View controls in environment presentation for robot tele-operation

Operators expect to obtain sufficient information on working environment in robot tele-operation. The information may be typically provided through vision sensors and equipment due to their large amount of data. The operator requires right view angle during manipulation and/or locomotion, since objects and even robot itself may obstruct his or her view when the view point is fixed. The paper discusses two types of view controls. One is called normal or subject-centered view which provides the same field of vision centered in the operator as obtained by our natural vision system. The other is called object-centered view where the vision field is centered at and rotated around the viewed object. The view motion is controlled by the operator's head motion in every view control. The two controls are applied to tele-operated manipulation and navigation tasks by the working robot which has six limbs (usable for both arm and leg) on the simulator, and they are compared and evaluated in the aspects on how the robot efficiently walks and manipulates objects.