Asynchronous Control with ATR for Large Robot Teams

In this paper, we discuss and investigate the advantages of an asynchronous display, called “image queue”, tested for an urban search and rescue foraging task. The image queue approach mines video data to present the operator with a relevant and comprehensive view of the environment by selecting a small number of images that together cover large portions of the area searched. This asynchronous approach allows operators to search through a large amount of data gathered by autonomous robot teams, and allows comprehensive and scalable displays to obtain a network-centric perspective for unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs). In the reported experiment automatic target recognition (ATR) was used to augment utilities based on visual coverage in selecting imagery for presentation to the operator. In the cued condition a box was drawn in the region in which a possible target was detected. In the no-cue condition no box was drawn although the target detection probability continued to play a role in the selection of imagery. We found that operators using the image queue displays missed fewer victims and relied on teleoperation less often than those using streaming video. Image queue users in the no-cue condition did better in avoiding false alarms and reported lower workload than those in the cued condition.