Robot Behavior During Human-Robot Object Handover

One of the fundamental problems in the field of human/robot interactions (HRI) is the process of handing objects between a human and a robot. As when humans hand off an object from one person to another, there are many physical cues that mediate the transfer. When a robot hands an object to a human it must know when to let go, least the object falls to the ground. There are subtle cues that reveal how securely the human recipient is holding the object being received. Our research will investigate how to detect secure grasps by actively measuring the stiffness of the recipient's grasp by making subtle movements of the robot and measuring force responses. Being able to perform a gentle and natural handover between a human and a robot would allow a brand new kind of interaction.