TR2024-138
DECAF: a Discrete-Event based Collaborative Human-Robot Framework for Furniture Assembly
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- "DECAF: a Discrete-Event based Collaborative Human-Robot Framework for Furniture Assembly", IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), DOI: 10.1109/IROS58592.2024.10802728, October 2024.BibTeX TR2024-138 PDF
- @inproceedings{Giacomuzzo2024oct,
- author = {Giacomuzzo, Giulio and Terreran, Matteo and Jain, Siddarth and Romeres, Diego},
- title = {{DECAF: a Discrete-Event based Collaborative Human-Robot Framework for Furniture Assembly}},
- booktitle = {IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS)},
- year = 2024,
- month = oct,
- publisher = {IEEE},
- doi = {10.1109/IROS58592.2024.10802728},
- issn = {2153-0866},
- isbn = {979-8-3503-7770-5},
- url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2024-138}
- }
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- "DECAF: a Discrete-Event based Collaborative Human-Robot Framework for Furniture Assembly", IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), DOI: 10.1109/IROS58592.2024.10802728, October 2024.
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MERL Contacts:
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Research Area:
Abstract:
This paper proposes a task planning framework for collaborative Human-Robot scenarios, specifically focused on assembling complex systems such as furniture. The human is characterized as an uncontrollable agent, implying for example that the agent is not bound by a pre-established sequence of actions and instead acts according to its own preferences. Meanwhile, the task planner computes reactively the optimal actions for the collaborative robot to efficiently complete the entire assembly task in the least time possible. We formalize the problem as a Discrete Event Markov Decision Problem (DE-MDP), a comprehensive framework that incorporates a variety of asynchronous behaviors, human change of mind, and failure recovery as stochastic events. Although the problem could theoretically be addressed by constructing a graph of all possible actions, such an approach would be constrained by computational limitations. The proposed formulation offers an alternative solution utilizing Reinforcement Learning to derive an optimal policy for the robot. Experiments were conducted both in simulation and on a real system with human subjects assembling a chair in collaboration with a 7-DoF manipulator.
Related News & Events
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NEWS Diego Romeres Delivers Invited Talks at Fraunhofer Italia and the University of Padua Date: July 16, 2025 - July 18, 2025
MERL Contact: Diego Romeres
Research Areas: Artificial Intelligence, Control, Machine Learning, Optimization, Robotics, Human-Computer InteractionBrief- MERL researcher Diego Romeres was invited to present MERL's latest research at two institutions in Italy this July, focusing on human-robot collaboration and LLM-driven assembly systems.
On July 16th, Dr. Romeres delivered a talk titled “Human-Robot Collaborative Assembly” at Fraunhofer Italia – Innovation Engineering Center (EIC) in Bolzano. His presentation showcased research on human-robot collaboration for efficient and flexible assembly processes. Fraunhofer Italia EIC is a non-profit research institute focused on enabling digital and sustainable transformation through applied innovation in close collaboration with both public and private sectors.
Two days later, on July 18th, Dr. Romeres was hosted by the University of Padua, one of Europe’s oldest and most renowned universities. His invited lecture, “Robot Assembly through Human Collaboration & Large Language Models”, explored how artificial intelligence can enhance human-robot synergy in complex assembly tasks.
- MERL researcher Diego Romeres was invited to present MERL's latest research at two institutions in Italy this July, focusing on human-robot collaboration and LLM-driven assembly systems.
Related Publication
- @article{Giacomuzzo2024aug,
- author = {Giacomuzzo, Giulio and Terreran, Matteo and Jain, Siddarth and Romeres, Diego},
- title = {{DECAF: a Discrete-Event based Collaborative Human-Robot Framework for Furniture Assembly}},
- journal = {arXiv},
- year = 2024,
- month = aug,
- url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.16125}
- }