A 3D virtual environment for exploratory learning in mobile robot control

This paper discusses a virtual environment that enables human agents to develop the skills necessary to control a mobile robot through the implementation of exploratory learning practices. The interface connects the human user to both a virtual and physical robot resident in the real-world, and allows evaluation of human performance using a framework that analyzes execution parameters during human operation. The execution data is then used to compare the capability of human agents to learn the skill sets necessary to control the robot during a novel task situation. We give an overview of the environment, as well as the experimental results comparing the performance of multiple operators learning to control a virtual robot.