The “Caddie Paradigm”: a free-Locomotion Interface for Teleoperation

This paper presents the “caddie paradigm” a new interface for teleoperation of mobile robots. We present a prototype based on the use of a treadmill as a free-locomotion interface. The “caddie paradigm” allows for controlling a real robot by “pushing” its virtual representation displayed on a large projection screen. This system lets the operator walk right behind the robot situated in a remote location. A discussion on the advantages of the interface is presented. The implemented prototype shows the feasibility of using this paradigm of interaction to control robots remotely.