Technologies for transition from remote teleoperation to semi-autonomous control of unmanned ground vehicles

The paper describes the application of technologies to control vehicles remotely and identifier some ideas for semi-autonomous control of engineer vehicles. The techniques have been testee on both tracked and wheeled vehicles. Some of these technologies and techniques could equally be applicable to CLAWAR type machines. The remote teleoperation of the military engineer vehicles was researched by DERA during recent MoD robotics programmes. The technologies researched included stereovision and teleprescence with augmented reality enhancements. During this current year, technologies are being assessed for semi-autonomous roles. Problems encountered when undertaking specific tasks such as digging and obstacle negotiation are discussed and results of our trials are summarised and pointers given to research and features that could be incorporated in future systems.