Augmented Reality for Human-Robot Teaming in Field Environments

Abstract

For teams of humans and mobile robots to work together, several challenges must be overcome, including understanding each others’ position, merging map information, sharing recognition of salient features of the environment, and establishing contextually-grounded communication. These challenges are further compounded for teams operating in field environments, which are unconstrained, uninstrumented, and unknown. While most modern studies that use augmented reality (AR) in human-robot teaming side-step these challenges by focusing on problems addressable in instrumented environments, we argue that current AR technology combined with novel approaches can enable successful teaming in such challenging, real-world settings. To support this, we present a set of prototypes that combine AR with an intelligent, autonomous robot to enable better human-robot teaming in field environments.