MODELING ROBOT MOVEMENT IN A VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT

This research looked at the use of robots in place of humans in urban search and rescue (USAR) missions. The success of USAR missions often rests on the ability of the human to control the robot. This study evaluated the following three control modes for USAR missioning: gamepad, keyboard, and mouse. Task completion time and error count were the performance measures used. The results suggest that for robot maneuvering which requires coordinated control of both robot movement and directing the camera, the use of a game pad achieves higher performance than the mouse or keyboard. On the other hand, for the control of robot arm movement, all three control modes perform equally well.