Development of Robot Motions by Touching : A new programming paradigm based on the interpretation of spontaneously given tactile instructions

Among the many ways of communication between humans, touch is one of the most powerful. Touch is often used by instructors in sport or dance classes to adjust the student's posture in a very intuitive way. Using tactile instructions appears thus a very appealing modality for developing humanoid robot motions as well. Interpretation of tactile instructions spontaneously given by users is a complex task for artificial systems. Furthermore, the way users employ touch to communicate their intention is still completely unexplored. This work reports the first results obtained in the realization of a system for robot motion creation based on tactile interaction. In particular, M3-Neony, a new humanoid robot equipped with touch sensors over the whole body, will be introduced. Details of the implementation of a system for motion development based on haptic instructions will be described, showing the feasibility of the approach. Finally, an analysis on the way inexperienced uses employ touch for teaching will be provided.