Potential scaling effects for asynchronous video in multirobot search

Abstract

Camera guided teleoperation has long been the preferred mode for controlling remote robots with other modes such as asynchronous control only used when unavoidable. Because controlling multiple robots places additional demands on the operator we hypothesized that removing the forced pace for reviewing camera video might reduce workload and improve performance. In an initial experiment we evaluated the usefulness of asynchronous operation for a four robot search task. Participants operated four robot teams performing a simulated urban search and rescue (USAR) task using conventional streaming video plus a map interface or an experimental interface without streaming video but with the ability to store panoramic images on the map to be viewed at leisure. Search performance was somewhat better using the conventional interface; however, ancillary measures suggest that the asynchronous interface succeeded in reducing temporal demands for switching between robots. Because the advantages hypothesized for the asynchronous interface are due to reduction in time stress and workload, the four robot condition may have simply been too easy to observe this advantage. This view is at least partially supported by the reduced switching found in the panoramic condition. We have recently collected data for the streaming video condition for 4, 8, and 12 robots. In this data we found a marked deterioration in performance for the 12 robot condition, suggesting that at this level of difficulty asynchronous video might have an advantage. In this paper we present data for the four robot case comparison and discuss the implications of the recent data from larger teams.