Abstract
We present a virtual reality (VR) teleoperation interface for a ground-based robot, featuring dense 3D environment reconstruction and a low latency video stream, with which operators can immersively explore remote environments. At the UK Atomic Energy Authority's (UKAEA) Remote Applications in Challenging Environments (RACE) facility, we applied the interface in a user study where trained robotics operators completed simulated nuclear monitoring and decommissioning style tasks to compare VR and traditional teleoperation interface designs. We found that operators in the VR condition took longer to complete the experiment, had reduced collisions, and rated the generated 3D map with higher importance when compared to non-VR operators. Additional physiological data suggested that VR operators had a lower objective cognitive workload during the experiment but also experienced increased physical demand. Overall the presented results show that VR interfaces may benefit work patterns in teleoperation tasks within the nuclear industry, but further work is needed to investigate how such interfaces can be integrated into real world decommissioning workflows.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Proceedings - ICRA 2023 |
| Subtitle of host publication | IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation |
| Publisher | Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) |
| Pages | 11972-11978 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9798350323658 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2023 |
| Event | 2023 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, ICRA 2023 - London, United Kingdom Duration: 29 May 2023 → 2 Jun 2023 |
Publication series
| Name | Proceedings - IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation |
|---|---|
| Publisher | IEEE |
| Volume | 2023-May |
| ISSN (Print) | 1050-4729 |
| ISSN (Electronic) | 2577-087X |
Conference
| Conference | 2023 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, ICRA 2023 |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | United Kingdom |
| City | London |
| Period | 29/05/23 → 2/06/23 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This work was approved by UCL Research Ethics Committee (ID 13305.003). This work made use of equipment provided by the UK National Nuclear User Facility through the UK Atomic Energy Authority. We thank UKAEA and RACE for their support and guidance, and the ORCA Partnership Resource Fund for our project ”Mixed-Reality Enhanced Telepresence for Remote Inspection and Monitoring with Multiple Aerial Robots”. We acknowledge the funding of EPSRC (award no. EP/R009953/1, EP/L016230/1, EP/R026173/1 and EP/S031464/1), NERC (award no. NE/R012229/1) and the EU H2020 AeroTwin project (grant ID 810321). For the purpose of open access, the author(s) has applied a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license to any Accepted Manuscript version arising.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 IEEE.
Keywords
- human-centered robotics
- telerobotics and teleoperation
- Virtual reality and interfaces