Tele-operator performance and their perception of system time lags when completing mobile robot tasks

Effects of motion lag on the capability of a tele-operated mobile-robot operator are investigated. Lags can occur through communication delays as tele-operated mobile robots work at a distance or because of a lack of parallel computing power as robots are enhanced with additional systems. This work concentrates on time lag in a tele-operated mobile robot system and investigates when a mobile robot operator might begin to perceive a lag in the movement of a mobile robot. A threshold of permissible lag is established for mobile robot operators that relates to the maximum time lag before an operator noticed a lag.