towards More Effective Remote teleOPeration interfaces

MEROP research group aims to improve teleoperation of mobile robots through enhanced multimodal interfaces.

Research Topics

Situation awareness

Multi second latency

Cognitive workload

Visual and haptic feedback

Augmented reality

Operators’ physiological signals.

Our Team

MEROP is a team of researchers led by Rodrigo Ventura and José Luís Silva.

We are from Institute for Systems and Robotics, at Instituto Superior Técnico, Interactive Technologies Institute, and ISCTE-IUL, in Lisbon, Portugal.

Read more about our team
Screenshot from 2023-11-29 16-06-27
IMG_1438
DSC004111-scaled
missao_espaco_rute_ricardo_goncalo
Previous
Next

European Space Agency, ESTEC, Noordwijk, The Netherlands

DLR, Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany

Austrian Space Forum, Austria

Inria, University of Lille, France

Tedusar Team, TUGraz, Austria

ERIEE da Força Aérea Portuguesa

Regimento Sapadores Bombeiros – Lisboa

GIPS da Guarda Nacional Republicana

Collaboration Partners

Our Technologies

Improve teleoperation of mobile robots through enhanced interfaces by exploring

multimodal feedback (visual and haptic), augmented reality,

 and operators’ physiological signals.

Haptic Driving
Interact rover during Mount Etna experiment campaign, by HRI-Lab, ESA/ESTEC
  • Bilateral control of the rover locomotion;
  • Steering functionalities with a 7DoF device;
  • Proprioceptive cues for attitude awareness;
  • Vibration cues for traction awareness.

Collaboration with HRI-Lab at ESA/ESTEC, The Netherlands.

Teleoperation Console
In-house developed: self-contained teleperation console for fast deployment.
  • Fast deployment teleoperation operator unit;
  • Field tests during AMADEE-20 Mars Analog Mission;
  • In-house developed haptic devices:
    • attitude device (proprioceptice cues);
    • traction glove (vibration cues).

Collaboration with  the Austrian Space Forum and  TUGraz, Austria.

João Lousada during AMADE-20 Mars Analog Mission: teleoperation of the Mercator rover.
Attitude Feedback Device
  • Displays absolute attitude orientation in Roll and Pitch;
  • Displays rate of change of attitude (angular acceleration and velocity;
  • Sensitive enough to provide terrain texture.
  • In-house development and evaluation.
Traction Awareness Devices
Traction Glove: vibration motors.
Vibration patterns according to traction state: stuck or sliding.
  • Case study on Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) operations;
  • In-house development and validation;
  • Tested with Portuguese national corporations and during AMADEE-20
Traction Cylinder: rotation motor.
Rotation patterns according to traction state: stuck and sliding.
Physiologically Attentive User Interfaces
RAPOSA, search and rescue mobile robot developed at ISR-Lisboa.
  • Case study on Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) operations;
  • Dynamically modify an overly complex GUI without access to the source code
  • Classify three mental states: rest, workload, and stress.
Integration of the operator's physiological measurements.
The GUI adjusts the displayed information when the operator is under high workload.
Latency
Augmented Interfaces
  • Case study on (simulated) lunar rover teleoperation: multi-second lantency (3s);
  • Augmented image to aid operator;
  • Systematic evaluation of the interfaces:
    • Predictive Interface;
    • Avatar-Aided Interface;
    • Hybrid Interface.
Avatar Aided Interface: semi-autonomous control of the rover based on an dynamic goal (avatar) augmented on the delayed image.
Predictive Interface: augmented prediction based on operators inputs and rover's kinematic.

Media & Outreach

We participate in different events and outreach activities.

Noite Europeia dos Investigadores 2022
Noite Europeia dos Investigadores 2022
Noite Europeia dos Investigadores 2023
Noite Europeia dos Investigadores 2023
Noite Europeia dos Investigadores 2023
Noite Europeia dos Investigadores 2023
Mira Rio Female STEM Program
Mira Rio Female STEM Program
Mira Rio Female STEM Program
Mira Rio Female STEM Program
Previous
Next
Read more about media & outreach

Contact Us

Do you want to join our team?

Do you want to know more about our research?

Do you have an idea that you would like to test with our teleoperation systems?

Contact us today!