arXiv subjects

Nils Mandischer

Publications and source records attributed to Nils Mandischer.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

ROS2SmolVLA: Enabling Small Vision-Language-Action Models for Integration into Industrial-Grade Lightweight Robots

Industrial demand changes the paradigms of production. Due to smaller batch sizes and more variations in products, companies face a growing challenge to adopt more adaptive production systems. In particular, robot-based automation is usually static and fails to respond to constantly changing processes. Vision-Language-Action (VLA) Models are a promising opportunity to mitigate this challenge by generating robot actions based on the observed system state. However, current research either focuses on large models that cannot be computed on premise, creating compliance and security challenges, or use lab-grade robot hardware that obscures exploitation in real industrial settings. In this work, we adapt Hugging Face's SmolVLA for Universal Robots lightweight robots. Further, we release the open-source repository ROS2SmolVLA that implements an interface for ROS 2 to SmolVLA, and makes it applicable for industrial-grade hardware. By this, we allow a lenient adoption into lab and industrial environments. We validate the functionality of SmolVLA for a Universal Robots UR10e using a pick-and-place task and give implementation guidelines. Our findings support that SmolVLA is a well-suited option for small-sized tasks that need to be computed on premise.

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arXiv2026

Persona-Based Process Design for Assistive Human-Robot Workplaces for Persons with Disabilities

Human-robot interaction is emerging as an important paradigm for integrating persons with disabilities into the workplace. While these systems can enable individuals to work, their design is mostly personalized, hindering widespread use beyond the individual user. The universal design paradigm is a central pillar of inclusive design, describing usability of systems by all. To incorporate universal design into process design for human-robot workplaces expert knowledge is required that is often not available. To simplify process design of human-robot workplaces, we propose a persona-based design approach. First, typical impairments prevalent in the workforce or particularly relevant for the processes are abstracted into personas with disabilities. The work process is subdivided into sequential actions. For each action and persona, strategies are developed to reach the action goal by a design thinking approach. The resulting actions are ordered by level of robot assistance, i.e. robot involvement, and implemented in a behavior tree. Therefore, the macro-behavior of the workplace may adapt to individual personas online. We demonstrate the method in a collaborative box folding process with a total of seven personas with disabilities. The persona-based process design shows promising results by generating more comprehensive process strategies while enabling adaptive behavior in the sense of universal design.

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arXiv2026

Assistive Robots and Reasonable Work Assignment Reduce Perceived Stigma toward Persons with Disabilities

Robots are becoming more prominent in assisting persons with disabilities (PwD). Whilst there is broad consensus that robots can assist in mitigating physical impairments, the extent to which they can facilitate social inclusion remains equivocal. In fact, the exposed status of assisted workers could likewise lead to reduced or increased perceived stigma by other workers. We present a vignette study on the perceived cognitive and behavioral stigma toward PwD in the workplace. We designed four experimental conditions depicting a coworker with an impairment in work scenarios: overburdened work, suitable work, and robot-assisted work only for the coworker, and an offer of robot-assisted work for everyone. Our results show that cognitive stigma is significantly reduced when the work task is adapted to the person's abilities or augmented by an assistive robot. In addition, offering robot-assisted work for everyone, in the sense of universal design, further reduces perceived cognitive stigma. Thus, we conclude that assistive robots reduce perceived cognitive stigma, thereby supporting the use of collaborative robots in work scenarios involving PwDs.

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arXiv2025

Holistic Specification of the Human Digital Twin: Stakeholders, Users, Functionalities, and Applications

The digital twin of humans is a relatively new concept. While many diverse definitions, architectures, and applications exist, a clear picture is missing on what, in fact, makes a human digital twin. Within this context, researchers and industrial use-case owners alike are unaware about the market potential of the - at the moment - rather theoretical construct. In this work, we draw a holistic vision of the human digital twin, and derive the specification of this holistic human digital twin in form of requirements, stakeholders, and users. For each group of users, we define exemplary applications that fall into the six levels of functionality: store, analyze, personalize, predict, control, and optimize. The functionality levels facilitate an abstraction of abilities of the human digital twin. From the manifold applications, we discuss three in detail to showcase the feasibility of the abstraction levels and the analysis of stakeholders and users. Based on the deep discussion, we derive a comprehensive list of requirements on the holistic human digital twin. These considerations shall be used as a guideline for research and industries for the implementation of human digital twins, particularly in context of reusability in multiple target applications.

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arXiv2025

Conjugated Capabilities: Interrelations of Elementary Human Capabilities and Their Implication on Human-Machine Task Allocation and Capability Testing Procedures

Human and automation capabilities are the foundation of every human-autonomy interaction and interaction pattern. Therefore, machines need to understand the capacity and performance of human doing, and adapt their own behavior, accordingly. In this work, we address the concept of conjugated capabilities, i.e. capabilities that are dependent or interrelated and between which effort can be distributed. These may be used to overcome human limitations, by shifting effort from a deficient to a conjugated capability with performative resources. For example: A limited arm's reach may be compensated by tilting the torso forward. We analyze the interrelation between elementary capabilities within the IMBA standard to uncover potential conjugation, and show evidence in data of post-rehabilitation patients. From the conjugated capabilities, within the example application of stationary manufacturing, we create a network of interrelations. With this graph, a manifold of potential uses is enabled. We showcase the graph's usage in optimizing IMBA test design to accelerate data recordings, and discuss implications of conjugated capabilities on task allocation between the human and an autonomy.

