Evaluating immersive teleoperation interfaces: coordinating robot radiation monitoring tasks in nuclear facilities
File(s)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Stedman, Harvey
Kocer, Basaran Bahadir
van Zalk, Nejra
Kovac, Mirko
Pawar, Vijay M
Type
Conference Paper
Abstract
We present a virtual reality (VR) teleoperation interface for a ground-based robot, featuring dense 3D environment reconstruction and a low latency video stream, with which operators can immersively explore remote environments. At the UK Atomic Energy Authority's (UKAEA) Remote Applications in Challenging Environments (RACE) facility, we applied the interface in a user study where trained robotics operators completed simulated nuclear monitoring and decommissioning style tasks to compare VR and traditional teleoperation interface designs. We found that operators in the VR condition took longer to complete the experiment, had reduced collisions, and rated the generated 3D map with higher importance when compared to non-VR operators. Additional physiological data suggested that VR operators had a lower objective cognitive workload during the experiment but also experienced increased physical demand. Overall the presented results show that VR interfaces may benefit work patterns in teleoperation tasks within the nuclear industry, but further work is needed to investigate how such interfaces can be integrated into real world decommissioning workflows.
Date Issued
2023-07-04
Date Acceptance
2023-05-01
Citation
2023 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2023, pp.11972-11978
Publisher
IEEE
Start Page
11972
End Page
11978
Journal / Book Title
2023 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)
Copyright Statement
Copyright © 2023 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.
Identifier
http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/icra48891.2023.10161011
Source
2023 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)
Publication Status
Published
Start Date
2023-05-29
Finish Date
2023-06-02