Factorial Analysis to improve the travel time of a Wheeled Mobile
Robot operated via internet
Gerson Beristain, Emilio Gabiño, Hector Vargas Member IEEE and Luis Cuautle
Abstract—This article proposes a statistical method based on
the factorial design to optimize the travel time on a circuit of a
mobile robot teleoperated via the Internet. With the application
of the method there were found the factors that have a greater
influence on the performance of the robot, which improved the
remote management strategy. The analysis of the factors
discarded the gender factor to select the operator to handle the
robot remotely. This method can be applied to teleoperated
robots which need to improve performance in their own
activities, identifying the factors that most influence in the
teleoperation.
I. INTRODUCTION
T he Teleoperated Mobile Robotics is a technological
reality and of great interest for the great diversity of
applications and the number of research areas covered.
The development of teleoperated mobile robots respond to
the need to extend the scope of robotics [1], making the
research in this field focus on using resources that are
available to all, to be applied in robotic prototyping and to
satisfy the immediate needs of human beings.
The teleoperated robots allow perform tasks from a
remote location. The Telerobotics and teleoperation are two
terms related to the operation of robotic systems and they
can be defined as the control and remote operation of robots
[2]. The Telerobotics is a very important research field and
is expanding rapidly due to faster processors, new
algorithms, and higher expectations. Currently there are
many important applications in the field of telerobotics,
ranging from space exploration, biomedical applications,
and exploration of hazardous areas. The efficiency of the
teleoperated system depends not only on the skill and
handling experience of the operator, but also on others
factors that influence the system.
The recent research in the field of robotics have led to
researchers and educational institutions to create
competitions to develop projects that allow to the students to
use telecommunication tools to improve the performance of
remote controlled mobile robots to facilitate, in a future, the
daily activities of people. It is for this reason that Oklahoma
State University (OSU) created the competition Mercury
Remote Robot Challenge 2011 to control Wheeled Mobile
Robots (WMR) via internet. This competition led to the
Robotics and Control Laboratory from Popular Autonomous
University of the State of Puebla (UPAEP) in México to
Robotics and Control laboratory, Popular Autonomous University
of the State of Puebla (UPAEP), México. 11 wests 2304, Puebla, México.
Telephone: 01 222 229 94 00, 22994 99. Fax: 01 222 232 52 5
E-mail: gerson.beristain@upaep.edu.mx, emilig@ostatemail.okstate.edu,
hectorsimon.vargas@upaep.mx luis.cuautle@upaep.mx
978-1-4577-1524-2/11/$26.00 ©2011 IEEE
develop a prototype of WMR controlled remotely via
internet to participate in this competition.
This project contributed to analyze relevant data in the
robot's behavior in such a way that improved the
performance during the competition. There were used tools
that helped to identify the main factors that affect the
management of remote-controlled robotic devices. Once
found the main factors, it was analyzed its behavior with the
help of the statistical tools named "Factorial Design" ” in
order to find the factor that provide more information about
the efficiency of the remote controlled robot and, in this
way, to minimize the variable of respond. We decided to use
the factorial experimental design because it is a tool widely
used in different research areas such as neural networks,
efficient experimentation and validation of systems among
others. Factorial designs are also greatly used in experiments
involving several factors, when it is necessary to study the
combined effect of factors in a response [3] and the
interaction among these factors, instead of using another
method such as comprehensive case of the method factor by
factor.
The application of this method for data analysis improved
the remote operation strategy of the mobile robot "Pakal",
which obtained the first place in the competition Mercury
Remote Robot Challenge 2011 held at OSU.
Section II describes the statistical method used to analyze
the data. Section III presents the design, construction and
control system that was used in the robot. Section IV
describes the planning problem to solve. Section V shows
the analysis and the results of the data during the
experiment. Finally in section VI gives the conclusion the
proposed method.
II. DESCRIPTION OF THE METHOD
This section describes the statistical method utilized to
study and analyze the data.
A. Introduction to the Factorial Design
The change in operating conditions of a system or process
that is done in order to measure the effect of changing one or
more properties of the product or result is an experiment. A
factorial experiment is an experimental strategy in which
several factors are varied simultaneously in the experiment.
