Human-Robot Collaboration

Follow this topic Ask about this topic

Latest papers 171

32 papers in the last four weeks, up 129% on the four weeks before. 0.2% of all new papers.

All topics

Learning to Assist: Collaborative VLAs for Implicit Human-Robot Collaboration
Jun 10, 2026Leo Xu, Letian Li, Alex Cuellar +1Long-Horizon Robotic Manipulation Human-Robot Collaboration
University of Wisconsin–Madison · Massachusetts Institute of Technology
A Multi-Operator Mixed-Reality Interface for Multi-Robot Control and Coordination: Co-Located and Private Workspace Collaboration
Jun 5, 2026Omotoye Shamsudeen Adekoya, Antonio Sgorbissa, Carmine Tommaso RecchiutoRobot Teleoperation Multi-Robot Coordination
DIBRIS Department, RICE Laboratory, University of Genoa, Italy
A Conversational Framework for Human-Robot Collaborative Manipulation with Distributed Generative AI models
Jun 4, 2026Arash Ghasemzadeh Kakroudi, Roel PietersLanguage-Conditioned Robot Manipulation Large Language Model-Based Robot Planning
Automation Technology and Mechanical Engineering, Tampere University, 33720, Tampere, Finland
Probing Collision Grounding in Vision-Language Models for Safe Human-Robot Collaboration
May 29, 2026Jun Wang, Xiaohao Xu, Xiaonan HuangRobotics Robot Safety
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Towards Shared Embodied Intelligence in Humanoid Robots through Optimization Development and Testing of the Human Aware ergoCub Robot
May 26, 2026Carlotta Sartore, Mohamed Elobaid, Lorenzo Rapetti +13Humanoid Robot Control Human-Robot Collaboration
GenerativeBionics, Genova, Italy. · 2Artificial and Mechanical Intelligence, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova, Italy. · School of Computer Science, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom. +3
PACT: Proactive Asking for Continual Task Assistance in Human-Robot Collaboration
May 23, 2026Chengbo He, Sheng Li, Chenyang Ma +6Proactive Assistance Human-Robot Collaboration
University of Science and Technology Beijing · University of Oxford · 3Tsinghua University
Flying Together: Human-Guided Immersive Shared Control for Aerial Robot Teams in Unknown Environments
May 20, 2026Lou De Bel-Air, Luca Morando, Ruitao Chen +7Multi-Robot Motion Planning Aerial Robotics
New York University, NY 10012, USA · Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Station 9 CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland · University of California Berkeley, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Adaptive Human-Robot Collaboration for Masonry Construction Under Material and Assembly Uncertainty
May 18, 2026Jutang Gao, Arash AdelRobotic Construction Robotics
Princeton University · Princeton University, USA
"I'm Not Mad, Just Focused'': Understanding Human Emotions in Human-Robot Collaboration
May 16, 2026Seung Chan Hong, Dana Kulić, Leimin TianHuman-Robot Collaboration Human-Robot Interaction
Faculty of Engineering, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3800, Australia · CSIRO Robotics, Melbourne, VIC 3800, Australia
Exploring Human-Robot Collaboration: Analysis of Interaction Modalities in Challenging Tasks
May 13, 2026Simone Arreghini, Cristina Iani, Alessandro Giusti +3Proactive Assistance Human-Robot Collaboration
Dalle Molle Institute for Artificial Intelligence (IDSIA), USI-SUPSI, Lugano, Switzerland · Department of Surgery, Medicine, Dentistry and Morphological Sciences with interest in Transplant, Oncology and Regenerative Medicine, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy. · Department of Sciences and Methods for Engineering (DISMI), University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Reggio Emilia, Italy.
Assistance Without Interruption: A Benchmark and LLM-based Framework for Non-Intrusive Human-Robot Assistance
May 2, 2026Yuedi Zhang, Shuanghao Bai, Wanqi Zhou +4Large Language Model-Based Robot Planning Proactive Assistance
Institute of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China · School of Electrical Engineering, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an, China
Persona-Based Process Design for Assistive Human-Robot Workplaces for Persons with Disabilities
Apr 29, 2026Nils Mandischer, Daria Eckert and, Lars MikelsonsHuman-Robot Collaboration Human-Centered AI
Chair of Mechatronics, University of Augsburg, 86159 Augsburg, Germany
Computational Design and Co-Robotic Fabrication for Material Reuse in Architecture
Apr 27, 2026Arash Adel, Daniel Ruan, Ruxin XieRobotics Human-Robot Collaboration
Princeton University
Adaptive vs. Static Robot-to-Human Handover: A Study on Orientation and Approach Direction
Apr 24, 2026Federico Biagi, Dario Onfiani, Simone Silenzi +2Human-Robot Collaboration Human-Robot Interaction
Department of Engineering "Enzo Ferrari", University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy. · Department of Surgery, Medicine, Dentistry and Morphological Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy.
Multi-Cycle Spatio-Temporal Adaptation in Human-Robot Teaming
Apr 21, 2026Alex Cuellar, Michael Hagenow, Julie ShahHuman-Robot Collaboration Robot Task Planning
MIT CSAIL · UW Madison Department of Computer Science
Warmth and Competence in the Swarm: Designing Effective Human-Robot Teams
Apr 21, 2026Genki Miyauchi, Roderich Groß, Chaona ChenMulti-Robot Systems Swarm Robotics
School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK · Department of Computer Science, Technical University of Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany · School of Computer Science, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
Task-Adaptive Admittance Control for Human-Quadrotor Cooperative Load Transportation with Dynamic Cable-Length Regulation
Apr 20, 2026Shuai Li, Ton T. H. Duong, Damiano ZanottoAerial Robotics Admittance Control
Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ 07030, USA
Vision-Based Safe Human-Robot Collaboration with Uncertainty Guarantees
Apr 16, 2026Jakob Thumm, Marian Frei, Tianle Ni +2Conformal Prediction Robot Safety
Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Stanford University · Chair of Imaging and Computer Vision, RWTH Aachen University · School of Artificial Intelligence, Shanghai Jiao Tong University +1
A hierarchical spatial-aware algorithm with efficient reinforcement learning for human-robot task planning and allocation in production
Apr 14, 2026Jintao Xue, Xiao Li, Nianmin ZhangRobot Task Planning Human-Robot Collaboration
Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
Safe reinforcement learning with online filtering for fatigue-predictive human-robot task planning and allocation in production
Apr 14, 2026Jintao Xue, Xiao Li, Nianmin ZhangHuman-Robot Collaboration Safe RL
CI3 Lab, Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
Dyadic Partnership(DP): A Missing Link Towards Full Autonomy in Medical Robotics
Apr 13, 2026Nassir Navab, Zhongliang JiangHuman-Robot Collaboration Human-Robot Interaction
Chair for Computer Aided Medical Procedures (CAMP), School of computation, information and technology, TU Munich, Munich, Germany. · Medical Intelligence and Robotic Cognition (MIRoC) lab, Mechanical Engineering Department, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Learning to Forget -- Hierarchical Episodic Memory for Lifelong Robot Deployment
Apr 13, 2026Leonard Bärmann, Joana Plewnia, Alex Waibel +1Episodic Memory Human-Robot Collaboration
Inferring World Belief States in Dynamic Real-World Environments
Apr 13, 2026Jack Kolb, Aditya Garg, Nikolai Warner +1Human-Robot Collaboration Human-Robot Interaction
College of Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, North Avenue, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
COSMIK-MPPI: Scaling Constrained Model Predictive Control to Collision Avoidance in Close-Proximity Dynamic Human Environments
Apr 11, 2026Ege Gursoy, Maxime Sabbah, Arthur Haffemayer +5Robot Collision Avoidance Model Predictive Control
LAAS-CNRS, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, Toulouse, France · CIIRC, Czech Technical University, Prague · LIRMM, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, Montpellier, France +3
Multimodal Anomaly Detection for Human-Robot Interaction
Apr 10, 2026Guilherme Ribeiro, Iordanis Antypas, Leonardo Bizzaro +2Multimodal Anomaly Detection Reconstruction-Based Anomaly Detection
LASIGE, Faculty of Sciences, U. Lisboa, Portugal · Dep. of Information Engineering, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
Intuitive Human-Robot Interaction: Development and Evaluation of a Gesture-Based User Interface for Object Selection
Apr 7, 2026Bijan Kavousian, Oliver Petrovic, Werner HerfsHuman-Robot Interaction Human-Robot Collaboration
Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering WZL of RWTH Aachen, Steinbachstraße 25, D-52072 Aachen
Dialogue based Interactive Explanations for Safety Decisions in Human Robot Collaboration
Apr 7, 2026Yifan Xu, Xiao Zhan, Akilu Yunusa Kaltungo +4Explainable Artificial Intelligence Robot Safety
Department of Civil Engineering and Management, Faculty of Science and Engineering, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom · VRAIN, Universitat Polit`ecnica de Val`encia, Valencia, Spain & Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom · Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Faculty of Science and Engineering, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom +3
ExpressMM: Expressive Mobile Manipulation Behaviors in Human-Robot Interactions
Apr 7, 2026Souren Pashangpour, Haitong Wang, Matthew Lisondra +1Human-Robot Interaction Human-Robot Collaboration
Autonomous Systems and Biomechatronics Laboratory (ASBLab), Department of Mechanical and Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3G8, Canada
Precise Robot Command Understanding Using Grammar-Constrained Large Language Models
Apr 5, 2026Xinyun Huo, Raghav Gnanasambandam, Xinyao ZhangHuman-Robot Interaction Human-Robot Collaboration
Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA
Belief Dynamics for Detecting Behavioral Shifts in Safe Collaborative Manipulation
Apr 4, 2026Devashri Naik, Divake Kumar, Nastaran Darabi +1Robotics Human-Robot Collaboration
University of Illinois Chicago

