Adaptive remote control of a mobile robot system with delay fluctuation

Abstract

Since the concept of an Internet of Things (IoT) has become widespread, remote control of IoT devices by long-distance communication through the Internet and wireless networks is gaining much attention. However, best-effort IP networks such as the Internet and wireless IP networks bring about a time delay fluctuation because of cross-traffic and radio interference. The delay fluctuation deteriorates the stability of remotely controlling IoT devices such as mobile robots, which is a major challenge of a long-distance remote control system. In this paper, we construct an experimental environment for long-distance communications using the Internet and a wireless LAN and investigate round trip times (RTTs) on it. Furthermore, we present a novel remote control method for a mobile robot by dynamically adjusting its moving speed on the basis of a real-time estimation of a network delay. A simulation of the remote control using the obtained RTT data shows that the proposed remote control achieves highly efficient movement of the mobile robot even on a network that has time delay fluctuation.