ABSTRACT
Researchers from the u . s . Army Research Laboratory have conducted a series of experiments aimed at reducing the size of robotic controllers for use by dismounted war fighters . The goal of the research is to reduce the size and weight of the robotic controllers without adversely affecting the human robotic interface . The specific goal of the current experiment was to investigate two alternative robot controller navigation map display configurations with the potential to replace a larger split screen display that presents both a map display and a camera-based driving display side by side on a 6 . 5 inch screen. The first alternative was a 3 . 5 inch display that allowed the operator to toggle back and forth between the driving display and the map display. The second alternative added a torso-mounted tactile display to the toggle-based display in order to provide direction information simultaneously with the camera display. Each display option was evaluated based on obj ective performance data, expert-based observations, and questionnaire items. Findings indicated that operators' navigation performance with the tactile-supported 3 . 5 inch toggle display was as effective as their performance with a 6 . 5 inch split screen display. Operator performance was significantly lower with the 3 . 5 inch toggle display that did not have the tactile display.
