Remote control of quadrotor teams, using hand gestures

• Published in: HRI '14 : proceedings of the 2014 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction : March 3-6, 2014, Bielefeld, Germany pp. 296 - 297
• Main Authors: Stoica, Adrian, Salvioli, Federico, Flowers, Caitlin
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY, USA ACM 03.03.2014
• Series: ACM Conferences
• Subjects: Cameras; Categories and Subject Descriptors; Computer systems organization > Embedded and cyber-physical systems > Robotics > External interfaces for robotics; Computer systems organization > Embedded and cyber-physical systems > Robotics > Robotic autonomy; Delays; Electromyography; Global Positioning System; I.2.9 Robotics: Autonomous Vehicles; Operator Interfaces; Robot vision systems; control languages; levels of autonomy; human-robot interfaces; gesture recognition; multi-robot control; emg sensor array
• ISBN: 1450326587; 9781450326582
• DOI: 10.1145/2559636.2559853

This paper addresses the human-centered control of a team (pack) of quadrotors. The control is remote, over the internet. Using simple telepresence tools (video in Skype, showing remote imagery from a ground camera, and from the quadrotors' own livestreaming cameras) the operator uses a command language, UAVL (standing for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Language) to control quadrotors' behaviors. Seventeen hand gestures are used to express the commands; these are decoded by processing EMG signals collected with an array of EMG electrodes embedded in a BioSleeve mounted on the forearm. Extending prior work with an Unmanned Ground Vehicle Language (UGVL) used with ground robots, UAVL encodes commands used to control quadrotors, individually, or as a team, in direct teleoperated flight, or in preprogrammed flight patterns triggered by the commands.