Investigating the Effects of Frame Disparity on the Performance of Telerobotic Tasks
- Paper number
IAC-08.B3.6.4
- Author
Mr. Adrian Collins, Massachussets Institute of Technology (MIT), United States
- Coauthor
Ms. Zakiya Tomlinson, United States
- Coauthor
Dr. Charles Oman, Massachussets Institute of Technology (MIT), United States
- Coauthor
Dr. Andrew Liu, Massachussets Institute of Technology (MIT), United States
- Coauthor
Dr. Alan Natapoff, Massachussets Institute of Technology (MIT), United States
- Year
2008
- Abstract
Teleoperations are a form of telerobotics which refer to the operation of a robotic system over a remote link. One such system, the Canadarm onboard the Space Shuttle and similarly the Canadarm II onboard the ISS (International Space Station) are essential tools in the continued construction and maintenance of this ambitious laboratory. Operating the Canadarm is a highly skilled and delicate process which requires extensive training. A major problem associated with using the arm is caused by the disparity between the users control frame of reference and necessarily complicated and confusing camera configurations. This frame disparity requires a mental re-mapping of controls and some mental rotation which can cause major difficulties. In this paper we investigate the effect of frame disparities on telerobotic operator performance. A virtual environment has been developed to simulate the training environment used by NASA for telerobotic operator training. Subjects completed 3 training sessions to become proficient operators on a 6 Degree-Of-Freedom Robotic Arm. During the training they were presented with several realistic tasks which required them to operate the telerobotic arm in both a high and low frame disparity scenarios with two different control frames. We also investigate the effect that spatial ability has on an operator’s performance and learning curve for dealing with frame disparities. This could lead to the use of spatial ability tests as discriminators for selecting operators or identifying operators who could require extra tutelage in certain areas during the training process. Initial results suggest that frame disparity does have an effect on operator’s performance and there is also evidence to suggest that there is a strong cross-effect between frame disparity and control frame. Supported by NASA Cooperative Agreement NCC 9-58 with the National Space Biomedical Institute and by FÁS Ireland.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-08.B3.6.4.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
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