A team of researchers, led by Matthew Gombolay, assistant professor in the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Tech and director of the CORE Robotics Lab, is using table tennis to explore human-robot dynamics and trust in high-paced environments. The project focuses on how humans perceive and collaborate with robots, particularly when robots explain their intended actions.
The team developed a “cobot” (collaborative robot) equipped with a Barrett WAM arm, camera, and paddle, trained through imitation learning to play table tennis. Using positive reinforcement for successful volleys and negative reinforcement for missed shots, the robot learned to improve its skills while ensuring safe collaboration with human partners.
“We’ve trained our robot to be a safe table tennis partner,” Gombolay explains. “By leveraging prior research on table tennis and learning from demonstration techniques, we taught the robot to perform tasks such as hitting a table tennis shot by having a human demonstrate the action.”
This research highlights the potential for robots to work closely with humans in physical and social environments, paving the way for advancements in collaborative robotics across fields like manufacturing, healthcare, and education. However, the study also revealed that human participants were less likely to collaborate with the robot when they didn’t trust its explanations or perceive that the robot shared their goals.
“The greater goal of this project is to design robots that can engage in fast-paced, close-proximity interactions in environments like manufacturing, logistics, kitchens, and homes,” says Gombolay. “It’s crucial not only to ensure physical safety but also to understand what makes users trust and feel comfortable with robots.”
This approach could revolutionize human-robot collaboration, enabling effective partnerships in various real-world settings.
Matthew Gombolay – https://ic.gatech.edu/people/matthew-gombolay
Photo by research.gatech.edu, “Matthew Gombolay, an assistant professor in the School of Interactive Computing and director of the Cognitive Optimization and Relational (CORE) Robotics Lab at the Georgia Tech.”
