Human-Machine Interaction
Changing functions of objects pose an unsolved problem for machines: a laboratory robot, for example, does not know which tool can be assigned to which employee. The three research areas of the DFKI Laboratory in Lower Saxony are therefore working together for the first time on a solution in the form of dynamic anchoring. The new software is being tested on robot arms and sailing boats.
Image: DFKI GmbH / Photo: Annemarie Popp
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If an office employee takes a cup from the cupboard, it remains in their possession for the rest of the working day. While colleagues automatically register and take this into account, this functional property presents a machine with a complex problem: For a service robot in the laboratory or in the household, it is difficult to distinguish between many objects that look the same according to their current function. Who owns what, what it is used for and when it no longer applies – the machine cannot access all this information on its own.
Dynamic anchor
For this it needs a so-called dynamic anchor, which combines the knowledge of each individual cup with a current function: who is currently using the cup and when the use is ended. The perception of such object identities, which are sometimes limited in time, is a key for human-machine interaction. For this reason, the three research areas of the DFKI Laboratory Lower Saxony are working on a fundamental solution for dynamic anchoring in the CoPDA (Comprehensive Perception and Dynamic Anchoring) project such affiliations.
The goal of the project is a Dynamic Anchoring Agent (DAA). This can be used in different robot systems and serves to establish a temporary connection between the detected objects and the prior knowledge of their properties and area of application. The project aims to define, among other things, how these connections can be created and released again. The question is whether the machine needs to be explained, who owns an object from when, or whether it can recognize this on its own – for example, by visual cues or spatial location.
Anchor as open source software
According to the idea of the DFKI Laboratory in Lower Saxony, sufficient information about the cup and the possible change of its location and appearance could anchor the DAA itself and thus enable, for example, a robot to automatically bring the right cup to every employee. Because dynamic anchoring is a basic problem that affects all future areas of application of robots in cooperation with humans. For this reason, the scientists are working on a basic solution. The dynamic anchor agent is to be made available as open source software for robots.
The dynamic anchoring is tested with a robot arm that registers in a laboratory which tool belongs to which employee. The difficulty here is moving the tools: The DAA must recognize the affiliation of a cordless screwdriver even if it has been moved to another location without being noticed. The second attempt is to test how the agent behaves in less controllable areas: In a marina, cameras and sensors are used to test how large-scale environments can be anchored and maintained with permanent changes. The purpose of the trial is to make the agent usable for logistics areas such as car parks or warehouses.