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arXiv2024

RaNDT SLAM: Radar SLAM Based on Intensity-Augmented Normal Distributions Transform

Rescue robotics sets high requirements to perception algorithms due to the unstructured and potentially vision-denied environments. Pivoting Frequency-Modulated Continuous Wave radars are an emerging sensing modality for SLAM in this kind of environment. However, the complex noise characteristics of radar SLAM makes, particularly indoor, applications computationally demanding and slow. In this work, we introduce a novel radar SLAM framework, RaNDT SLAM, that operates fast and generates accurate robot trajectories. The method is based on the Normal Distributions Transform augmented by radar intensity measures. Motion estimation is based on fusion of motion model, IMU data, and registration of the intensity-augmented Normal Distributions Transform. We evaluate RaNDT SLAM in a new benchmark dataset and the Oxford Radar RobotCar dataset. The new dataset contains indoor and outdoor environments besides multiple sensing modalities (LiDAR, radar, and IMU).

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arXiv2024

Perspectives-Observer-Transparency -- A Novel Paradigm for Modelling the Human in Human-To-Anything Interaction Based on a Structured Review of the Human Digital Twin

Modern modelling approaches fail when it comes to understanding rather than pure supervision of human behavior. As humans become more and more integrated into human-to-anything interactions, the understanding of the human as a whole becomes critical. In this paper, we conduct a structured review of the human digital twin to indicate where modern paradigms fail to model the human agent. Particularly, the mechanistic viewpoint limits the usability of human and general digital twins. Instead, we propose a novel way of thinking about models, states, and their relations: Perspectives-Observer-Transparency. The modelling paradigm indicates how transparency - or whiteness - relates to the abilities of an observer, which again allows to model the penetration depth of a system model into the human psyche. The split in between the human's outer and inner states is described with a perspectives model, featuring the introperspective and the exteroperspective. We explore this novel paradigm by employing two recent scenarios from ongoing research and give examples to emphasize specific characteristics of the modelling paradigm.

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arXiv2024

Exploring Capability-Based Control Distributions of Human-Robot Teams Through Capability Deltas: Formalization and Implications

The implicit assumption that human and autonomous agents have certain capabilities is omnipresent in modern teaming concepts. However, none formalize these capabilities in a flexible and quantifiable way. In this paper, we propose Capability Deltas, which establish a quantifiable source to craft autonomous assistance systems in which one agent takes the leader and the other the supporter role. We deduct the quantification of human capabilities based on an established assessment and documentation procedure from occupational inclusion of people with disabilities. This allows us to quantify the delta, or gap, between a team's current capability and a requirement established by a work process. The concept is then extended to the multi-dimensional capability space, which then allows to formalize compensation behavior and assess required actions by the autonomous agent.

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arXiv2024

Matching Input and Output Devices and Physical Disabilities for Human-Robot Workstations

As labor shortage is rising at an alarming rate, it is imperative to enable all people to work, particularly people with disabilities and elderly people. Robots are often used as universal tool to assist people with disabilities. However, for such human-robot workstations universal design fails. We mitigate the challenges of selecting an individualized set of input and output devices by matching devices required by the work process and individual disabilities adhering to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities passed by the United Nations. The objective is to facilitate economically viable workstations with just the required devices, hence, lowering overall cost of corporate inclusion and during redesign of workplaces. Our work focuses on developing an efficient approach to filter input and output devices based on a person's disabilities, resulting in a tailored list of usable devices. The methodology enables an automated assessment of devices compatible with specific disabilities defined in International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. In a mock-up, we showcase the synthesis of input and output devices from disabilities, thereby providing a practical tool for selecting devices for individuals with disabilities.

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arXiv2023

Situational Adaptive Motion Prediction for Firefighting Squads in Indoor Search and Rescue

Firefighting is a complex, yet low automated task. To mitigate ergonomic and safety related risks on the human operators, robots could be deployed in a collaborative approach. To allow human-robot teams in firefighting, important basics are missing. Amongst other aspects, the robot must predict the human motion as occlusion is ever-present. In this work, we propose a novel motion prediction pipeline for firefighters' squads in indoor search and rescue. The squad paths are generated with an optimal graph-based planning approach representing firefighters' tactics. Paths are generated per room which allows to dynamically adapt the path locally without global re-planning. The motion of singular agents is simulated using a modification of the headed social force model. We evaluate the pipeline for feasibility with a novel data set generated from real footage and show the computational efficiency.

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