Image sequence prediction for remote robot control

Image transmission delay is a serious problem for a remote operator when he/she controls a robot according to the images transmitted by the robot through a narrow band width channel or from extremely distant place. We propose a simple method to improve the remote control operability by introducing the estimated image sequence that is generated from the delayed images. The robot is equipped with an omni-directional camera to make the processing easy. The image shown to the operator is estimated from the transmitted image according to the robot's motion and the delay time. In the case of forward movement, the received image is magnified and displayed, while it is shifted in case of rotational movement of the robot. As the operator can see the estimated present image without time delay, he/she does not miss the timing of the controls. This paper describes the proposed image estimation method with some experimental results which demonstrate the validity of our method.