Web Based Teleoperation of a Humanoid Robot
This work addresses accessibility for researchers and developers in robotics, though it is incremental as it builds on existing software and frameworks.
The authors tackled the problem of limited access to advanced humanoid robots by developing a cloud-based system that allows control via any web browser, demonstrating feasibility with inexperienced operators performing dual-arm manipulation tasks on a torque-controlled robot.
The Cloud-based Advanced Robotics Laboratory (CARL) integrates a whole body controller and web-based teleoperation to enable any device with a web browser to access and control a humanoid robot. By integrating humanoid robots with the cloud, they are accessible from any Internet-connected device. Increased accessibility is important because few people have access to state-of-the-art humanoid robots limiting their rate of development. CARL's implementation is based on modern software libraries, frameworks, and middleware including Node.js, Socket.IO, ZMQ, ROS, Robot Web Tools, and ControlIt! Feasibility is demonstrated by having inexperienced human operators use a smartphone's web-browser to control Dreamer, a torque-controlled humanoid robot based on series elastic actuators, and make it perform a dual-arm manipulation task. The implementation serves as a proof-of-concept and foundation upon which many advanced humanoid robot technologies can be researched and developed.