Evaluation of teleoperation system performance over a cellular network

Abstract

The ubiquity of cellular networks has exploded over the last half decade making internet access a given when located in an urban settings. On top of this, new technologies like 4G LTE provide higher transfer speeds than ever, permitting streaming of video and other high bandwidth services. Though cellular networks are not new, few studies have leveraged this particular communications method when studying teleoperations, due to the significant bandwidth restrictions. As a result, this study seeks to understand whether teleoperation could be implemented over regular cellular networks where the bandwidth load that each cell tower is subject to cannot be controlled by the teleoperation system. For this, a prototype system is built using a remote controlled golf cart that hosts a multimedia link between the vehicle and a control station which communicate over the internet. The system is tested by measuring teleoperation for 3 different tasks of varying degrees of complexity. The results reveal that latency can be low enough to optimally control a remote vehicle. Nevertheless, the performance greatly depends on the network conditions that can vary significantly. The results also indicated that in-situ driving outperformed remote operation.