Improving the Remote Control of a Mobile Robot Using Positioning and Ubiquitous Techniques

In the current paper, we describe a remotely controlled robotic system and an experimental comparison of three techniques for displaying information about the position and movements of a remote robot to the user. The developed system was based on a mobile robot (Evolution Robotics´ ER-1) and Locawe, which is a platform for developing location-aware systems. The experimental techniques displayed the position of the robot on an indoor floor plan augmented with 1) a video view from a camera attached to a robot 2) displaying nearby obstacles (identified using RFID technology) on the floor plan, and 3) both features. 10 subjects controlled the mobile robot through predetermined routes in an indoor environment as quickly as possible avoiding collisions. The results showed that all three developed techniques were successful. The technique without a camera view (2) was the fastest, and number of steering motions made was smallest using this technique, but it also had the highest need for physical human interventions. The technique with both additional features (3) was subjectively preferred by the users.