Evaluation of supervisory control interfaces for mobile robot integration with tactical teams

As robotic systems become more sophisticated, they are increasingly called upon to accompany humans in high-stress environments. This research was conducted to support the integration of robotic systems into tactical teams operating in challenging and stressful environments. Robotic systems used to assist tactical teams will need to support some form of autonomy; these systems must be capable of providing operators supervisory control in cases of unpredictable real-time events. An evaluation of the relative effectiveness of three different methods of supervisory control of an autonomously operated mobile robot system was conducted: (1) hand gestures using a Microsoft Kinect, (2) an interactive Android application on a hand-held mobile device, and (3) verbal commands issued through a headset. These methods of supervisory control were compared to a teleoperated robot using a gamepad controller. The results from this pilot study determined that the touchscreen device was the easiest interface to use to override the robot´s next intended movement (L²(3,23)=11.413, p=.003, d=1.58) and was considered the easiest interface to use overall (L²(3,23)=8.078, p=.044, d=.93). The results also indicate that the touchscreen device provided the most enjoyable, satisfying, and engaging interface of the four user interfaces evaluated.