Multiple mobile robot operation by human

In this study we propose an operation method to easily control mobile robot groups by a single human user and build a system in which the human user and robots achieve tasks cooperatively. In order to control multiple mobile robots, we do research regarding the commanding and monitoring aspects. Regarding commanding, we divide orders from the user into four levels and consider the relationship between orders and autonomy of robots to be needed. The main features of our method are as follows: (1) the human user commands not each robot individually, but groups of robots, and (2) our system has autonomy in proportion to user command levels and complement lack of command for the group (sometimes commands for the group is not sufficient for each robot control). Regarding the monitoring we introduce a CCD camera system into our system and display information on a CRT display, which shows the image of work area. The user can monitor a remote environment and simultaneously obtain information to be needed during operation. We verified the efficiency of our method and system by experiments.