Towards Online Robot Interaction Adaptation to Human Upper-limb Mobility Impairments in Return-to-Work Scenarios

2025-10-06

AI Summary

Individuals with upper-limb motor impairments face significant employment barriers due to non-inclusive workplace environments. Method: This paper introduces the first online adaptive human–robot interaction (HRI) framework specifically designed for upper-limb motor disabilities. The framework integrates constrained joint-motion modeling, real-time residual functional capability recognition, and hierarchical optimal control to enable ergonomic, dynamic interaction adaptation on a mobile manipulator platform—supporting both seated and standing postures. It dynamically adjusts robot behavior in response to individual joint range-of-motion limitations (e.g., elbow/shoulder arthritis or wrist immobilization), actively guiding and accommodating users’ residual motor abilities. Contribution/Results: Experimental evaluation demonstrates substantial improvements in interaction personalization and task engagement. The framework provides a deployable, clinically informed technical pathway enabling individuals with upper-limb disabilities to re-enter the workforce through accessible, adaptive robotic assistance.

Technology Category

• Intelligent Robots: Human-Robot Interaction
• Humans and AI: Interaction Techniques and Devices
• Cognitive Modeling & Cognitive Systems: Adaptive Behavior

Application Category

• Responsible Web: Machine-in-the-loop, human agency and autonomy
• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: User modeling and simulation for interactive and conversational systems
• Search and Retrieval-Augmented AI: Web learning to rank, online learning, and counterfactual learning for ranking

Abstract

Work environments are often inadequate and lack inclusivity for individuals with upper-body disabilities. This paper presents a novel online framework for adaptive human-robot interaction (HRI) that accommodates users' arm mobility impairments, ultimately aiming to promote active work participation. Unlike traditional human-robot collaboration approaches that assume able-bodied users, our method integrates a mobility model for specific joint limitations into a hierarchical optimal controller. This allows the robot to generate reactive, mobility-aware behaviour online and guides the user's impaired limb to exploit residual functional mobility. The framework was tested in handover tasks involving different upper-limb mobility impairments (i.e., emulated elbow and shoulder arthritis, and wrist blockage), under both standing and seated configurations with task constraints using a mobile manipulator, and complemented by quantitative and qualitative comparisons with state-of-the-art ergonomic HRI approaches. Preliminary results indicated that the framework can personalise the interaction to fit within the user's impaired range of motion and encourage joint usage based on the severity of their functional limitations.

Problem

• Adapting robot interaction to human upper-limb mobility impairments
• Promoting active work participation for individuals with disabilities
• Generating mobility-aware robot behavior for impaired limb guidance

Innovation

• Online framework adapts robot interaction to arm impairments
• Integrates mobility model into hierarchical optimal controller
• Generates reactive behavior exploiting residual functional mobility