The design of this experiment is denoted as factorial design
[4]. Factorial design is a statistical technique that helps to
plan the execution of the experiments. This plan allows us to
obtain reliable data from the experiments, and can also help
to reduce the number of experiments required [6]. Factorial
design, therefore, differs fundamentally from traditional
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strategies based on the change (one at a time), from the input
variables called factors [5]. Factorial design is not a new
approach. The statistic R. A. Fisher developed many ideas
behind the 1920 for applications in agriculture, the factorial
design has been widely used in process control and related
industries since at least the 1950s [4]. A factorial design
allows calculating the main effects of each factor and
interactions between them, that is, when the effect of one
factor depends on another factor [3].
Factorial design ʹ௞ is the simplest factorial design,
because it uses two levels and therefore reduces the number
of experimental conditions [8]. The ʹ௞ factorial design based
on separate data collection of experiments has k factors that
can be varied simultaneously. A factorial design ʹ௞ is a
design that involves k-factors, each with two levels, a low
level '0' and a high level '1'. As the number of factors k
increases, the number of runs required for a complete replica
of the design grows more rapidly than the resources
available for the experiment [7]. The factors can be
qualitative (machines, material types, operator, etc.) and its
levels take discrete values of nominal rate or quantitative
(temperature, humidity, velocity, pressure, etc.) and their test
levels can take any value within a certain range [9].
III. DESCRIPTION OF THE ROBOT
In this section, it is shown the design of the robot with
every mechanical and electronic part, as well as the control
system utilized.
A. Design of the Robot
In order to create the mobile robot prototype for the
competition hosted by OSU, it was required to create a 3D
computer model before it was built. The Computer-Aided
Design tool utilized for this project was SolidWorks 3D
[10]. To design the prototype we had to meet the
requirements outlined by OSU in the rules of the
competition. Some of the restrictions that were taken into
account when designing the 3D model were: the prototype
could not be more than 12 inches, it had to have a camera, it
had to have all the electronic gadgets needed to send video
from their environment and it had to receive commands by
internet [11].
Once we had created the 3D model considering every
single mechanical and electronic element required then we
started to manufacture the mechanical pieces to build the
robot.
B. Building the Robot
To build the robot prototype we decided to use a
mechanical structure assembled with two aluminum plates to
add strength. The size and specifications for the aluminum
plates were taken from the 3D design in SolidWorks and
manufactured using a CNC machine for better accuracy in
measurements. To separate the plates we used spacers made
of stainless steel rods, the measures for these parts were
taken from the 3D design as well.
In the first plate was coupled a dc motor to the rear axle of
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the mobile robot using a chain drive to provide movement to
the wheels and thereby generate the movement of the robot.
Also on this plate, it was left enough space for the batteries
that provide energy for the robot to function properly. The
second plate was used as a basis for placing electronic
components as well as for supporting the servomotor that
steers the two free wheels in the front axle; this servomotor
controls the direction of the robot on the way.
Fig. 1. View of the robot prototype in 3D. SolidWorks CAD software.
The electronic card that was used to control the robot, to
have the communication by internet, and to control the
movement of both the dc motor and servo motor was the
“RoBoard” card. We decided to use this card because it
allowed using both Windows and Linux operating system
and interfaces with several devices such as: dc motors, servo
motors, sensors, gyroscopes, accelerometers and others [11].
For the power stage for the dc motor it was used an H-bridge
Parallax HB-25 which is a dc motor controller [13]. Also we
used a Vivotek IP7137 IP camera (which is compatible with
any wireless network) [13] to see the area where the robot is
navigating. To expand the field of view of IP camera and get
a larger view of the robot environment it was used a convex
mirror placed just right in front of the camera lens.
C. Control System
For the control system it was used the client-server
methodology. The mobile robot receiving the control
commands for the displacement would be the customer, it
was required to use an operating system that would be fast,
trustable and easy to use, also it was necessary that the
operating system was installed in the RoBoard card, then we
decided to use the operating system Ubuntu [15]. The
feedback from the environment was given from an IP
camera which was placed on the robot and sent the video
through the RoBoard to the server. As a server we used a
laptop with Windows operating system, this would be
responsible for sending commands to control the robot. The
software used to send commands to the robot by internet was
LabVIEW [16]. The program created in LabVIEW was
developed to use either the computer keyboard or a steering
wheel to drive the robot; at the same time the video on real-
time was sent from the IP Camera through internet and it
could be visualized in a Internet Explorer window.
