Control frameworks for Immersive Telepresence Robots

远程操作机器人可以在多种可能对人类有危险的场景中服务，例如太空任务和危险区域，以及向远程康复和/或手术等偏远地区提供专业知识。特别是随着最近的世界大流行，这项技术变得非常有吸引力。然而，目前还不清楚这项新技术将如何影响用户体验。该项目旨在与日本排名第一的东京大学（university of Tokyo）合作，开展初步研究，以了解控制框架和界面在无缝用户体验中的作用。日本在发展机器人和远程操作方面有着悠久的历史，这主要是由于其老龄化社会和频繁的自然灾害。值得注意的是，日本的旗舰航空公司全日空（ANA）发起了一项1000万美元的竞赛，以推广这项技术，吸引全球的研究人员和企业。该项目将支持滑铁卢大学的两名学生与日本的合作者合作，从选定的远程操作界面和控制框架开始进行探索性研究，目的是了解影响用户体验的因素，以开发能够解释用户感知的新型控制框架。由于合作的优势，这些研究将在加拿大的滑铁卢大学和日本的东京大学进行，从而可以连接国际知识并为未来的联合项目建立基础。该项目将推动远程操作机器人技术的进步，使加拿大能够及时有效地进口知识，为未来可能出现的大流行病做好准备，并在偏远地区部署机器人。

Teleoperated robots can serve in multiple scenarios that could be dangerous for humans, such as space missions, and hazardous areas, as well as delivering expertise to remote areas such as remote rehabilitation and/or surgery. Especially with the recent world pandemic, this technology has become extremely attractive. However, it is still unclear how this new technology is impacting the user experience. This project aims at carrying out preliminary studies toward understanding the role of control frameworks and interfaces for a seamless user experience, in collaboration with the Univesity of Tokyo (ranked number one in Japan). Japan has a long history of developing robotics and teleoperation, mainly driven by its aging society and frequent natural disasters. Notably, Japan's flagship airline, All Nippon Airways (ANA), launched a USD $ 10 million contest to promote this technology, attracting researchers and businesses globally.This project will support two students at Waterloo to work with the collaborator in Japan in carrying out exploratory studies starting from selected teleoperation interfaces and control frameworks, with the aim of understanding factors influencing user experience to develop novel control frameworks that can account for the users' perceptions. Thanks to the advantage of the collaboration, these studies will be carried out at the University of Waterloo in Canada, and at the University of Tokyo in Japan, allowing bridging international knowledge and building toward future joint projects.This project will lead towards advancements in teleoperated robotics, which will allow Canada to import knowledge timely and effectively, be ready in facing possible future pandemics, and deploy robots in remote areas.