Robots are increasingly capable of assisting with everyday tasks but their usefulness often breaks down when autonomy fails or when tasks are too complex to pre-program. Many end-user programming (EUP) systems empower users to define robot behaviors, but they rarely allow users to control how and when they want to intervene during execution.

This project introduces SCORPIUS, a novel programming system that lets users blend autonomy and control through a flexible human-in-the-loop API. Through SCORPIUS, users can record demonstrations, write reusable robot programs, and selectively intervene during execution, such as pausing the robot to confirm a behavior or taking full teleoperation control to correct it mid-task.

We conducted a user study with 21 participants of varying robotics experience and found that shared control not only improved task success but also enhanced perceived usability, confidence, and user agency, especially for novice users. We also evaluated SCORPIUS on assistive tasks like robot-assisted feeding and sunscreen application, where autonomy alone was insufficient due to individual user preferences.

This work highlights how personalized shared autonomy can make robotic systems more usable, adaptive, and inclusive across diverse home and assistive settings. SCORPIUS lays the foundation for future tools that let non-experts program robots while remaining meaningfully in control.

This research was conducted under the mentorship of Dr. Maya Cakmak and Daphne Chen. through the DUB REU at the Human-Centered Robotics Lab at University of Washington.