Haptic Feedback For Obstacle Avoidance Applied To Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

In the context of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) teleoperation, the platform is remotely controlled by a human pilot. In order to provide a better situational awareness to the pilot, haptic feedback can be sent through the controller to indicate the presence of obstacles around the UAV. This feedback makes obstacle avoidance easier for the pilot and complements the visual cues obtained from a camera mounted on the UAV. To compute the feedback, an artificial force field is extended to 3D and modified to correct the situation caused by symmetric obstacles. This feedback is provided by the controller using a new algorithm involving virtual springs. An experimental evaluation of the method using a simulation is carried out including a statistical analysis of the results. This experiment shows that our method can reduce the number of collisions and decrease the operator's workload at a safety cost.