Jun 10, 2026J/K move · Enter open · S save

Learning to Assist: Collaborative VLAs for Implicit Human-Robot Collaboration

Leo Xu, Letian Li, Alex Cuellar, Michael Hagenow

University of Wisconsin–Madison · Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Long-Horizon Robotic Manipulation Human-Robot Collaboration Vision-Language-Action Models Robot Imitation Learning Action Chunking

Open paper AskPDF arXiv

Human-robot collaboration (HRC) combines the complementary strengths of humans and robots to improve task efficiency. However, many existing collaborative systems rely on hand-engineered pipelines, limiting their scalability and flexibility for new tasks. In this work, we show that models trained end-to-end with imitation learning, specifically vision-language-action (VLA) models, can support collaborative manipulation, and characterize the key factors affecting their real-world performance. We evaluate two state-of-the-art models and identify a failure mode of action-chunking policies in implicit HRC, where demonstration action leakage (i.e., action chunks crossing latent task transitions) can cause premature assistive behavior. We find that this issue increases with longer execution horizons and occurs in real-world collaborative VLA systems, such as when a robot attempts to hand over a tool before the person is ready. We propose an inference-time steering method to mitigate these erroneous assistive actions while preserving policy performance. Finally, through a 16-participant user study on a long-horizon collaborative assembly task, we show that steering enables a longer execution horizon while mitigating premature assistance, leading to faster collaboration and fewer failures compared to a shorter-horizon policy. Our paper website can be found at https://learning-to-assist.github.io/