Analysis of a User Interface Based on Multimodal Interaction to Control a Robotic Arm for EOD Applications

Abstract

A global human–robot interface that meets the needs of Technical Explosive Ordnance Disposal Specialists (TEDAX) for the manipulation of a robotic arm is of utmost importance to make the task of handling explosives safer, more intuitive and also provide high usability and efficiency. This paper aims to evaluate the performance of a multimodal system for a robotic arm that is based on Natural User Interface (NUI) and Graphical User Interface (GUI). The mentioned interfaces are compared to determine the best configuration for the control of the robotic arm in Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) applications and to improve the user experience of TEDAX agents. Tests were conducted with the support of police agents Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit-Arequipa (UDEX-AQP), who evaluated the developed interfaces to find a more intuitive system that generates the least stress load to the operator, resulting that our proposed multimodal interface presents better results compared to traditional interfaces. The evaluation of the laboratory experiences was based on measuring the workload and usability of each interface evaluated.