Using augmented reality to interact with an autonomous mobile platform

To allow users without special knowledge to interact with robots, it is desirable to make interaction methods as intuitive as possible. This goal is in many cases difficult to achieve since data flow from the robot to the human is limited, especially if free locomotion of both the human and the robot are required. Therefore, new communication channels need to be created. We propose the use of an augmented reality display together with a wearable, wirelessly networked computer to achieve this goal. This system makes it possible to overlay planning, world model and sensory data provided by the robot over the wearer´s field of view. We discuss the system architecture, interaction methods and experimental results. We demonstrate an example application for rapid prototyping of a warehouse transport system using the augmented reality system and a mobile platform. The user can create a topological map in an unknown environment on-the fly by setting and manipulating map nodes. This is done by pointing at the floor with a special interaction device, and issuing voice commands. The map is shown to the user as an augmentation of the real world view. Additionally, the robot´s path planning data is visualized.