The doctoral dissertations of the former Helsinki University of Technology (TKK) and Aalto University Schools of Technology (CHEM, ELEC, ENG, SCI) published in electronic format are available in the electronic publications archive of Aalto University - Aaltodoc.
Aalto

From Teleoperation to the Cognitive Human-Robot Interface

Jussi Suomela

Dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Science in Technology to be presented with due permission of the Department of Automation and Systems Technology for public examination and debate in Auditorium AS1 at Helsinki University of Technology (Espoo, Finland) on the 26th of November, 2004, at 12 o'clock noon.

Overview in PDF format (ISBN 951-22-7388-8)   [731 KB]
Dissertation is also available in print (ISBN 951-22-7387-X)

Abstract

Robots are slowly moving from factories to mines, construction sites, public places and homes. This new type of robot or robotized working machine – field and service robots (FSR) – should be capable of performing different kinds of tasks in unstructured changing environments, not only among humans but through continuous interaction with humans. The main requirements for an FSR are mobility, advanced perception capabilities, high "intelligence" and easy interaction with humans. Although mobility and perception capabilities are no longer bottlenecks, they can nevertheless still be greatly improved. The main bottlenecks are intelligence and the human - robot interface (HRI). Despite huge efforts in "artificial intelligence" research, the robots and computers are still very "stupid" and there are no major advancements on the horizon. This emphasizes the importance of the HRI. In the subtasks, where high-level cognition or intelligence is needed, the robot has to ask for help from the operator. In addition to task commands and supervision, the HRI has to provide the possibility of exchanging information about the task and environment through continuous dialogue and even methods for direct teleoperation. The thesis describes the development from teleoperation to service robot interfaces and analyses the usability aspects of both teleoperation/telepresence systems and robot interfaces based on high-level cognitive interaction. The analogue in the development of teleoperation interfaces and HRIs is also pointed out.

The teleoperation and telepresence interfaces are studied on the basis of a set of experiments in which the different enhancement-level telepresence systems were tested in different tasks of a driving type. The study is concluded by comparing the usability aspects and the feeling of presence in a telepresence system.

HRIs are studied with an experimental service robot WorkPartner. Different kinds of direct teleoperation, dialogue and spatial information interfaces are presented and tested. The concepts of cognitive interface and common presence are presented. Finally, the usability aspects of a human service robot interface are discussed and evaluated.

This thesis consists of an overview and of the following 7 publications:

  1. Halme A., Suomela J. and Savela M., 1999. Applying telepresence and augmented reality to teleoperate field robots. Robotics and Autonomous Systems 26, numbers 2-3, pages 117-125.
  2. Suomela J. and Halme A., 2001. Tele-existence techniques of heavy work vehicles. Autonomous Robots 11, number 1, pages 29-38.
  3. Saarinen J., Suomela J. and Halme A., 2002. The power oar – mechatronic rowing assistant. 2nd IFAC Conference on Mechatronic Systems. Berkeley, California, USA, 9-11 December 2002.
  4. Suomela J. and Halme A., 2002. Novel interactive control interface for centaur-like service robot. 15th IFAC World Congress on Automatic Control. Barcelona, Spain, 21-26 July 2002.
  5. Halme A., Leppänen I., Suomela J., Ylönen S. and Kettunen I., 2003. WorkPartner: interactive human-like service robot for outdoor applications. The International Journal of Robotics Research 22, numbers 7-8, pages 627-640.
  6. Suomela J. and Halme A., 2004. Human robot interaction – case WorkPartner. 2004 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2004). Sendai, Japan, 28 September - 2 October, 2004.
  7. Suomela J., Saarinen J., Halme A. and Harmo P., 2004. On-line interactive building of presence. Field and Service Robotics: Recent Advances in Research and Applications. Springer-Verlag.

Keywords: robotics, HMI, supervisory control, telepresence

This publication is copyrighted. You may download, display and print it for Your own personal use. Commercial use is prohibited.

© 2004 Helsinki University of Technology

Last update 2011-05-26