On Navigation Performance Using Haptic and Visual Feedback for Teleoperated Vehicles

Teleoperated robots, such as uncrewed ground vehicles (UGVs), are deployed in complex or hazardous settings where operators must handle multiple tasks. UGVs can provide visual and haptic feedback during control. This study examined how haptic feedback affects performance and perceived workload under single- and dual-task conditions. A secondary arithmetic task was introduced to simulate real-world cognitive load. Twenty-four participants used a haptic interface to control a virtual robot across varied environments with different feedback combinations. In half the trials, participants also completed the arithmetic task. Results showed that haptic feedback mitigated speed loss during dual-task operation, but participants produced fewer correct arithmetic responses. The findings suggest that haptics improve primary teleoperation performance while drawing resources from concurrent tasks. These results highlight a trade-off between motor performance and cognitive task accuracy, and can inform the design of teleoperation systems and the use of haptic feedback in demanding, multitasking environments.