Telerobotic Control in Virtual Reality

Abstract

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Navy have identified more than 400 underwater sites potentially contaminated with munitions [19]. These munitions were left as a result of past military activities. They are an explosive hazard and their contents pose an envi- ronmental risk. An effective ROS (Robot Operating System) package that interfaces with Simulink/Matlab was developed to teleoperate an underwater robotic system in Virtual Re- ality for the remediation of these munitions. The key advantage of this VR teleoperation method is more effective and intuitive control in comparison to teleoperation methods that utilize a 2D monitor and joystick/keyboard/manipulandum input device. The ROS pack- age was built to work with the Oculus DK2 VR headset and the RazerTM Hydra hand controllers.