents observing or interacting with humans to...
Show moreFor an autonomous robot or software agent to participate in the social life of humans, it must have a way to perform a calculus of social behavior. Such a calculus must have explanatory power (it must provide a coherent theory for why the humans act the way they do), and predictive power (it must provide some plausible events from the predicted future actions of the humans).This dissertation describes a series of contributions that would allow agents observing or interacting with humans to perform a calculus of social behavior taking into account cultural conventions and socially acceptable behavior models. We discuss the formal components of the model: culture-sanctioned social metrics (CSSMs), concrete beliefs (CBs) and action impact functions. Through a detailed case study of a crooked seller who relies on the manipulation of public perception, we show that the model explains how the exploitation of social conventions allows the seller to finalize transactions, despite the fact that the clients know that they are being cheated. In a separate study, we show that how the crooked seller can find an optimal strategy with the use of reinforcement learning.We extend the CSSM model for modeling the propagation of public perception across multiple social interactions. We model the evolution of the public perception both over a single interaction and during a series of interactions over an extended period of time. An important aspect for modeling the public perception is its propagation - how the propagation is affected by the spatio-temporal context of the interaction and how does the short-term and long-term memory of humans affect the overall public perception.We validated the CSSM model through a user study in which participants cognizant with the modeled culture had to evaluate the impact on the social values. The scenarios used in the experiments modeled emotionally charged social situations in a cross-cultural setting and with the presence of a robot. The scenarios model conflicts of cross-cultural communication as well as ethical, social and financial choices. This study allowed us to study whether people sharing the same culture evaluate CSSMs at the same way (the inter-cultural uniformity conjecture). By presenting a wide range of possible metrics, the study also allowed us to determine whether any given metric can be considered a CSSM in a given culture or not.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2016
- Identifier
- CFE0006262, ucf:51047
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006262
- Title
- Supporting situation awareness through robot-to-human information exchanges under conditions of visuospatial perspective taking.
- Creator
-
Phillips, Elizabeth, Jentsch, Florian, Sims, Valerie, Bowers, Clint, Shumaker, Randall, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
The future vision of military Soldier(-)robot teams is one in which Soldiers and robots work together to complete separate, but interdependent tasks that advance the goals of the mission. However, in the near term, robots will be limited in their ability to successfully perform tasks without, at least, occasional assistance from their human teammates. A need exists to design, in robots, mechanisms that can support human situation awareness (SA) regarding the operations of the robot, which...
Show moreThe future vision of military Soldier(-)robot teams is one in which Soldiers and robots work together to complete separate, but interdependent tasks that advance the goals of the mission. However, in the near term, robots will be limited in their ability to successfully perform tasks without, at least, occasional assistance from their human teammates. A need exists to design, in robots, mechanisms that can support human situation awareness (SA) regarding the operations of the robot, which humans can use to provide interventions in robot tasks. The purpose of the current study was to test the effects of information exchanges provided by a robot on the development of SA in a human partner, under differing levels of visual perspective taking, and the consequential effects on the quality of human assistance provided to a robot. After data screening, fifty-six male participants ranging in age from 18 to 29 (M= 18.89, SD= 3.412) were included in the analysis of the results. Hierarchical multiple regression and a series of ANOVAs with comparisons between individual within-subjects study conditions were conducted to analyze five Hypotheses. The results of this study revealed that if robots, through robot-to-human information exchanges, can increasingly support a human's understanding of when assistance is needed, humans will be better able to provide that assistance. As opposed to originally hypothesized, this study also showed that fewer instances in which robots share status information with their human counterparts may be more beneficial for supporting awareness, assistance, and dual task performance than more information sharing, by guarding against performance decrements that could be the result of receiving too many robot-to-human information exchanges. It was also thought that anchoring robot-to-human information sharing with spatial information in reference to the human's view of the environment would be most beneficial for supporting awareness regarding the robot and assistance provided to the robot. This notion was not supported. Instead, results suggested that if extra spatial information is added to robot-to-human information exchanges, representing that spatial information in reference to a cardinal, global-relative perspective of the environment may be better for supporting awareness and assistance than representing that information in reference to the human's view of the environment.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2016
- Identifier
- CFE0006162, ucf:51143
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006162
- Title
- The Effects of Diagnostic Aiding on Situation Awareness under Robot Unreliability.
- Creator
-
Schuster, David, Jentsch, Florian, Szalma, James, Mouloua, Mustapha, Shumaker, Randall, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
In highly autonomous robotic systems, human operators are able to attend to their own, separate tasks, but robots still need occasional human intervention. In this scenario, it may be difficult for human operators to determine the status of the system and environment when called upon to aid the robot. The resulting lack of situation awareness (SA) is a problem common to other automated systems, and it can lead to poor performance and compromised safety. Existing research on this problem...
