Hiro_Logo_WPITheme

 

Welcome to Human-inspired Robotics (HiRo) Lab!

 

We develop Human-Robot Interface and Shared Autonomy to enable the efficient, intuitive and effortless control of mobile humanoid robots for nursing and living assistance. Our research focuses on:

  • Shared Autonomous Robot Manipulation Control
  • Adaptive Human-Robot Interaction and Interfaces
  • Augmented Reality and Multimodal Human-Robot Communication
  • Novel Approaches for Training Robot Teleoperators

We are located on 200A at Unity Hall. Come to meet our nursing robot!


Lab Director: Jane Li

Prof-Jane


Prospective Students

  • We have several projects open to perspective PhD students and MS students who are looking for thesis topics. Please refer to the current projects in our lab and recent publications.
  • We have NSF NRT Fellowships for Perspective PhD students who are US citizens. Check the FORW-RD NRT Program for detailed information.

Grants

  • Analytical Framework for AI/AA — “Testing & Evaluation for Soldier-Device Teaming Compatibility, Vulnerability, and Durability in Emergent Situations”; Role: PI; WPI collaborator: Jing Xiao, Soussan Dja-masbi; Funded by US Army, DEVCOM Analysis Center; Awarded funds: $1,664,871 for 5 years; 2022/01/15-2027/01/14.
  • SEMI-FlexTech #FT19-21-215 — “Soft Robotic Haptic Gloves as Intuitive Human-Machine Interfaces to Augment Human Performance”; Role: Co-PI; WPI Collaborator: Pratap Rao (ME, PI), Cagdas Onal (RBE); UMass-Lowell Collaborators: Joey Mead, Chris Hansen, Jay Park, Jinde Zhang; Funded by SEMI-FlexTech and Massachusetts Manufacturing Investment Initiative (M2I2); Awarded funds: $1,764,938; 2021/11/01-2023/04/40.
  • NSF Award#2024802 — “Collaborative Research: NRI: INT: Transparent and Intuitive Teleoperation Interfaces for the Future Nursing Robots and Workers“, PI: Jane Li, Co-PI: Cagdas Onal, Jie Fu, Jeanine Skorinko and Yunus Telliel; $731,329, 2020/09/01-2023/08/31, in collaboration with the Nursing Department of Worcester State University,. The three year project is jointly funded by NSF and NIOSH/CDC. (see the CDC media release).
  • NSF Award#1922761 — “NRT-FW-HTF: Robotic Interfaces and Assistants for the Future of Work”, PI: Cagdas Onal, Co-PI: Jing Xiao, Zhi Li, Pratap Rao and Yunus Telliel; $2,999,998.00, 2019/09/01-2024/08/31.

 


News

  • 2023-06-30 Congratulations on the acceptance of papers for IROS 2023:
    • Nikita Boguslavskii*, Zhuoyun Zhong*, Lorena Maria Genua* and Zhi Li, “Shared Autonomous Nursing Robot Assistant with Dynamic Workspace for Versatile Mobile Manipulation.”, Accepted by IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2023.
    • Achyuthan Unni Krishnan, Tsung-Chi Lin, and Zhi Li, “Human Preferred Augmented Reality Visual Cues for Remote Robot Manipulation Assistance: from Direct to Supervisory Control.”, Accepted by IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2023.
  • 2022-06-30 Congratulations on the acceptance of a paper for IROS 2022:
    • Achyuthan Unni Krishnan, Tsung-Chi Lin, and Zhi Li. “Design Interface Mapping for Efficient Free-form Tele-manipulation.” In IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2022). 2022.
  • 2022-01-31 Congratulations on the acceptance of a paper for ICRA 2022:
  • 2021-03-01 Congratulations on the acceptance of papers for ICRA 2021:
    • Tsung-Chi Lin, Achyuthan Unni Krishnan and Zhi Li, “How People Use Active Telepresence Cameras in Tele-manipulation”, accepted by IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2021. [paper abstract]
    • Alexandra Valiton, Hannah Baez, Naomi Harrison, Justine Roy, and Zhi Li, “Active Telepresence Assistance for Supervisory Control: A User Study with a Multi-Camera Tele-Nursing Robot”, accepted by IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2021. [paper abstract]