Publication Details

Semi-Autonomous Domestic Service Robots: Evaluation of a User Interface for Remote Manipulation and Navigation With Focus on Effects of Stereoscopic Display

MAST, M.; MATERNA, Z.; ŠPANĚL, M.; WEISSHARDT, F.; ARBEITER, G.; BURMESTER, M.; SMRŽ, P. Semi-Autonomous Domestic Service Robots: Evaluation of a User Interface for Remote Manipulation and Navigation With Focus on Effects of Stereoscopic Display. International Journal of Social Robotics, 2015, vol. 2015, no. 7, p. 183-202. ISSN: 1875-4791.
Czech title
Částečné autonomní servisní robot: Využití stereoskopického zobrazení v uživatelském rozhraní pro vzdálenou navigaci robota a manipulaci s objekty
Type
journal article
Language
English
Authors
Mast Marcus
Materna Zdeněk, Ing., Ph.D. (DCGM)
Španěl Michal, Ing., Ph.D. (DCGM)
Weisshardt Florian
Arbeiter Georg
Burmester Michael
Smrž Pavel, doc. RNDr., Ph.D. (DCGM)
URL
Keywords

Human-robot interaction; User interfaces; Semi-autonomy; Telemanipulation; Teleoperation

Abstract

In this article, we evaluate a novel type of user interface for remotely resolving challenging situations for service robots in domestic environments. Our focus is on potential advantages of stereoscopic display. The user interface is based on a control architecture that allows involvement of a remote human operator when the robot encounters a problem. It offers semi-autonomous remote manipulation and navigation with low-cost interaction devices, incorporates global 3D environment mapping, and follows an ecological visualization approach that integrates 2D laser data, 3D depth camera data, RGB data, a robot model, constantly updated global 2D and 3D environment maps, and indicators into a single 3D scene with user-adjustable viewpoints and optional viewpoint-based control. We carried out an experiment with 28 participants in a home-like environment investigating the utility of stereoscopic display for three types of task: dening the shape of an unknown or unrecognized object to be grasped, positioning the gripper for semi-autonomous reaching and grasping, and navigating the robot around obstacles. Participants were able to successfully complete all tasks and highly approved the user interface in both monoscopic and stereoscopic display modes. They were signicantly faster under stereoscopic display in positioning the gripper. For the other two task types, there was a tendency for faster task completion in stereo mode that would need to be veried in further studies. We did not nd signicant differences in perceived workload between display types for any type of task. We conclude that stereoscopic display seems to be a useful optional display mode for this type of user interface but that its utility may vary depending on the task.

Published
2015
Pages
183–202
Journal
International Journal of Social Robotics, vol. 2015, no. 7, ISSN 1875-4791
DOI
UT WoS
000351469700004
EID Scopus
BibTeX
@article{BUT111665,
  author="Marcus {Mast} and Zdeněk {Materna} and Michal {Španěl} and Florian {Weisshardt} and Georg {Arbeiter} and Michael {Burmester} and Pavel {Smrž}",
  title="Semi-Autonomous Domestic Service Robots: Evaluation of a User Interface for Remote Manipulation and Navigation With Focus on Effects of Stereoscopic Display",
  journal="International Journal of Social Robotics",
  year="2015",
  volume="2015",
  number="7",
  pages="183--202",
  doi="10.1007/s12369-014-0266-7",
  issn="1875-4791",
  url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12369-014-0266-7"
}
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