Show moreIn highly autonomous robotic systems, human operators are able to attend to their own, separate tasks, but robots still need occasional human intervention. In this scenario, it may be difficult for human operators to determine the status of the system and environment when called upon to aid the robot. The resulting lack of situation awareness (SA) is a problem common to other automated systems, and it can lead to poor performance and compromised safety. Existing research on this problem suggested that reliable automation of information processing, called diagnostic aiding, leads to better operator SA. The effects of unreliable diagnostic aiding, however, were not well understood. These effects are likely to depend on the ability of the operator to perform the task unaided. That is, under conditions in which the operator can reconcile their own sensing with that of the robot, the influence of unreliable diagnostic aiding may be more pronounced. When the robot is the only source of information for a task, these effects may be weaker or may reverse direction. The purpose of the current experiment was to determine if SA is differentially affected by unreliability at different levels of unaided human performance and at different stages of diagnostic aiding. This was accomplished by experimentally manipulating the stage of diagnostic aiding, robot reliability, and the ability of the operator to build SA unaided. Results indicated that while reliable diagnostic aiding is generally useful, unreliable diagnostic aiding has effects that depend on the amount of information available to operators in the environment. This research improves understanding of how robots can support operator SA and can guide the development of future robots so that humans are most likely to use them effectively.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2013
- Identifier
- CFE0005247, ucf:50577
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005247
- Title
- Quality Diversity: Harnessing Evolution to Generate a Diversity of High-Performing Solutions.
- Creator
-
Pugh, Justin, Stanley, Kenneth, Wu, Annie, Sukthankar, Gita, Garibay, Ivan, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Evolution in nature has designed countless solutions to innumerable interconnected problems, giving birth to the impressive array of complex modern life observed today. Inspired by this success, the practice of evolutionary computation (EC) abstracts evolution artificially as a search operator to find solutions to problems of interest primarily through the adaptive mechanism of survival of the fittest, where stronger candidates are pursued at the expense of weaker ones until a solution of...
Show moreEvolution in nature has designed countless solutions to innumerable interconnected problems, giving birth to the impressive array of complex modern life observed today. Inspired by this success, the practice of evolutionary computation (EC) abstracts evolution artificially as a search operator to find solutions to problems of interest primarily through the adaptive mechanism of survival of the fittest, where stronger candidates are pursued at the expense of weaker ones until a solution of satisfying quality emerges. At the same time, research in open-ended evolution (OEE) draws different lessons from nature, seeking to identify and recreate processes that lead to the type of perpetual innovation and indefinitely increasing complexity observed in natural evolution. New algorithms in EC such as MAP-Elites and Novelty Search with Local Competition harness the toolkit of evolution for a related purpose: finding as many types of good solutions as possible (rather than merely the single best solution). With the field in its infancy, no empirical studies previously existed comparing these so-called quality diversity (QD) algorithms. This dissertation (1) contains the first extensive and methodical effort to compare different approaches to QD (including both existing published approaches as well as some new methods presented for the first time here) and to understand how they operate to help inform better approaches in the future.It also (2) introduces a new technique for encoding neural networks for evolution with indirect encoding that contain multiple sensory or output modalities.Further, it (3) explores the idea that QD can act as an engine of open-ended discovery by introducing an expressive platform called Voxelbuild where QD algorithms continually evolve robots that stack blocks in new ways. A culminating experiment (4) is presented that investigates evolution in Voxelbuild over a very long timescale. This research thus stands to advance the OEE community's desire to create and understand open-ended systems while also laying the groundwork for QD to realize its potential within EC as a means to automatically generate an endless progression of new content in real-world applications.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2019
- Identifier
- CFE0007513, ucf:52638
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007513
- Title
- Transparency in human-agent teaming and its effect on complacent behavior.
- Creator
-
Wright, Julia, Hancock, Peter, Szalma, James, Jentsch, Florian, Chen, Jessie, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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This study examined how transparency of an intelligent agent's reasoning affected complacent behavior in a route selection task in a simulated environment. Also examined was how the information available to the operator affected those results.In two experiments, participants supervised a three-vehicle convoy as it traversed a simulated environment and re-routed the convoy when needed with the assistance of an intelligent agent, RoboLeader. Participants were randomly assigned to an Agent...
