# Safe Human-Interactive Control via Shielding

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2110.05440 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2110.05440/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 11 Oct 2021.

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [Generalizing LTL Instructions via Future Dependent Options](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.04576/) (2022)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Ensuring safety for human-interactive robotics is important due to the potential for human injury. The key challenge is defining safety in a way that accounts for the complex range of human behaviors without modeling the human as an unconstrained adversary. We propose a novel approach to ensuring safety in these settings. Our approach focuses on defining backup actions that we believe human always considers taking to avoid an accident -- e.g., brake to avoid rear-ending the other agent. Given such a definition, we consider a safety constraint that guarantees safety as long as the human takes the appropriate backup actions when necessary to ensure safety. Then, we propose an algorithm that overrides an arbitrary given controller as needed to ensure that the robot is safe. We evaluate our approach in a simulated environment, interacting with both real and simulated humans.