Pseudo-haptics for rover teleoperation enhanced traction loss situation awareness

Abstract

Teleoperation of Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) in hazardous environments is significantly constrained by the operator’s limited Situation Awareness (SA) regarding locomotion disturbances such as wheel slippage, lateral sliding, and vehicle-stuck states). These subtle physical interactions are often imperceptible through conventional video streams, risking critical mission failure. Active force-feedback haptic interfaces mitigate this, but require the introduction of significant hardware complexity and stability challenges. To overcome these constraints, we propose a novel visual-perceptual approach using Pseudo-Haptic Techniques (PHT) to convey physical vehicle-terrain forces without active force-feedback haptic devices. The primary contributions of this work are: (i) the design, implementation, and integration of three novel PHT visual metaphors (rover wheel dynamics virtual cue representation, screen peripheral border manipulation, and dynamic particle virtual cues flow); (ii) an experimental user study (with 32 participants) linking physical UGV locomotion disturbances directly to real-time PHT visual effects dynamics; (iii) a comprehensive user study evaluating both objective SA performance (disturbance detection and accuracy across Endsley’s perception and comprehension levels) and subjective workload (via NASA-TLX). Statistical results demonstrate that all PHT metaphors significantly enhanced the detection of subtle traction loss compared to standard video feeds, while maintaining equivalent subjective workload and physical discomfort levels. These findings indicate that PHT offers a possible robust, software-defined, low-cost, and stability-safe alternative for enhancing SA in remote robotic operation.