A Topology of Shared Control Systems—Finding Common Ground in Diversity
DOI: 10.1109/thms.2018.2791570
archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified
Get this paper ↗ (DOI — opens at the source; we link to it, we don't host it)
Summary
This paper addresses the lack of consensus regarding the definition, design, and evaluation of shared control systems in human-robot interaction (HRI). As shared control becomes increasingly popular across diverse fields, the absence of a unified framework hinders cross-domain research and effective system design. The authors aim to establish a common definition for shared control, propose general axioms for its design and evaluation, and demonstrate their utility through a review of four application domains: automotive, robot-assisted surgery, brain-machine interfaces (BMI), and learning. The authors define shared control as a congruent interaction between human(s) and robot(s) within a perception-action cycle to perform a dynamic task that either agent could theoretically execute individually. This definition explicitly excludes full automation, manual control, traded control (where authority switches discretely), and binary warning systems. To guide design and evaluation, the paper proposes three axioms. Axiom 1 states that shared control must link human and robot actions such that each agent directly perceives how their intent is shaped by the other, minimizing conflict by modeling robot behavior based on human actions. Axiom 2 posits that shared control offers the highest safety utility when situations rapidly change beyond robot design boundaries, and the highest performance utility when human limitations are the primary constraint. Axiom 3 mandates that evaluation must occur both within and beyond the robot’s design boundaries to assess robustness in realistic, unpredictable conditions. The paper applies these principles to four domains. In automotive contexts, the authors contrast traded control (e.g., Adaptive Cruise Control) with shared control approaches like haptic shared control, where forces on the steering wheel or gas pedal continuously communicate system intent and limitations, keeping the driver in the loop. In robot-assisted surgery, the focus is on supporting highly trained specialists by enhancing sensorimotor skills and spatial reasoning within constrained anatomical environments. The review also covers BMI applications, where shared control facilitates continuous interaction between brain signals and sensors, and learning scenarios involving skill transfer. The authors argue that shared control is particularly valuable in these domains because it fosters awareness of robot capabilities and limitations, especially when environmental conditions or human factors degrade performance. The significance of this work lies in providing a principled, hierarchical framework for comparing and contrasting shared control designs. By establishing clear definitions and axioms, the paper facilitates cross-fertilization between disparate fields and offers a structured approach for designing systems that ensure safe, comfortable, and effective cooperation between humans and intelligent machines. The proposed framework helps researchers identify which types of shared control are suitable for specific tasks and conditions, ultimately addressing the long-standing challenge of intuitive human-machine communication.
Provenance
The full processing record for this entry. Every stage of this paper's journey through the pipeline is logged — what ran, with which tool and model, how many attempts it took, and when it last completed. Discovered via openalex_abstract on 2026-05-08 (4 acquisition events logged).
| Stage | Outcome | Tool | Model | Prompt | Attempts | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| discover | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-05-07 |
| archive | success | canonical_url | — | — | 14 | 2026-06-09 |
| extract | success | cached | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-09 |
| clean | success | clean | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-04 |
| chunk | success | chunk | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-04 |
| embed | success | embed | Qwen/Qwen3-Embedding-8B | — | 1 | 2026-06-04 |
| enrich | success | openalex | — | — | 3 | 2026-05-08 |
| promote | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-05-07 |
| summarize | success | llm | qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant | summ-v5 | 1 | 2026-06-09 |
| tag | success | vector_similarity | — | — | 15 | 2026-06-11 |
| verify | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-09 |
Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-09; verification: verified.
Topics
Ranked by relevance to this paper. Hover a topic for its definition.
Information type
What kind of knowledge this paper contributes, grouped by family — independent of topic (what it is about) and method (how it was studied).
- Theoretical Contribution: conceptual framework