Taking Initiative in Human-Robot Action Teams: How Proactive Robot Behaviors Affect Teamwork

Abstract

People coordinate in action teams to accomplish shared goals in safety- and time-critical contexts such as healthcare and firefighting. Operational failures in these teams can cost lives. Therefore, in our work, we explore how robots that take initiative to support team and task success can augment action teams. We designed and studied proactive robot behaviors in non-dyadic (three humans and a robot) action teams to better understand factors that support the acceptance and effectiveness of proactive robots. Our work will support better human-robot teaming in action teams by addressing gaps in how robot initiative impacts team dynamics, preferences for proactive robot behaviors, and how proactive robots can take initiative based on task states to empower their teammates.