Human-Aware Goal-Oriented Autonomy through ROS-Integrated Timeline-based Planning and Execution

Robots acting in real-world environments may interact with humans at different levels of abstraction (e.g., process, task, physical), entailing different control and coordination challenges. When acting in social situations, robots should be able to pursue (joint) goals by behaving according to the context as well as the skills/features of involved humans. Although reliable and effective, standard control techniques may limit the adaptability of robots. Novel control technologies based on Artificial Intelligence can endow robots with the cognitive capabilities needed to achieve a higher level of autonomy in terms of flexibility, reliability, and awareness. In this context, this paper introduces a goal-oriented acting framework based on timeline-based planning and execution. The framework is evaluated on a realistic Human-Robot Collaboration manufacturing scenario. Results show the capability of dealing with the uncontrollable dynamics of humans achieving effective and reliable collaborations.