Robot Control and Learning: New Trends and Future Challenges

Dear Colleagues,

Over the past four decades, robots that used to be confined to cages in industries, away from their human counterparts, have slowly come closer to humans, into homes, and have started to physically interact with humans. The next generation of wearable and embodied robots, in fact, are envisaged to not just be close to humans but part of the human body. The increase in proximity to humans opens new challenges—robots not only have to perceive, control and learn the tasks they perform, they have to do so considering the behavior and perception of the humans near them, and this is not trivial.

Human behaviours are complex, and are modulated by a variety of factors, including individual characteristics like age, sex and culture as well as interaction scenarios and their predictions of the behaviors of other agents in these scenarios (explored often, as in the “Theory of mind”). The reason we are able to interact smoothly with other humans is because, during these interactions, we are able to, very implicitly, recognize all these characteristics, and consequently “understand’”his actions, and behave accordingly. He/she is also able to do the same with us. Future robots need to do the same  work, with an understanding of human intention, behavior, constraints and perception. This is essential to ensure that the robots are efficient and safe, and they are perceived as safe, useful and trustworthy by the humans.

This Special Issue will focus on future human–robot interactions and invites innovative research, techniques and development in design, control and learning techniques in robotics that enable robots to adapt to the human form and behavior, and improve their own behavior and/or usefulness during social, physical and embodied interactions in, and beyond, industrial, medical and social settings.

Dr. Gowrishankar Ganesh
Guest Editor

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