10-04-2017, 07:56 PM
Human Robot Interaction in Multi-Agent Systems
Abstract
The oil and gas industry experience an increased dependency on IT and particular soft-
ware based capabilities to achieve its business objectives. Core business processes such
as exploration, well construction, production optimization and operations are all fueled
by software and information technology. In coming years we will see that software will
fill more and more advanced features, including central control functions in autonomous
and collaborative robots and it is believed that agent technology may be of use in this
scenario.
The practical benefit from goal oriented systems is a simplification of the human-machine
interface. A goal oriented system is able to communicate and react to events in its
environment in context of their goals. This is the primary driver for autonomous systems:
Simplifying and securing operation of machines in an unstructured / highly dynamic
environment.
Human Robot Interaction (HRI) is an important area in development of autonomous
robot systems where an operator is present. The design and solution for the HRI will
be crucial to the systems performance and robustness. An operator can be relieved of
stress as well as have his focus directed to important and critical information at any
given time. In this thesis I will look at how intelligent agents can be used to implement
a system for controlling autonomous robots and how this can provide a good solution
for HRI challenges. To achieve this a multi-agent solution controlling Lego Mindstorms
robots has been developed in cooperation with Eirik Nordb .
The solution is based on three Lego robots operating on a line-based grid. One robot
is set to explore the grid, finding objects, and sharing this information (beliefs) with a
second robot which is responsible for collecting and delivering these objects to a robot
in charge of sorting them according to color. This solution enables investigation of
several challenges in relation to intelligent software agents combined with autonomous
robot/machine systems, such as human robot interaction and inter-agent communica-
tion/coordination.
Introduction
This Master s thesis has been written in collaboration with Statoil, an international
energy company with operations in 34 countries. Building on more than 35 years of
experience from oil and gas production on the Norwegian continental shelf, they are
committed to accommodating the world s energy needs in a responsible manner, apply-
ing technology and creating innovative business solutions. They are headquartered in
Norway with 20,000 employees worldwide, and are listed on the New York and Oslo
stock exchanges. [2]
As a technology based energy company, Statoil experience an increased dependency on
IT and particular software based capabilities to achieve its business objectives. Core
business processes such as exploration, well construction, production optimization and
operations are all fueled by software and information technology.
At the same time Statoil, as all other technology based companies, experience that
software is becoming the alter ego of their prime technology. Software provides some of
the core system functions in airplanes, cars and factories as more functions are automated
and optimized.
Software Agents
Agent-oriented software engineering is a rapidly developing area of research. This chapter
will present basic agent theory, how they differ from traditional software paradigms and
in which contexts they are useful.
Human Robot Interfacing (HRI)
The presence of robotic technologies and the research being conducted is growing in
many fields such as space exploration, military weapons and operations, search and
rescue, health care etc. All the different application areas introduce HRI challenges
which are unique to its particular field of operation, but several principles and HRI
issues are common for all systems where robots are involved. This chapter will present
some of the most important issues in robotic operator performance and present some of
the well known user interface solutions, both in design and technologies. The content
of this chapter is important in order to address the research hypotheses described in
section 1.2 and to draw relevant conclusions based on the developed application.
The paradox of automation
The paradox of automation states that the more efficient the automated system, the
more crucial the human contribution of the operator. Humans are less involved, but
their involvement becomes more critical and that efficient automation makes humans
more important, not less [13].
Due to technological advances and much research, an increasing amount of our vehicles
and robots are automated and controlled by software. There has been a lot of effort
put into researching the effects of introducing autonomy in domains such as aviation
and industrial settings such as nuclear plants, but the effects in robotics are not equally
researched. The effect on human performance caused by automation is dependent on
the level of automation applied in the system. The level of automation can range from
no automated assistance where the operator makes all decisions and takes all actions to
fully atonomous systems where human input is essentially disregarded. The main human
performance issues which arise with system automation are: mental workload, situation
awareness (SA), complacency , and skill degradation. There are several examples where
automation decreases the mental workload of an operator, but this is not always the
case and many studies show the opposite [14], an increase in mental workload. The SA
issue also has positive and negative implications, with automation more information can
be provided in a timely manner, but it can also lead to the operator not knowing when
changes to the system status occur and thus preventing the human from developing an
overall picture of a situation based on processed information received from the computer.
This continuous information processing without human intervention can result in com-
placency on behalf of the human. This becomes a factor when the system malfunctions,
and the operator fails to monitor the automated process closely enough and the failure
goes undetected. Finally the issue of skill degradation which is the fact that memory
and skill decreases over time if not practiced. This also comes into play if a normally
automated process fails and a human must perform the task temporarily.
The paradox of automation
The paradox of automation states that the more efficient the automated system, the
more crucial the human contribution of the operator. Humans are less involved, but
their involvement becomes more critical and that efficient automation makes humans
more important, not less [13].
Due to technological advances and much research, an increasing amount of our vehicles
and robots are automated and controlled by software. There has been a lot of effort
put into researching the effects of introducing autonomy in domains such as aviation
and industrial settings such as nuclear plants, but the effects in robotics are not equally
researched. The effect on human performance caused by automation is dependent on
the level of automation applied in the system. The level of automation can range from
no automated assistance where the operator makes all decisions and takes all actions to
fully atonomous systems where human input is essentially disregarded. The main human
performance issues which arise with system automation are: mental workload, situation
awareness (SA), complacency , and skill degradation. There are several examples where
automation decreases the mental workload of an operator, but this is not always the
case and many studies show the opposite [14], an increase in mental workload. The SA
issue also has positive and negative implications, with automation more information can
be provided in a timely manner, but it can also lead to the operator not knowing when
changes to the system status occur and thus preventing the human from developing an
overall picture of a situation based on processed information received from the computer.
This continuous information processing without human intervention can result in com-
placency on behalf of the human. This becomes a factor when the system malfunctions,
and the operator fails to monitor the automated process closely enough and the failure
goes undetected. Finally the issue of skill degradation which is the fact that memory
and skill decreases over time if not practiced. This also comes into play if a normally
automated process fails and a human must perform the task temporarily.