Human-Telerobot Interactions: Information, Control, and Mental Models

NASA is currently working on the Space Station which will be a permanently manned orbiting space laboratory when it becomes operational in the mid 1990's. A part of the Space Station will be a teleoperated robot (telerobot) with arms for grasping and manipulation, feet for holding onto objects, and television cameras for visual feedback. The objective of the work described in this paper is to develop the requirements and specifications for the user-telerobot interface and to determine through research and testing that the interface results in efficient system operation. The focus of the development of the user-telerobot interface is on the information required by the user, user inputs, and design of the control workstation. Closely related to both the information required by the user and the user's control of the telerobot is the user's mental model of the relation of the control inputs and the telerobot's actions.