Implementation and evaluation of a predictive mixed reality interface with an exocentric motion control paradigm for time delayed teleoperation

Teleoperation of mobile rovers used as explorers in outer space has one major drawback - time delay. The requirement for human aid in this control chain stems from the basic need to utilize human cognition. The drawback with the early interfaces, particularly during teleoperation, was the huge workload placed on the user. With emphasis on easing workload in order to increase the efficiency of a human-robot team, newer techniques have been developed for visualization and control at the human end. A new paradigm for time-delayed teleoperation is being implemented and evaluated in this thesis - The use of predictive mixed reality interface with exocentric motion control. Evaluation of this paradigm consists of testing three major areas - Navigation, Perception and Manipulation. System performance is measured in terms of navigation times and number of collisions. Operator performance is also measured using Situational Awareness Global Assessment Technique (SAGAT). The new paradigm is tested on users with different levels of prior experience. The major contributions of this work include 1) A new motion control paradigm for teleoperation 2) Experimental results when teleoperating with and without the new motion control paradigm 3) A platform to test future augmented interfaces 4) Connection to Helsinki’s GIMNET network and to J2B2 mobile roverValiderat; 20101217 (root