SUBTA: A Framework for Supported User-Guided Bimanual Teleoperation in Structured Assembly

TL;DR

SUBTA is a novel teleoperation framework that combines intention estimation, task planning, and context-aware assistance to improve bimanual assembly performance and user experience.

Contribution

It introduces a new integrated system for supported teleoperation that enhances accuracy and reduces mental demand compared to standard methods.

Findings

SUBTA significantly improves position and orientation accuracy.

SUBTA reduces mental workload during teleoperation.

Users find SUBTA's feedback clearer and interventions more predictable.

Abstract

In human-robot collaboration, shared autonomy enhances human performance through precise, intuitive support. Effective robotic assistance requires accurately inferring human intentions and understanding task structures to determine optimal support timing and methods. In this paper, we present SUBTA, a supported teleoperation system for bimanual assembly that couples learned intention estimation, scene-graph task planning, and context-dependent motion assists. We validate our approach through a user study (N=12) comparing standard teleoperation, motion-support only, and SUBTA. Linear mixed-effects analysis revealed that SUBTA significantly outperformed standard teleoperation in position accuracy (p<0.001, d=1.18) and orientation accuracy (p<0.001, d=1.75), while reducing mental demand (p=0.002, d=1.34). Post-experiment ratings indicate clearer, more trustworthy visual feedback and predictable interventions in SUBTA. The results demonstrate that SUBTA greatly improves both effectiveness and user experience in teleoperation.