HI-DWA: Human-Influenced Dynamic Window Approach for Shared Control of a Telepresence Robot

This paper considers the problem of enabling the user to modify the path of a telepresence robot. The robot is capable of autonomously navigating to the goal indicated by the user, but the user might still want to modify the path without changing the goal, for example, to go further away from other people, or to go closer to landmarks she wants to see on the way. We propose Human-Influenced Dynamic Window Approach (HI-DWA), a shared control method aimed for telepresence robots based on Dynamic Window Approach (DWA) that allows the user to influence the control input given to the robot. To verify the proposed method, we performed a user study (N=32) in Virtual Reality (VR) to compare HI-DWA with switching between autonomous navigation and manual control for controlling a simulated telepresence robot moving in a virtual environment. Results showed that users reached their goal faster using HI-DWA controller and found it easier to use. Preference between the two methods was split equally. Qualitative analysis revealed that a major reason for the participants that preferred switching between two modes was the feeling of control. We also analyzed the affect of different input methods, joystick and gesture, on the preference and perceived workload.