*** This award, in the Small Grants for Exploratory Research mode, supports a preliminary investigation of the question of how to dynamically allocate task control responsibilities between a human and robot in a teleoperation setting. The approach will involve the development of a new control scheme in which the inputs from computer and human can be smoothly integrated, and responsibilities for processing of sensed information and actual control of the cooperative task can be dynamically allocated. In addition, systematic categorization of expected subtasks along with the associated assistance strategies will allow the computer to select system parameters under this unified architecture to suit a variety of situations. With this concept, an attempt will be made to bridge the gap between traditionally practiced teleoperation and desirable but impractical autonomous robotics in an unstructured environment. If successful, this approach should lead to a general strategy that could enable robots to relieve some of the tiring demands on human performance in teleoperation.***
