Workspace Scaling and Rate Mode Control for Virtual Reality based Robot Teleoperation

We explored rate mode control for virtual reality (VR) based robot teleoperation with constant and variable mapping of the human-operator’s joystick position to the speed (rate) of the robot’s end-effector. The variable mapping depended on the visual scale of the virtual reconstruction of the remote environment to the scale of the real remote environment. We demonstrated how the rate mode control and variable scaling based on the VR reconstruction scale can be efficiently used for seated VR based robot teleoperation when the operator’s arms are supported to reduce tiredness. The experimental study with five human participants demonstrated that variable mapping allowed participants to teleoperate the robot more effectively, by adjusting the VR visual scale albeit at a cost of increased perceived workload.