Operator Performance in Exploration Robotics

Mobile robots can accomplish high-risk tasks without exposing humans to danger: robots go where humans fear to tread. Until the time in which completely autonomous robots are fully deployed, remote operators will be required in order to fulfill desired missions. Remotely controlling a robot requires that the operator receives the information about the robot’s surroundings, as well as its location in the scenario. Based on a set of experiments conducted with users, we evaluate the performance of operators when they are provided with a hand-held-based interface or a desktop-based interface. Results show how performance depends on the task asked of the operator and the scenario in which the robot is moving. The conclusions prove that the operator’s intra-scenario mobility when carrying a hand-held device can counterbalance the limitations of the device. By contrast, the experiments show that if the operator cannot move inside of the scenario, his performance is significantly better when using a desktop-based interface. These results set the basis for a transfer of control policy in missions involving a team of operators, some equipped with hand-held devices and others working remotely with desktop-based computers.

[1]  Terrence Fong,et al.  Advanced Interfaces for Vehicle Teleoperation: Collaborative Control, Sensor Fusion Displays, and Remote Driving Tools , 2001, Auton. Robots.

[2]  Massimo Mecella,et al.  Adaptative Human-Robot Interaction for mobile robots , 2008, RO-MAN 2008 - The 17th IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication.

[3]  T. Herrmann.  Blickpunkte und Blickpunktsequenzen , 1996 .

[4]  Jean Scholtz,et al.  Design guidelines for improved human-robot interaction , 2004, CHI EA '04.

[5]  Jean Scholtz,et al.  Awareness in human-robot interactions , 2003, SMC'03 Conference Proceedings. 2003 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics. Conference Theme - System Security and Assurance (Cat. No.03CH37483).

[6]  Michael A. Goodrich,et al.  Comparing the usefulness of video and map information in navigation tasks , 2006, HRI '06.

[7]  Julie A. Adams,et al.  Critical Considerations for Human-Robot Interface Development , 2002 .

[8]  Magdalena D. Bugajska,et al.  Building a Multimodal Human-Robot Interface , 2001, IEEE Intell. Syst..

[9]  Terrence Fong,et al.  Robot, asker of questions , 2003, Robotics Auton. Syst..

[10]  G. Cohen.  Memory In The Real World , 1989 .

[11]  Frauke Driewer,et al.  Design and evaluation of an user interface for the coordination of a group of mobile robots , 2008, RO-MAN 2008 - The 17th IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication.

[12]  Marjorie Skubic,et al.  A sketch interface for mobile robots , 2003, SMC'03 Conference Proceedings. 2003 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics. Conference Theme - System Security and Assurance (Cat. No.03CH37483).

[13]  H. Hüttenrauch,et al.  PocketCERO – mobile interfaces for service robots , 2001 .

[14]  Henrik I. Christensen,et al.  A Wearable GUI for Field Robots , 2005, FSR.

[15]  Michael A. Goodrich,et al.  Ecological Interfaces for Improving Mobile Robot Teleoperation , 2007, IEEE Transactions on Robotics.

[16]  Hande Kaymaz-Keskinpala,et al.  Objective data analysis for a PDA-based human robotic interface , 2004, 2004 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics (IEEE Cat. No.04CH37583).

[17]  Charles E. Thorpe,et al.  PdaDriver: A Handheld System for Remote Driving , 2003 .

[18]  Holly A. Yanco,et al.  "Where am I?" Acquiring situation awareness using a remote robot platform , 2004, 2004 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics (IEEE Cat. No.04CH37583).

[19]  Hande Kaymaz-Keskinpala,et al.  PDA-based human-robotic interface , 2003, SMC'03 Conference Proceedings. 2003 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics. Conference Theme - System Security and Assurance (Cat. No.03CH37483).

[20]  Holly A. Yanco,et al.  LASSOing HRI: Analyzing situation awareness in map-centric and video-centric interfaces , 2007, 2007 2nd ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI).

[21]  Holly A. Yanco,et al.  Evolving interface design for robot search tasks , 2007, J. Field Robotics.

[22]  Holly A. Yanco,et al.  Rescuing interfaces: A multi-year study of human-robot interaction at the AAAI Robot Rescue Competition , 2007, Auton. Robots.

[23]  Karin Schweizer,et al.  Spatial Cognition: The Role of Landmark, Route, and Survey Knowledge in Human and Robot Navigation , 1997, GI Jahrestagung.

[24]  Richard T. Vaughan,et al.  The Player/Stage Project: Tools for Multi-Robot and Distributed Sensor Systems , 2003 .

[25]  Jean Scholtz,et al.  Evaluation of human-robot interaction awareness in search and rescue , 2004, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2004. Proceedings. ICRA '04. 2004.

[26]  Jean Scholtz,et al.  Beyond usability evaluation: analysis of human-robot interaction at a major robotics competition , 2004 .

[27]  Julie A. Adams,et al.  Assessing the scalability of a multiple robot interface , 2007, 2007 2nd ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI).