Multi-robot Systems, Virtual Reality and ROS

Developing a New Generation of Operator Interfaces

Book chapter (2019)

Authors

Juan Jesús Roldán Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
Elena Peña-Tapia Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
David Garzón Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Jorge De León Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
M.A. Garzon Oviedo Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
Jaime Del Cerro Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
Antonio Barrientos Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
Affiliation
External organisation
Virtual reality Multi-robot systems Immersive teleoperation Operator interfaces
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Published Date

2019

Language

English

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Abstract

This chapter describes a series of works developed in order to integrate ROS-based robots with Unity-based virtual reality interfaces. The main goal of this integration is to develop immersive monitoring and commanding interfaces, able to improve the operator’s situational awareness without increasing its workload. In order to achieve this, the available technologies and resources are analyzed and multiple ROS packages and Unity assets are applied, such as multimaster_fkie, rosbridge_suite, RosBridgeLib and SteamVR. Moreover, three applications are presented: an interface for monitoring a fleet of drones, another interface for commanding a robot manipulator and an integration of multiple ground and aerial robots. Finally, some experiences and lessons learned, useful for future developments, are reported.