Abstract:Human-Robot-Interaction (HRI) research is typically built around the premise that the robot serves to assist a human in achieving a human-led goal or shared task. However, there are many circumstances during HRI in which a robot may need the assistance of a human in shared tasks or to achieve goals. We use the ROBO-GUIDE model as a case study, and insights from social psychology, to examine how a robot's personality can impact on user cooperation. A study of 364 participants indicates that individuals may prefer to use likable social robots ahead of those designed to appear more capable; this outcome reflects known social decisions in human interpersonal relationships. This work further demonstrates the value of social psychology in developing social robots and exploring HRI.
Abstract:Traffic collision avoidance systems (TCAS) are used in order to avoid incidences of mid-air collisions between aircraft. We present a game-theoretic approach of a TCAS designed for autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). A variant of the canonical example of game-theoretic learning, fictitious play, is used as a coordination mechanism between the UAVs, that should choose between the alternative altitudes to fly and avoid collision. We present the implementation results of the proposed coordination mechanism in two quad-copters flying in opposite directions.