Fuzzy logic approach proposal for human-robot interaction modelling

Abstract

Scientists need to look into the future and address the issues not yet anticipated in the society, especially those directly concerning its members safety and life. It is not a new conclusion to say that robots are becoming more and more sophisticated in their forms and actions. The humanity will soon face machines known to date from science-fiction literature only- resembling humans by appearance and behavior to an utmost extent. In the presented work, the Authors have proposed a fuzzy logic approach for Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) modelling, considering factors of two levels of interaction between a person and a machine: physical and psychological. The factors are, respectively: the distance between a person and a robot and the robot's performance, defined also using reliability and dependability terms. The proposal was based mainly on the qualitative knowledge obtained from the HRI experiments, with a support of available, limited quantitative data. This is to assure that when the sophisticated robot will knock at human's door, it will be able to interact with him in a way as close to seamless as possible. It is worth to note that the presented chapter proposes ( 1) a formalized modelling approach for HRI research work purposes and (2) the use of fuzzy logic to model intuitively·understood and interpreted relations between humans and robots.