Teleoperating a robot for removing asbestos tiles on roofs: insights from a pilot study

Abstract

Construction robots may one day replace workers in dangerous operations such as the removal of asbestos cement tiles on roofs, an operation that exposes workers to several risks to their health. We argue that such robots will be teleoperated, to enable expert workers to supervise or directly control the operations, leveraging their knowledge of the field and facilitating the adoption of robots. We developed a prototype of the teleoperation and control interface of a prototype robot for roof tiles removal operations, combining a graphical interface, joysticks and a digital twin. We report on the rationale behind our choices, as well as the lessons learned after a pilot study.