Teleoperation of a Team of Robots with Vision

Abstract

Abstract : In this paper, we report on the initial development of the component capabilities, especially the imaging capabilities, in Computer Vision, Autonomy, and Teleoperation for the long-term goal of operating a team of robots for purposes of surveillance or materiel transport. The team is a collection of five to fifty monocular mobile robots that are jointly controlled by a single user with a joystick. Each robot communicates with nearby robots, could sense the terrain in its vicinity proprioceptively, and can coordinate with other robots to avoid obstacles as well as friendly assets. In this effort, we focused on the image sensing opportunities provided by such a team of monocular mobile robots and the computer vision capabilities required to exploit those opportunities. No effort was expended on SLAM, and little on control.