Factors Influencing Operator Expertise in Bilateral Telerobotic Operations: A User Study

This paper presents a detailed user study aimed at experimentally comparing the experience levels within bi-lateral teleoperation. The primary objective is to elucidate the key performance metrics that can effectively evaluate the competency level of human operators. Existing methodologies typically focus on the quantitative psychological evaluation of human-in-the-loop systems rather than operator performance. In our experimental study, six novice and four professional operators participated in various telerobotic activities. Various parameters, including task completion duration, errors, remote manipulators' motion, and subjects' gaze information, were captured. Subsequently, the measured performance parameters across all subjects were compared with respect to their level of proficiency through statistical analyses. The results indicate that tasks were performed more quickly by experienced operators, fewer mistakes were made, and remote manipulators were operated more smoothly (e.g., fewer jerks and better maintenance within the centre of the workspace). Additionally, better compensation for the lack of depth perception was demonstrated by experienced operators through effective scanning of multiple viewpoints.