2020/05/16 by Arun Kumar, Kumar, Arun, Mason Bell +9
Engineering · #FOS: Computer and information sciences #Robotics (cs.RO) #Space Exploration and Technology #Spacecraft Design and Technology #Systems Engineering Methodologies and Applications
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2005.08120
openalex publication_date 2020/05/16 · openalex created_date 2022/07/17 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Low-latency telerobotics can enable more intricate surface tasks on\nextraterrestrial planetary bodies than has ever been attempted. For humanity to\ncreate a sustainable lunar presence, well-developed collaboration between\nhumans and robots is necessary to perform complex tasks. This paper presents a\nmethodology to assess the human factors, situational awareness (SA) and\ncognitive load (CL), associated with teleoperated assembly tasks. Currently,\ntelerobotic assembly on an extraterrestrial body has never been attempted, and\na valid methodology to assess the associated human factors has not been\ndeveloped. The Telerobotics Laboratory at the University of Colorado-Boulder\ncreated the Telerobotic Simulation System (TSS) which enables remote operation\nof a rover and a robotic arm. The TSS was used in a laboratory experiment\ndesigned as an analog to a lunar mission. The operator's task was to assemble a\nradio interferometer. Each participant completed this task under two\nconditions, remote teleoperation (limited SA) and local operation (optimal SA).\nThe goal of the experiment was to establish a methodology to accurately measure\nthe operator's SA and CL while performing teleoperated assembly tasks. A\nsuccessful methodology would yield results showing greater SA and lower CL\nwhile operating locally. Performance metrics showed greater SA and lower CL in\nthe local environment, supported by a 27% increase in the mean time to\ncompletion of the assembly task when operating remotely. Subjective\nmeasurements of SA and CL did not align with the performance metrics. Results\nfrom this experiment will guide future work attempting to accurately quantify\nthe human factors associated with telerobotic assembly. Once an accurate\nmethodology has been developed, we will be able to measure how new variables\naffect an operator's SA and CL to optimize the efficiency and effectiveness of\ntelerobotic assembly tasks.\n