A Multiple Level-of-Detail 3D Data Transmission Approach for Low-Latency Remote Visualisation in Teleoperation Tasks

• Main Authors: Salvador Pacheco-Gutierrez, Hanlin Niu, Ipek Caliskanelli, Robert Skilton
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-07-01
• Series: Robotics
• Subjects: 3D data compression; viewing system; 3D camera; point cloud transmission; teleoperation; ROS
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2218-6581/10/3/89

In robotic teleoperation, the knowledge of the state of the remote environment in real time is paramount. Advances in the development of highly accurate 3D cameras able to provide high-quality point clouds appear to be a feasible solution for generating live, up-to-date virtual environments. Unfortunately, the exceptional accuracy and high density of these data represent a burden for communications requiring a large bandwidth affecting setups where the local and remote systems are particularly geographically distant. This paper presents a multiple level-of-detail (LoD) compression strategy for 3D data based on tree-like codification structures capable of compressing a single data frame at multiple resolutions using dynamically configured parameters. The level of compression (resolution) of objects is prioritised based on: (i) placement on the scene; and (ii) the type of object. For the former, classical point cloud fitting and segmentation techniques are implemented; for the latter, user-defined prioritisation is considered. The results obtained are compared using a single LoD (whole-scene) compression technique previously proposed by the authors. Results showed a considerable improvement to the transmitted data size and updated frame rate while maintaining low distortion after decompression.