U-031
A Compliant Semi-Autonomous Reactive Control Architecture Applied to Robotic Holonomic
Wheelchairs
Authors: Karim A. Tahboub and Harry H. Asada
Affiliation: d'Arbeloff Lab for Information Systems and Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139 USA
Abstract
This paper presents a novel intelligent control architecture for semi-autonomous
systems. This work has been motivated by the need for a control architecture that
can differentiate between users of different perceptual and cognitive capabilities
while interacting with semi-autonomous machines. A good demonstrative example for
this control system is a robotic wheelchair. The proposed architecture evolves around
three variables: degree of autonomy to reflect the user's capabilities, user's level
of confidence in commanding the machine, and strength of conflict between the user's
command and the machine's autonomous response. A method is proposed to identify the
user capabilities and accordingly to set the degree of autonomy. The analogy between
this architecture and horseback riding is demonstrated.
Dr. Karim A. Tahboub
MIT, Room 3-351
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139
(617)253-3772
tahboub@mit.edu