Gesture recognition for control in human-robot interactions

Chris Reid, Biswanath Samanta

Research output: Contribution to book or proceedingConference articlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

In co-robotics applications, the robots must be capable of taking inputs from human partners in different forms, including both static and sequential hand gestures, in dynamic interactions for enhanced effectiveness as socially assistive agents. This paper presents the development of a gesture recognition algorithm for control of robots. The algorithm focuses on the detection of skin colors using monocular vision of a moving robot base where the inherent instability negates the effectiveness of methods like background subtraction. The algorithm is implemented in the open-source, open-access robotics software framework of Robot Operating System (ROS). The video feed from the camera is converted into several color spaces, including RGB and YCbCr. Pixels observed in the raw video feed as skin are randomly selected and their properties in each of the color spaces are recorded. A cylinder of infinite length is constructed out of the best fit line for both color spaces, and all points lying within both cylinders are accepted as a skin tone. The gesture recognition features are extracted from the filtered image and can be used for planning the motion of the robot. The procedure is illustrated using the on-board camera on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationDynamics, Vibration, and Control
PublisherAmerican Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
ISBN (Electronic)9780791846483
DOIs
StatePublished - 2014
EventASME 2014 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, IMECE 2014 - Montreal, Canada
Duration: Nov 14 2014Nov 20 2014

Publication series

NameASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, Proceedings (IMECE)
Volume4B

Conference

ConferenceASME 2014 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, IMECE 2014
Country/TerritoryCanada
CityMontreal
Period11/14/1411/20/14

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