Implicit robot selection for human multi-robot interaction in Search and Rescue missions

We present a system suitable for human multi-robot interaction that supports the operator in the robot selection process. The proposed framework allows a human to issue commands to a robotic team without an explicit robot selection in so enabling a fluent interaction. This work is framed in the operative context of the SHERPA project [1], which proposes the deployment of a robotic platform for Search & Rescue in an alpine scenario and assumes the presence of a human rescuer that can orchestrate the robots operations with multimodal commands. In this context, implicit robot selection is mainly motivated by fast communication and the difficulties to distinguish different robots of similar shape in a hazardous environment and in adverse weather conditions. In the proposed approach, each robot of the team can evaluate the probability to be referred in an incomplete command, considering its actual capabilities along with geometrical and contextual information. We describe the overall system architecture focusing on the human intention recognition process. The proposed framework is trained and evaluated in a simulated case study.