Toward a Synergistic Framework for Human-Robot Coexistence and Collaboration (HRC2 )

This paper presents a proof of concept for a synergistic framework for human-robot coexistence and collaboration (HRC 2). By exploiting the loco-manipulation potential of our recently developed MObile Collaborative robotic Assistant (MOCA), we developed a novel framework that distinguishes and suitably reacts to coexisting and collaborative human partners. The framework avoids any collisions or physical contacts with coexisting partners while enabling ergonomic physical interactions with the collaborative-identified ones. The selection of the collaborative partners is achieved through body gestures.