HARMONI: Haptic-Guided Assistance for Unified Robotic Tele-Manipulation and Tele-Navigation

TL;DR

This paper introduces a unified haptic-guided teleoperation framework combining navigation and manipulation for mobile manipulators, significantly improving task performance and efficiency in complex environments.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel integrated system that enables seamless switching between tele-navigation and tele-manipulation using real-time haptic feedback, reducing cognitive load.

Findings

Improved task accuracy in real-world tests.

Enhanced operational efficiency.

No increase in cognitive load during tasks.

Abstract

Shared control, which combines human expertise with autonomous assistance, is critical for effective teleoperation in complex environments. While recent advances in haptic-guided teleoperation have shown promise, they are often limited to simplified tasks involving 6- or 7-DoF manipulators and rely on separate control strategies for navigation and manipulation. This increases both cognitive load and operational overhead. In this paper, we present a unified tele-mobile manipulation framework that leverages haptic-guided shared control. The system integrates a 9-DoF follower mobile manipulator and a 7-DoF leader robotic arm, enabling seamless transitions between tele-navigation and tele-manipulation through real-time haptic feedback. A user study with 20 participants under real-world conditions demonstrates that our framework significantly improves task accuracy and efficiency without increasing cognitive load. These findings highlight the potential of haptic-guided shared control for enhancing operator performance in demanding teleoperation scenarios.