Show moreThis study examined how transparency of an intelligent agent's reasoning affected complacent behavior in a route selection task in a simulated environment. Also examined was how the information available to the operator affected those results.In two experiments, participants supervised a three-vehicle convoy as it traversed a simulated environment and re-routed the convoy when needed with the assistance of an intelligent agent, RoboLeader. Participants were randomly assigned to an Agent Reasoning Transparency condition. Participants received communications from a commander confirming either the presence or absence of activity in the area. They also received information regarding potential events along their route via icons that appeared on a map displaying the convoy route and surrounding area. Participants in Experiment 1 (low information setting) received information about their current route only; they did not receive any information about the suggested alternate route. Participants in Experiment 2 (high information setting) received information about both their current route and the agent recommended an alternative route. In the first experiment, access to agent reasoning was found to be an effective deterrent to complacent behavior when the operator has limited information about their task environment. However, the addition of information that created ambiguity for the operator encouraged complacency, resulting in reduced performance and poorer trust calibration. Agent reasoning did not increase response time or workload and appeared to have improved performance on the secondary task. These findings align with studies that have shown ambiguous information can increase workload and encourage complacency, as such, caution should be exercised when considering how transparent to make agent reasoning and what information should be included.In the second experiment, access to agent reasoning was found to have little effect on complacent behavior when the operator had complete information about the task environment. However, the addition of information that created ambiguity for the operator appeared to encourage complacency, as indicated by reduced performance and shorter decision times. Agent reasoning transparency did not increase overall workload, and operators reported higher satisfaction with their performance and reduced mental demand. Access to agent reasoning did not improve operators' secondary task performance, situation awareness, or operator trust. However, when agent reasoning transparency included ambiguous information complacent behavior was again encouraged. Unlike the first experiment, there were notable differences in complacent behavior, performance, operator trust, and situation awareness due to individual difference factors. As such, these findings would suggest that when the operator has complete information regarding their task environment, access to agent reasoning may be beneficial, but not dramatically so. However, individual difference factors will greatly influence performance outcomes. The amount of information the operator has regarding the task environment has a profound effect on the proper use of the agent. Increased environmental information resulted in more rejections of the agent recommendation regardless of the transparency of agent reasoning. The addition of agent reasoning transparency appeared to be effective at keeping the operator engaged, while complacent behavior appeared to be encouraged both when agent reasoning was either not transparent or so transparent as to become ambiguous. Even so, operators reported lower trust and usability for the agent than when environmental information was limited. Situation awareness (SA2) scores were also higher in the high information environment when agent reasoning was either not transparent or so transparent as to become ambiguous, compared to the low information environment. However, when a moderate amount of agent reasoning was available to the operator, the amount of information available to the operator had no effect on the operators' complacent behavior, subjective trust, or SA. These findings indicate that some negative outcomes resulting from the incongruous transparency of agent reasoning may be mitigated by increasing the information the operator has regarding the task environment.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2016
- Identifier
- CFE0006422, ucf:51469
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006422
- Title
- Physiological Reactions to Uncanny Stimuli: Substantiation of Self-Assessment and Individual Perception in User Enjoyment and Comfort.
- Creator
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Ballion, Tatiana, Sims, Valerie, Chin, Matthew, Jones, Donald, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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There is abundant anecdotal evidence substantiating Mori's initial observation of the "uncanny valley", a point at which human response to non-human entities drops sharply with respect to comfort (Mori, 1970), and the construct itself has a long-standing history in both Robotics and Psychology. Currently, many fields such as design, training, entertainment, and education make use of heuristic approaches to accommodate the anticipated needs of the user/consumer/audience in certain important...
Show moreThere is abundant anecdotal evidence substantiating Mori's initial observation of the "uncanny valley", a point at which human response to non-human entities drops sharply with respect to comfort (Mori, 1970), and the construct itself has a long-standing history in both Robotics and Psychology. Currently, many fields such as design, training, entertainment, and education make use of heuristic approaches to accommodate the anticipated needs of the user/consumer/audience in certain important aspects. This is due to the lack of empirical substantiation or, in some cases, the impossibility of rigorous quantification; one such area is with respect to the user's experience of uncanniness, a feeling of "eeriness" or "wrongness" when interacting with artefacts or environments. Uncanniness, however, continues to be defined and measured in a largely subjective way, and often after the fact; an experience or product's uncanny features are pointed out after the item has been markedly avoided or complained about by the general public. These studies are among the first seeking to determine a constellation of personality traits and physiological responses that incline the user to have a more frequent or profound (")uncanny" reaction when presented with stimuli meeting the criteria for a level of "eeriness". In study 1, 395 adults were asked to categorize 200 images as uncanny, neutral, pleasant, or other. In Study 2, physiological and eye-tracking data was collected from twenty two adults as they viewed uncanny, neutral and pleasant images culled from study 1. This research identifies components of the uncanny valley related to subjective assessment, personality factors (using the HEXACO and Anthropomorphic Tendencies Scale), and biophysical measures, and found that traits unique to Emotionality on the HEXACO inventory, compounded with a form of anthropomorphism demonstrates a level of relationship to the subjective experience of uncanny stimuli. There is evidence that HEXACO type and forms of anthropomorphic perception mediates the biophysical expression and the subjective perception of the stimuli. In keeping with psychological hypotheses, stimuli to which the participants had greatest response centered on death, the threat of death, or mismatched/absent facial features.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2012
- Identifier
- CFE0004354, ucf:49454
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004354
- Title
- TOWARD BUILDING A SOCIAL ROBOT WITH AN EMOTION-BASED INTERNAL CONTROL AND EXTERNAL COMMUNICATION TO ENHANCE HUMAN-ROBOT INTERACTION.
