Reactive Patterns for Human-Robot Object Handovers

Sebastian Meyer zu Borgsen, Sven Wachsmuth

Abstract: Object handovers are one of the most basic physical collaborative tasks in human-robot interaction. They are interesting because they take place in close human-robot vicinity where both’s peripersonal spaces overlap. Thus, a successful and smooth object handover requires to communicate the intention in terms of the object transition point, the timing of action, and the initiative of giving and receiving. In this paper, we model several reactive patterns extracted from human-robot handover experiments, propose an integrated robotic system implementing these strategies, and evaluate the timing, modality, and human-likeness of its implementation.