A lot of thought is put into the design while creating realistic robots, especially if you want them to have flawless interacting qualities. We might not be aware of it, but there are many intricate details that go into any kind of human movement, even something as simple as making an eight in the air. Northeastern University professor Dagmar Sternad is very much fascinated by this phenomenon and wants to study these movements individually and in co-operation with each other. She carried out an experiment where the people were told to hold the robot’s hand gently; then, as the robot moves its hand, they have to mimic it without resisting.
If the robot succeeded in moving its hand just like a human’s, then only can Sternad say that this experiment was not a failure. If happened otherwise, the human would feel little discomfited at the robot’s movements. This little difference could lead to an important discovery in the context of the human-robot interaction.
Robots are now actually being created to help humans in many kinds of works. “If they lift a table together and the robot moved independently with constant velocity, without regarding velocity modulations, that would provide problems,” Sternad said. However, there is also a chance of such interaction backfiring rapidly. An example of it would be physical therapy rehabilitation centres.
What Sternad’s Action Lab is currently working on, is finding a way of mimicking the movement of humans into the field of robotics. Her project with ‘Valkyrie’ is a perfect way to mark her development on her chosen road. It is a 6-foot-2-inch, 275-pound humanoid robot, put forth by NASA. Taskin Padir, Valkyrie’s principal investigator, has let Sternad put sensors on the humanoid’s joints, so as to better monitor its motions and movements of its whole body.
“The idea is, as we make some of the data available to the research community, other labs that don’t have direct access to Valkyrie can start working, analysing, and developing other algorithms to contribute to the knowledge base,” Sternad said.
Pranjali Wakde
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