Human-Centered Cooperative Control Coupling Autonomous and Haptic Shared Control via Control Barrier Function

TL;DR

This paper introduces a cooperative control framework that combines autonomous control with haptic shared control using a control barrier function, enhancing teleoperation accuracy and efficiency in uncertain environments.

Contribution

It proposes a novel coupling method that dynamically switches between autonomous control and HSC based on safety, improving teleoperation performance.

Findings

Improved accuracy in simulated underwater robot tasks

Reduced task completion time compared to conventional HSC

Demonstrated effectiveness of control barrier function in real-time safety management

Abstract

Haptic shared control (HSC) is effective in teleoperation when full autonomy is limited by uncertainty or sensing constraints. However, autonomous control performance achieved by maximizing HSC strength is limited because the dynamics of the joystick and human arm affect the robot's behavior. We propose a cooperative framework coupling a joystick-independent autonomous controller with HSC. A control barrier function ignores joystick inputs within a safe region determined by the human operator in real-time, while HSC is engaged otherwise. A pilot experiment on simulated tasks with tele-operated underwater robot in virtual environment demonstrated improved accuracy and reduced required time over conventional HSC.