Teleoperation of multi-robot and multi-property systems

This paper presents a study on switching of control signals in multiple teleoperation systems. In teleoperation systems human-operator controls slave robot on remote side via manipulating master device. Today teleoperated robot systems are becoming more and more significant in various aspects of human life. It is often required to one human-operator to perform teleoperation of several robots or to control several properties of one robot. To solve this issue we proposed a control strategy based on switching of control signals from human-operator in teleoperation of multiple systems. Two types of multiple teleoperation systems are considered: multi-robot and multi-property teleoperation systems. In multi-robot teleoperation systems, one human-operator controls a group of robots in remote side. In multi-property teleoperation systems, one human-operator controls several properties of one robot. In both cases, control is done via manipulating only one master device. Therefore, switching control strategy which allows human-operator to perform sequential teleoperation of multiple systems is required. In this paper formalization of switching process and control signal distribution was done. In order to verify proposed switching control strategy two application examples were presented. First, teleoperation of mobile platform with manipulator using switching control strategy was analyzed. In this case, control signal from human-operator was distributed between mobile platform and manipulator with the help of designed switching controller. Second, mobile robot teleoperation with combined speed and position control was described. In this example, human-operator could switch control mode for mobile robot teleoperation between speed control mode and position control mode. The above described switching methods have been verified by simulation and experiment. Experimental study for mobile robot teleoperation with combined speed and position control was performed. Navigation time and positioning accuracy in mobile robot teleoperation were measured and compared in speed, position and combined control strategies. Experimental results showed that application of proposed switching controller improved performance and accuracy of teleoperation system.