Human performance in space telerobotic manipulation

This paper considers the utility of VR in the design of the interface to a space-based telerobotic manipulator. An experiment was conducted to evaluate the potential for improved operator performance in a telemanipulation task when the operator’s control interface was varied between egocentric and exocentric frames of reference (FOR). Participants performed three tasks of increasing difficulty using a VR-based simulation of the Space Shuttle Remote Manipulation System (SRMS) under four different control interface conditions, which varied in respect of two factors, virtual viewpoint FOR (fixed versus attached to arm) and hand controller FOR (end-effector-referenced versus world-referenced.) Results indicated a high degree of interaction between spatial properties of the task and the optimal interface condition. Across all tasks, the conditions under end-effector-referenced control were associated with higher performance, as measured by rate of task completion. The mobile viewpoint co...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2005
• Where: VRST
• Authors: Philip Lamb, Dean Owen
• Keywords: Control Interface, Interface Condition, Task Completion, VRST 2005