A Survey of Mental Modeling Techniques in Human–Robot Teaming

As robots become increasingly prevalent and capable, the complexity of roles and responsibilities assigned to them as well as our expectations for them will increase in kind. For these autonomous systems to operate safely and efficiently in human-populated environments, they will need to cooperate and coordinate with human teammates. Mental models provide a formal mechanism for achieving fluent and effective teamwork during human–robot interaction by enabling awareness between teammates and allowing for coordinated action. Much recent research in human–robot interaction has made use of standardized and formalized mental modeling techniques to great effect, allowing for a wider breadth of scenarios in which a robotic agent can act as an effective and trustworthy teammate. This paper provides a structured overview of mental model theory and methodology as applied to human–robot teaming. Also discussed are evaluation methods and metrics for various aspects of mental modeling during human–robot interaction, as well as recent emerging applications and open challenges in the field.