Title: Leveraging Virtual Reality to Identify Personalized Control Schemes for Teleoperating Non-Anthropomorphic Robots

Date: Wednesday, January 10, 2024

Time: 9:30-11:30am EST

Location: Klaus 1120A

Zoom: https://gatech.zoom.us/j/95309719363?pwd=QTVGVjdKSXlDdVhyQXFBbVluWVdrdz09

Jennifer Molnar

Robotics Ph.D. Student

Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering

Georgia Institute of Technology

Committee:

Dr. Sonia Chernova (Advisor) – School of Interactive Computing, Georgia Tech

Dr. Harish Ravichandar – School of Interactive Computing, Georgia Tech

Dr. Seth Hutchinson – School of Interactive Computing, Georgia Tech

Dr. Yiğit Mengüç, College of Engineering, University of Oregon

Dr. Charlie Kemp – CTO, Hello Robot

Abstract:

Virtual reality (VR) has emerged as a popular teleoperation interface for robotic systems due to the immersive nature of VR interactions. In VR, users use their hands (or hand-held controllers) to interact with the environment. However, just as living animals have evolved specialized embodiments that differ from those of a human (e.g. tentacles, wings, prehensile tails, etc.), specialized robotic systems are often designed with non-anthropomorphic embodiments (e.g. treads, wheels, arms with differing degrees of freedom, etc.). Such differences in embodiment between human hands and the robot introduce challenges for the design of intuitive user teleoperation interfaces. This dissertation focuses on designing control schemes for teleoperating non-anthropomorphic robots and specifically investigates the hypothesis that users' demonstrated preferences can provide a basis for functional, personalized control schemes.