The remote operation and environment reconstruction of outdoor mobile robots using virtual reality
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Date
2017
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
This paper presents a teleoperation system for
controlling multiple semiautonomous mobile robots using the
latest virtual reality (VR) technologies. Compared to direct
traditional teleoperation of the robots (with a joystick and video
display etc.), in this system the user operates the robots in a
virtual world, where the real environment is reconstructed and
streamed by the robots. The user can view and inspect the
situation and collect data from a suitable perspective in VR as
well as, for example, being able to enlarge or shrink himself for
closer study. One of the biggest advantages of the developed
system is that the user does not suffer from motion sickness
generated due to latency in traditional teleoperations, where only
a camera video stream is provided for the user directly. Also, with
the implemented indirect control that uses the waypoints of each
robot, one user can operate multiple robots at the same time as
each robot is executing a defined path semiautonomous. The
system described in this paper is a combination of the latest VR
consumer devices, time-of-flight depth cameras, and adaptive
network communication, used for scaling the amount of
information transmitted. Such a system allows the operator to
control both an aerial robot and a ground robot. In this work, the
developed system is used for controlling multi-robots (a UAVUGV combination) and a series of tests conducted in outdoor
Finnish conditions during summer, fall, and winter 2016 and
2017.
Description
Subject(s)
Multi robot system, Outdoor robotics, Remote operation, Virtual reality
Citation
ISSN
2152-744X
ISBN
978-150906757-2