Collaborative Planning and Negotiation in Human-Robot Teams

Our work aims to apply iterative communication techniques to improve functionality of human-robot teams working in space and other high-risk environments. Forms of iterative communication include progressive incorporation of human preference and otherwise latent task specifications. Our prior work found that humans would choose not to comply with robot-provided instructions and then proceed to self-justify their choices despite the risks of physical harm and blatant disregard for rules. Results clearly showed that humans working near robots are willing to sacrifice safety for efficiency. Current work aims to improve communication by iteratively incorporating human preference into optimized path planning for human-robot teams operating over large areas. Future work will explore the extent to which negotiation can be used as a mechanism for improving task planning and joint task execution for humans and robots.