Developing telerobotic systems using virtual reality concepts

The basic operational scenario for many application domains is to deploy nonhuman system components in the hazardous workspace and keep the human operator away from the hazardous but real work environment. The operator is an essential element of the integrated system and is provided with various powerful displays (for both visual and nonvisual information) for telepresence and interactive controls for teleoperation. Thus, the operator stationed in the safe and virtual work environment, is able to cooperate with the robotic system in accomplishing an assigned task. The team has been investigating various problems associated with the use of virtual-reality based concepts in robot control and system development for the past several years. Some of the main ideas which underlie the investigations are, multiple sensory based operation, transparency between real and virtual mode operation, integrating sensing and task planning in simulation, and reliance on extensive and systematic experimental evaluation. The systems developed are useful for both off-online and online operation.