3D smart user interactive system with proprioceptive orientation feedback by using Disparity Compassing

Feedback of proprioceptive information is important for many tele-robotic systems, especially performing a navigation task and out-of-sight remote controlling. Proprioception is defined as the ability to sense the position, location, orientation, and movement of the body and its parts. Although proprioceptive feedback is one of the significant feedbacks for tele-operations, it has not been taken much consideration in current tele-robotics research. This paper emphasizes on the orientation feedback of a robot with a 3D model user interface (UI). The 3D UI enhances the interpretation of proprioceptive information in order to aid operator to visualize the relative position and orientation of the robot. A new method called “Disparity Compassing” is proposed and applied into tele-robotic framework by using two magnetic compass sensors. One of the sensors is mounted on a robot and the other one is built-in compass sensor of the UI. With the disparity values of two compass sensors, the interactive orientation information of the robot can be fed back in real time to the operator. In this paper, the disparity compassing technique has been demonstrated. It has been proven that the tele-robotic system with disparity compassing enhances the awareness of relative positional navigation in the situation of unknown space exploration.