- Creator
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Marpaung, Andreas, Lisetti, Christine, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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In this thesis, we aim at modeling some aspects of the functional role of emotions on an autonomous embodied agent. We begin by describing our robotic prototype, Cherry--a robot with the task of being a tour guide and an office assistant for the Computer Science Department at the University of Central Florida. Cherry did not have a formal emotion representation of internal states, but did have the ability to express emotions through her multimodal interface. The thesis presents the results of...
Show moreIn this thesis, we aim at modeling some aspects of the functional role of emotions on an autonomous embodied agent. We begin by describing our robotic prototype, Cherry--a robot with the task of being a tour guide and an office assistant for the Computer Science Department at the University of Central Florida. Cherry did not have a formal emotion representation of internal states, but did have the ability to express emotions through her multimodal interface. The thesis presents the results of a survey we performed via our social informatics approach where we found that: (1) the idea of having emotions in a robot was warmly accepted by Cherry's users, and (2) the intended users were pleased with our initial interface design and functionalities. Guided by these results, we transferred our previous code to a human-height and more robust robot--Petra, the PeopleBot™--where we began to build a formal emotion mechanism and representation for internal states to correspond to the external expressions of Cherry's interface. We describe our overall three-layered architecture, and propose the design of the sensory motor level (the first layer of the three-layered architecture) inspired by the Multilevel Process Theory of Emotion on one hand, and hybrid robotic architecture on the other hand. The sensory-motor level receives and processes incoming stimuli with fuzzy logic and produces emotion-like states without any further willful planning or learning. We will discuss how Petra has been equipped with sonar and vision for obstacle avoidance as well as vision for face recognition, which are used when she roams around the hallway to engage in social interactions with humans. We hope that the sensory motor level in Petra could serve as a foundation for further works in modeling the three-layered architecture of the Emotion State Generator.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2004
- Identifier
- CFE0000286, ucf:46228
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0000286
- Title
- E.A.I. Anxiety: Technopanic and Post-Human Potential.
- Creator
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Mandell, Zachary, Brenckle, Martha, Jones, Natasha, Scott, Blake, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Robots have been a part of the imagination of Western culture for centuries. The possibility for automation and artificial life has inspired the curiosity of thinkers like Leonardo Da Vinci who once designed a mechanical knight. It wasn't until the 19th century that automated machinery has become realized. The confrontation between human and automation has inspired a fear, referred to as (")technopanic("), that has been exacerbated in tandem with the evolution of technology. This thesis seeks...
Show moreRobots have been a part of the imagination of Western culture for centuries. The possibility for automation and artificial life has inspired the curiosity of thinkers like Leonardo Da Vinci who once designed a mechanical knight. It wasn't until the 19th century that automated machinery has become realized. The confrontation between human and automation has inspired a fear, referred to as (")technopanic("), that has been exacerbated in tandem with the evolution of technology. This thesis seeks to discover the historical precedence for these fears. I explore three modes of knowledge (Philosophy, Economics, and Film Theory) to examine the agendas behind the messages on the topic of Artificial Life, specifically Robots. I then advocate for an alternative philosophy called Post-Humanism. I argue that what is needed to alleviate the fears and anxieties of Western culture is a shift in how humanity views itself and its relation to the natural world. By structuring my thesis in this way, I identify the roots of Western humanity's anthropocentric ontology first, explore the economic implications of automation second, analyze the cultural anticipations of artificial life in Western media third, and finally offer an alternative attitude and ethic as a way out of the pre-established judgments that do little to protect Western culture from E.A.I.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2018
- Identifier
- CFE0007049, ucf:52022
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007049
