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Robotics in Education pp 193–205Cite as

Usability Evaluation of a Raspberry-Pi Telepresence Robot Controlled by Android Smartphones

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Part of the book series: Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing ((AISC,volume 457))

Abstract

Telepresence robots in static pan-tilt form can be a viable and affordable choice for tele-education. However, cost considerations may impose limitations on usability and expected performance. The goal of this study was to explore the usability of a low-cost, static pan-tilt telepresence robot operated using an Android smartphone. Experiments were carried out with 26 participants from two age groups (14 students M = 20 years, 12 staff M = 25 years) in a laboratory. Each participant interacted with the robot to perform two tasks. The opinions of the participants pre- and post-experiments, and the time they took to complete the tasks, were recorded. The results show that the average latency (of 3.1 ± 0.8 s for one robot movement) is quite acceptable. The students were faster than the staff when controlling the robot remotely but slower when working at the robot site. Correlation analysis shows that confidence in the robot and the likelihood of adoption is strongly related to data privacy features. All the methods used to control the robot remotely show positive interaction to each other. This implies that the majority of participants were focussed on the control methods and data privacy provided in the robot platform, and were willing to accept a small delay in robot movement.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The original ISO 9241-11 standard defines efficiency, effectiveness and satisfaction. Later in 2011, the ISO 25010 added absence of risk, and context coverage to the ISO 924-11.

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Acknowledgments

This project has been funded by the Faculty of Science and Technology, Thammasat University. We thank the reviewers for their valuable comments. We thank contributors to the Raspberry Pi community website for discussions and lesson learned. We thank Professor Roland Ibbett for improving the readability of this paper.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Science and Technology, Department of Computer Science, Thammasat University, Bangkok, 12120, Pathum Thani, Thailand

    Krit Janard & Worawan Marurngsith

Authors
  1. Krit Janard
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  2. Worawan Marurngsith
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Worawan Marurngsith .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. (PRIA), Practical Robotics Institute Austria (PRIA), Vienna, Austria

    Munir Merdan

  2. Practical Robotics Institute Austria , Vienna, Austria

    Wilfried Lepuschitz

  3. Practical Robotics Institute Austria , Vienna, Austria

    Gottfried Koppensteiner

  4. URPI FEI STU , Bratislava, Slovakia

    Richard Balogh

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Janard, K., Marurngsith, W. (2017). Usability Evaluation of a Raspberry-Pi Telepresence Robot Controlled by Android Smartphones. In: Merdan, M., Lepuschitz, W., Koppensteiner, G., Balogh, R. (eds) Robotics in Education. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 457. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42975-5_18

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42975-5_18

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-42974-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-42975-5

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

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