This letter introduces an innovative visuo-haptic interface to control Mobile Collaborative Robots (MCR). Thanks to a passive detachable mechanism, the interface can be attached/detached from a robot, offering two control modes: local control (attached) and teleoperation (detached). These modes are integrated with a robot whole-body controller and presented in a unified close- and far-proximity control framework for MCR. The earlier introduction of the haptic component in this interface enabled users to execute intricate loco-manipulation tasks via admittance-type control, effectively decoupling task dynamics and enhancing human capabilities. In contrast, this ongoing work proposes a novel design that integrates a visual component. This design utilizes Visual-Inertial Odometry (VIO) for teleoperation, estimating the interface's pose through stereo cameras and an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU). The estimated pose serves as the reference for the robot's end-effector in teleoperation mode. Hence, the interface offers complete flexibility and adaptability, enabling any user to operate an MCR seamlessly without needing expert knowledge. In this letter, we primarily focus on the new visual feature, and first present a performance evaluation of different VIO-based methods for teleoperation. Next, the interface's usability is analyzed in a home-care application and compared to an alternative designed by a commercial MoCap system. Results show comparable performance in terms of accuracy, completion time, and usability. Nevertheless, the proposed interface is low-cost, poses minimal wearability constraints, and can be used anywhere and anytime without needing external devices or additional equipment, offering a versatile and accessible solution for teleoperation.

翻译：本文介绍了一种创新的视觉-触觉接口，用于控制移动协作机器人。借助被动可拆卸机构，该接口可与机器人进行连接/分离，提供两种控制模式：本地控制（连接状态）与遥操作（分离状态）。这些模式与机器人全身控制器相集成，并呈现为统一的MCR近程与远程控制框架。该接口早期引入的触觉组件使用户能够通过导纳型控制执行复杂的移动操作任务，有效解耦任务动力学并增强人类操作能力。相比之下，本项研究提出了一种集成视觉组件的新型设计。该设计利用视觉惯性里程计进行遥操作，通过立体相机和惯性测量单元估计接口位姿。估计位姿在遥操作模式下作为机器人末端执行器的参考基准。因此，该接口具备完全的灵活性与适应性，使任何用户无需专业知识即可无缝操作移动协作机器人。本文主要聚焦于新的视觉功能，首先对不同基于VIO的遥操作方法进行性能评估。随后，通过家庭护理应用场景分析接口可用性，并与商用动作捕捉系统设计的替代方案进行比较。结果显示两者在精度、任务完成时间和可用性方面具有相当性能。然而，所提出的接口具有低成本、穿戴限制极小、无需外部设备或附加装置即可随时随地使用的优势，为遥操作提供了通用且易于获取的解决方案。