Is a Simulation better than Teleoperation for Acquiring Human Manipulation Skill Data?

This study explores the feasibility of using simulations as a better interface to collect human object manipulation skills for learning from demonstrations (LfD). Recently, numerous researchers have started introducing teleoperation systems to acquire human manipulation skills. However, capturing the subtle, force-involved interaction skills of humans in teleoperation is still challenging due to its inherent dynamic delays and feedback transparency. This research evaluates the effectiveness of demonstration data obtained through simulation versus teleoperation. To evaluate the efficacy of this approach, tasks such as plane cutting, tight peg-in-hole, and deformable pipe plugging were performed to assess the quality of demonstrations acquired. The experimental results highlight the effectiveness of demonstration through simulation in capturing the operator’s force-involved interaction skills. Simulation creates an environment similar to performing tasks with bare hands by minimising dynamic delays due to the exclusion of physical robots and effectively rendering high stiffness. As a result, the demonstration through simulation method has proven effective in extracting interaction data and capturing physical task performance skills.