Baxter's Homunculus: Virtual Reality Spaces for Teleoperation in Manufacturing

We demonstrate a low-cost telerobotic system that leverages commercial virtual reality (VR) technology and integrates it with existing robotics control infrastructure. The system runs on a commercial gaming engine using off-the-shelf VR hardware and can be deployed on multiple network architectures. The system is based on the homunculus model of mind wherein we embed the user in a VR control room. The control room allows for multiple sensor displays, and dynamic mapping between the user and robot. This dynamic mapping allows for selective engagement between the user and the robot. We compared our system with state-of-the-art automation algorithms and standard VR-based telepresence systems by performing a user study. The study showed that new users were faster and more accurate than the automation or a direct telepresence system. We also demonstrate that our system can be used for pick and place, assembly, and manufacturing tasks.