Project background
Operators rarely want either pure manual or pure autonomous operation — they want to take over gracefully when needed and hand back control just as easily. The client needed a shared-control layer for their robotic fleet.
Challenge
Defining crisp handover rules that neither surprise the operator nor drop the vehicle into an unsafe state. Preserving full manual authority during emergencies while allowing autonomy to resume without full re-commissioning.
Approach & solution
We designed a mode-supervisor that manages three states — manual, assisted, and autonomous — with clearly defined entry and exit conditions. The physical controls always retain override authority. Handovers are announced to the operator, and the system refuses to enter autonomy when preconditions aren't met.
Results & benefits
Operators adopted the hybrid mode quickly because takeover felt natural and predictable. The explicit state machine made the safety case easier to argue and the behavior easier to train against.
