Collaborative task execution by a human and an autonomous mobile robot in a teleoperated system

In this paper, we describe the human-robot collaborative task execution in a teleoperated system under the restricted condition of limited feedback information. The system realizes the remote maneuvering of an omni-directional mobile robot via the Internet using a joystick. The only feedback information to the operator consists of the images from the onboard camera of the robot. Thus, the operator has to maneuver the robot with limited information from the remote site. In such a case, the robot's autonomous functions should manage lower level controls, such as collision avoidance. We have constructed a collaborative teleoperation system of an omni-directional mobile robot equipped with several sensing systems.