This paper investigates the integration of haptic feedback and virtual reality (VR) control interfaces to enhance teleoperation and telemanipulation of underwater ROVs (remotely operated vehicles). Traditional ROV teleoperation relies on low-resolution 2D camera feeds and lacks immersive and sensory feedback, which diminishes situational awareness in complex subsea environments. We propose SubSense -- a novel VR-Haptic framework incorporating a non-invasive feedback interface to an otherwise 1-DOF (degree of freedom) manipulator, which is paired with the teleoperator's glove to provide haptic feedback and grasp status. Additionally, our framework integrates end-to-end software for managing control inputs and displaying immersive camera views through a VR platform. We validate the system through comprehensive experiments and user studies, demonstrating its effectiveness over conventional teleoperation interfaces, particularly for delicate manipulation tasks. Our results highlight the potential of multisensory feedback in immersive virtual environments to significantly improve remote situational awareness and mission performance, offering more intuitive and accessible ROV operations in the field.

翻译：本文研究了触觉反馈与虚拟现实（VR）控制界面的集成，以增强水下ROV（远程操作载具）的遥操作与远程操控能力。传统的ROV遥操作依赖于低分辨率二维摄像头画面，缺乏沉浸式与感官反馈，导致在复杂海底环境中的态势感知能力下降。我们提出了SubSense——一种新颖的VR-触觉框架，通过非侵入式反馈接口与原本仅单自由度（DOF）的机械臂相结合，该接口与操作者的手套配对，以提供触觉反馈与抓握状态感知。此外，我们的框架集成了端到端软件，用于管理控制输入并通过VR平台显示沉浸式摄像头视图。我们通过全面的实验和用户研究验证了该系统，证明了其相对于传统遥操作界面的有效性，尤其在精细操控任务中表现突出。我们的研究结果突显了沉浸式虚拟环境中多感官反馈在显著提升远程态势感知与任务执行效能方面的潜力，为现场ROV操作提供了更直观、更易用的解决方案。