A laboratory-simulation approach to the evaluation of vision systems for teleoperated vehicles
In order to perform teleoperated missions successfully, a remote vehicle operator must be provided with adequate feedback information. The limited bandwidth of the transmission media, however, forces trade-offs between channel quantity and fidelity. Since conveying vehicle motion cues to the driver in the field is impractical, the primary mode of feedback is visual, via an onboard closed-circuit television system. Intelligent allocation of video bandwidth is predicated on determining which video system characteristics contribute the most to driving performance. Factors include such things as camera placement, video resolution, field-of-view, color, steering coupling, and the use of multiple cameras. Sandia National Laboratories is conducting mobility testing to study these effects on off-road, remote driving performance. Recent activities included conducting an experiment to investigate the relationships between remote driving performance and laboratory visual performance tasks using videotapes of off-road driving recorded with the vision systems of interest. Subjects participated either in actual remote driving (teleoperation) or in video simulation of remote driving using three different video systems currently being considered for a prototype teleoperated vehicle. This paper discusses the results of the experiment. Analysis of the data suggests that the laboratory simulation technique is viable for comparing obstacle detection and identification performance while using different video systems. The establishment of a valid, inexpensive laboratory simulation technique can lead to a cost-effective means of evaluating and comparing numerous combinations of video system parameters for use in teleoperated land vehicles.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-76DP00789
- OSTI ID:
- 5021520
- Report Number(s):
- SAND-88-1003C; CONF-880752-1; CONF-880752-; ON: DE88010351
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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