[2508.05535] Mixed-Initiative Dialog for Human-Robot Collaborative Manipulation

Computer Science > Robotics arXiv:2508.05535 (cs) [Submitted on 7 Aug 2025 (v1), last revised 27 Feb 2026 (this version, v2)] Title:Mixed-Initiative Dialog for Human-Robot Collaborative Manipulation Authors:Albert Yu, Chengshu Li, Luca Macesanu, Arnav Balaji, Ruchira Ray, Raymond Mooney, Roberto Martín-Martín View a PDF of the paper titled Mixed-Initiative Dialog for Human-Robot Collaborative Manipulation, by Albert Yu and 6 other authors View PDF HTML (experimental) Abstract:Effective robotic systems for long-horizon human-robot collaboration must adapt to a wide range of human partners, whose physical behavior, willingness to assist, and understanding of the robot's capabilities may change over time. This demands a tightly coupled communication loop that grants both agents the flexibility to propose, accept, or decline requests as they coordinate toward completing the task effectively. We apply a Mixed-Initiative dialog paradigm to Collaborative human-roBot teaming and propose MICoBot, a system that handles the common scenario where both agents, using natural language, take initiative in formulating, accepting, or rejecting proposals on who can best complete different steps of a task. To handle diverse, task-directed dialog, and find successful collaborative strategies that minimize human effort, MICoBot makes decisions at three levels: (1) a meta-planner considers human dialog to formulate and code a high-level collaboration strategy, (2) a planner optimally allocates t...