Comparison of Mobile Platform Teleoperation Systems Using a Force-Torque Sensor and a Joystick

Mobile robots are used in more and more applications nowadays. These applications involve the research, but also real-world and industrial niches have been found where these platforms fulfill important tasks. In recent years huge focus has been put on the autonomous operation of mobile robots. However, in many tasks a direct control exerted by a human operator is necessary. These tasks may, for example, include search and rescue operations, or other tasks where human intelligence has not been yet surpassed by the machine intelligence. Furthermore, even in simple and repetitive operations it is very much desired to allow for robot programming with Learning-by-Demonstration approach. Teleoperation is therefore a very important topic. There is an extensive research covering the problem of the Human-Machine Interface (HMI) aspect of teleoperation. Numerous devices exist that allow for human control of robotic platforms. These devices offer various advantages and disadvantages that make them suited for different modes of operation. In this work, we focus on implementing a mobile platform teleoperation system with the use of a force-torque sensor. We present the configuration of such system using ROS and compare experimentally the performance of the proposed device with a typicalapproach using joystick control