Special issue on the IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters: Innovations and Applications of Human Modelling in Physical Human-Robot Interaction

Innovations and Applications of Human Modelling in Physical Human-Robot Interaction

Motivation

Physical Human-Robot Interaction (pHRI) is of great interest in robotics. Currently, we have good working knowledge about our engineered robots, but we still lack a deeper understanding about human behavior, and how to effectively use it for real-time reactive robot behavior in the context of pHRI. This understanding is crucial to evolve the pHRI paradigms into safer and more effective human-robot interactions. Therefore, progress and innovations in human modelling are necessary to significantly improve how human operators physically collaborate with Cobots, prostheses, exoskeletons, and other robotic devices.

The fields of both pHRI and human modelling have produced impressive research progress in recent decades. However, there has been limited interconnection between these two fields, despite their obvious benefits to each other, e.g., human models offer insights into the human biomechanical responses to robot actions while pHRI provides new ways of conducting biomechanical experiments. This special issue aims to stimulate discussion and promote collaboration between the communities of robotics and biomechanics. Contributing authors will investigate the state of the art of human modelling and present modern human modelling techniques and tools to advance research in pHRI. The latest high-quality research results from both biomechanists and roboticists will be collected and presented.

Topical Areas

Topics of interest for this special issue include and are not limited to:

• Human musculoskeletal system
• Human neuromechanical modelling
• Data-driven human modelling
• Human movement optimization
• Online model predictive control
• Real-time robot control
• Physical human-robot interaction
• Mutual human-robot adaptation
• Model-informed human-robot collaboration
• Model-informed robotic rehabilitation

Timeline

Call for papers announced: November 1, 2022
Papercept open for submission: January 18, 2023
Submission deadline: March 15, 2023
Authors receive RA-L reviews and recommendation: June 9, 2023 
Authors of accepted MS submit final RA-L version: June 23, 2023
Authors of R&R MS resubmit revised MS: July 9, 2023
Authors receive final RA-L decision: August 13, 2023
Authors submit final RA-L files: August 27, 2023
Camera ready version appears in RA-L on Xplore: September 12, 2023
Final Publication: September 21, 2023

Guest Editors