Learning-based Dynamic Robot-to-Human Handover

TL;DR

This paper introduces a learning-based method for dynamic robot-to-human handover that adapts to receiver movements, improving efficiency and comfort over static approaches through a dataset-driven, safety-aware system validated in real-world tests.

Contribution

The paper proposes a novel nonparametric, learning-based approach for dynamic handover that adapts to receiver movements, incorporating preference learning and impedance control for safety and effectiveness.

Findings

Dynamic handover reduces handover time.

User comfort is significantly improved.

Method validated in real-world experiments.

Abstract

This paper presents a novel learning-based approach to dynamic robot-to-human handover, addressing the challenges of delivering objects to a moving receiver. We hypothesize that dynamic handover, where the robot adjusts to the receiver's movements, results in more efficient and comfortable interaction compared to static handover, where the receiver is assumed to be stationary. To validate this, we developed a nonparametric method for generating continuous handover motion, conditioned on the receiver's movements, and trained the model using a dataset of 1,000 human-to-human handover demonstrations. We integrated preference learning for improved handover effectiveness and applied impedance control to ensure user safety and adaptiveness. The approach was evaluated in both simulation and real-world settings, with user studies demonstrating that dynamic handover significantly reduces handover time and improves user comfort compared to static methods. Videos and demonstrations of our approach are available at https://zerotohero7886.github.io/dyn-r2h-handover .