At the Active & Interactive Robotics Lab (A.I.R. Lab) we want to bring robots closer to people!
We conduct research on human-robot interaction (HRI) from a multidisciplinary perspective, adopting methodologies from robot control, machine learning, and human factors.
We are interested in understanding how humans interact with robots, and how to improve robot control with respect to diverse interaction scenarios. We analyze the interaction from physical aspects (e.g. maintaining physical safety and user ergonomics) and social aspects (e.g. perception, acceptance, ethics). In particular, we are interested in using these aspects within the control of the robots so that they can perform their tasks actively and efficiently, while being socially acceptable.
Our ultimate goal is to have robots seamlessly and intelligently interact with people in diverse environments including but not limited to manufacturing, home (e.g. cooking, cleaning), and long-term care institutions. The robots we utilize consist mainly of collaborative robot arms, wheeled mobile robots, and humanoid robots.
Interested in joining us? Check here.
Note:
- Considering co-ops with USRA for Fall 2024 and Winter 2025 (Spring 2024 application closed).
- Considering applications for Undergraduate Research Assistant (URA) and volunteers for Fall 2024 (Spring 2024 application closed).
- Postdoc: closed.
Latest news
New publication
Our paper on active physical human-robot interaction, which resulted from collaborations between social science and robotics, was finally published in the ACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction! Thanks to Dr. Naoko Abe for her efforts in authoring this paper.
Check the paper here: Human Understanding and Perception of Unanticipated Robot Action in the Context of Physical Interaction
New members (Winter 2024)!
We welcome many new members this term!
- PhDs: Hisham Khalil, Ibrahim Abdulhafiz, JaeEun Shin
- URAs: Abhi Gupta, Khushi Savla, Shawn Yang
- Undergraduate volunteer: Iris Zhang
Best student paper award at ICSR!
We had two papers presented this week at the International Conference on Social Robotics in Doha, Qatar:
#1 "RoboSync: Efficient Real-Time Operating System for Social Robots with Customizable Behaviour", C. Tang, Y. Feng, Y. Hu, in the "Non-verbal Interaction with Social Robots" session.
#2 "The Impact of Robots’ Facial Emotional Expressions on Light Physical Exercises", N. Abdulazeem, Y. Hu, in the "Emotions" session.
Congratulations to Nourhan's paper receiving the Best Student Paper Award!!!