The human–robot interaction in robot-aided medical care

Abstract

This article deals with the problem of the interaction and engagement between humans and humanoid Robots in circumstances where it is essential to be sure that engagement has occurred and it persists for the right time. In particular, in Robot-aided medical care (but also in other critical situations), it is essential to be sure that the flow of information between the human and the humanoid Robot effectively occurs between the actual patient and the Robot. Many sensory data of the Robot will be involved in a data fusion algorithm to provide robustness and stability in the Human–Robot interaction. The methodology described in this article has been realized on real Robots (Nao and Pepper) and implemented through Python scripts in ROS (Robot Operating System).