Newsitems

User-friendly solutions challenged
When studying to become an engineer Sylvain was struck by the fact that working with and programming robots to do manipulation tasks really wasn’t user-friendly.
- I noticed the un-efficiency it caused in the production, says Sylvain. Developing more user-friendly and efficient methods to re-program a robot really caught my interest.

Studying at the university Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland Prof. Aude Billard gained way for Sylvains interest in robotics. He was the first student doing a master thesis for her, and then her first PhD-student. Sylvain finished his thesis “Continuous Extraction of Task Constraints in a Robot Programming by Demonstration Framework” in 2007.
The thesis examines how a human instructor can teach manipulation skills to a robot by first demonstrating the required motions, then leading the robot through them and coaching the robot’s refinement of its skill level by providing feedback using gestures or voice emphasis.

- Using my framework an operator can show the robot what to do directly, not having to explain and pass on his knowledge and needs to a programmer who then has to program the robot through a computer language or a teach pendant, says Sylvain. This will save time and money in both industrial, home and office environments, thus making interacting with robots more accessible and easier.

Sylvain means that there’s a growing gap between the advances in sensory and motor capabilities of the robots and their learning components. And both are required for robots to function in society.

- It won’t be possible to pre-program all of the motion behaviors we may require from a robot in the future. We need robots that can adapt to new situations and learn new skills by interacting with real persons.

Interesting industrial cooperation
After finishing his thesis Sylvain has continued with his research, aiming at moving the robot out of the laboratory and into the real world. Usability studies will now be followed by tests of practical applications.

- Winning the Robotdalen Scientific Award will help a lot, means Sylvain. It’s a good credential on my CV and will hopefully result in more people reading my thesis and see that it’s applicable to a broad range of research. I hope winning the award will give me contacts to put my work into practice.

Sylvain hopes for continuous contact and cooperation with Robotdalen. He has already found common ground with the other finalists of the award, discussing research similarities and cooperation possibilities. Visiting Örebro University and Mälardalen University in Sweden, when attending the prize ceremony, also gave interesting contacts with researchers as well as knowledge of robotics research taking place in Sweden.

- I was impressed by the challenging research program articulated hand-in-hand by researchers and industrial partners, and how obvious that kind of research and co-operation was taking place, says Sylvain.

Looking at the future development of robotics in the world Sylvain thinks that the first market development will be in entertainment robotics and toy robots. Then it will evolve into social robots and service robots that will perform tasks of increasing complexity and in collaboration with the users.

- I can bet that we will have humanoid robots sharing our offices and homes in a few years, Sylvain predicts.

» Sylvains presentation of his research at the Robotdalen Day 2008

» Information about the Robotdalen Scientific Award 2008

Impressive human-robot interaction research