Touch-triggered withdrawal reflexes for safer robots

Dahl, Torbjørn S.; Swere, Erick A.R.; Palmer, Andrew

doi:10.1075/ais.2.17dah

In:New Frontiers in Human–Robot Interaction
Edited by Kerstin Dautenhahn and Joe Saunders
[Advances in Interaction Studies 2] 2011
► pp. 281–304

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Touch-triggered withdrawal reflexes for safer robots

Torbjørn S. Dahl | University of Wales, Newport

Erick A.R. Swere | University of Wales, Newport

Andrew Palmer | University of Wales, Newport

Published online: 21 December 2011

https://doi.org/10.1075/ais.2.17dah

Covering robots with a skin-like sensor enables a range of skills that improve human-robot interaction (HRI) both in terms of safety and communication. In this chapter we review current knowledge of human reflexes and suggest a role for reflexes with tactile triggers in the context of robot safety. We focus in particular on the human nociceptive withdrawal reflex (NWR), i.e., the reflex that causes withdrawal from painful stimuli. We present experimental data from human NWR motion capture as well as a basic model and implementation of a set of NWRs for the Nao humanoid robot.

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Cited by eight other publications

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2016. Clustering of Humanoid Robot Motions Executed in Response to Touch. In Intelligent Autonomous Systems 13 [Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, 302], ► pp. 1063 ff.

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Youssefi, Shahbaz, Simone Denei, Fulvio Mastrogiovanni & Giorgio Cannata

2011. 2011 11th IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots, ► pp. 159 ff.

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