Shared-Control Teleoperation of Omnidirectional Aerial Robots for Continuous Valve Rotation

Omnidirectional aerial robots offer full 6-DoF independent control over position and orientation, making them popular for aerial manipulation. Although there have been advancements in robotic autonomy, human operation remains essential in complex aerial environments. Previously, we proposed an aerial teleoperation system that brings the rotational flexibility of human hands into the unbounded aerial workspace, which was evaluated through a vertically mounted valve-turning task. However, due to the limited range of human forearm's motion, the robot could not continuously rotate the valve, hindering its application in industry. In this work, we propose an approach to initiate continuous rotation when the forearm angle exceeds a threshold. This switch of control authority exemplifies the concept shared control from human-robot interaction, marking a further step in aerial teleoperation.