Remote collaboration through time delay in multiple teleoperation

Abstract

In this paper, remote robot collaboration using a network with communication time delay is discussed in multi-operator-multi-robot (MOMR) teleoperation. Recently, collaboration tasks have rapidly emerged in many possible applications such as plant maintenance, construction, and surgery, because multi-robot collaboration would have a significant advantage over a single robot in such cases. Problems and several noticeable results have been reported in a single-operator-single-robot (SOSR) teleoperation system. However, the effect of time-delay would pose a more difficult problem to the MOMR teleoperation systems and seriously affect their performance. In this work, first, some of the constraints on performance in MOMR teleoperation applications are examined. Then, the time-delay effects on tele-collaboration are investigated through several experimental studies. Finally, a method to cope with the time-delay in MOMR teleoperation systems is proposed exploiting the virtual thickness modification scheme.