SI International 2011
 IV. PROBLEM STATEMENT influential in the operation of the robot and thus apply the
The committee of the Mercury Remote Robot Challenge method to these factors to distinguish between those factors
competition organized by Oklahoma State University (OSU) which most affect the robot's behavior and this way to help
[11] stated the rules and goals to be achieved by the minimize the response variable.
participants during this competition. The main problem The factors taken into account in the experiment were: the
stated was: “To guide remotely a robot in a maze clearing an operator, it can be male or female (since every person reacts
obstacle course in the shortest time possible”. Each time the differently to a certain situation), the type of control having
robot touches an obstacle there will be a penalty in execution the computer keyboard and a steering wheel for games as
time [11]. Some of the rules to be followed in the options to control the robot, other factor was the internet
competition were that the robot should be guided by an signal intensity that can vary depending on the proximity of
operator at a remote location via Internet following a the router with the robot, the control system that affects
predefined path and avoiding obstacles in minimum time, communication between both (the robot and the operator)
the winner is the robot that can complete the course with the and finally the type of tire that the robot have to use for
quickest time. better displacement in the path of the route with two
Taking into account the restrictions and in order to different pairs of tires. Table II presents the factors with
resolve satisfactorily the problem, the team from the High and Low level.
TABLE II
Robotics and Control laboratory from UPAEP decided to TABLE OF ʹସ FACTORIAL DESIGN
find a method that would minimize the travel time on the lap Factor Low High
taking into account the variables that could influence during Gender Female Male
the way. Then it was decided to use the statistical method Control Keyboard Wheel
factorial design. Signal Low Internet High Internet
Wheels Tire type A Tire type B
V. TEST AND RESULTS Table showing the 4 factors, each with their high level and low
level.
In this section, it is shown the application of the method,
the test and results obtained analyzing the data. On this way, we have the 4 factors for the experiment
resulting in a ʹସ factorial design. For a ʹସ factorial design is
A. Factors
recommended one or two replicas having a total of 16 or 32
When selecting the factorial design as the method to runs respectively. Table I presents the design matrix with
reduce the time response in the path of mobile robot, we had signs for the four factors.
to find and select the factors that could influence the TABLE III
performance of the robot and use them to minimize the MATRIX OF RANDOMIZED FACTORS
variable response. In order to properly select the factors that StdOrder RunOrder Gender Control Signal Wheels
could influence the behavior of the robot, there were chosen 15 1 M K L B
all possible factors of the system that could have any impact 24 2 F K L A
on the teleoperation. With the variable selection 20 3 F K H A
methodology, we were able to decide which factors are most 25 4 M W H B
TABLE I
13 5 M W L B
MATRIX OF DESIGN
17 6 M W H A
Yates A B C D
31 7 M K L B
-1 - - - -
a + - - - 22 8 F W L A
b - + - - 12 9 F K H B
ab + + - - 27 10 M K H B
c - - + - 8 11 F K L A
ac + - + - 7 12 M K L A
bc - + + -
19 13 M K H A
abc + + + -
18 14 F W H A
d - - - +
ad + - - + 5 15 M W L A
bd - + - + 26 16 F W H B
abd + + - + This Matriz shows 16 out of 32 runs with the factors randomized.
cd - - + + M = Male, F = Female, K = Keyboard, W = Wheel, H = High, L =
acd + - + + Low, A = type of wheel A, B = type of wheel B.
bcd - + + +
abcd + + + +
The matrix of design is built switching one sign minus and one plus
B. Randomization
in the first column, 2 signs less and 2 signs more for the second Before starting the tests there is a basic principle that must
column, 4 signs less and 4 more in third column and 8 signs less and 8 be met when performing experimental runs, this principle is
signs more in the fourth column, the design results sorted in the
standard orders de Yates. the randomization and it is important to take this into

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account because it helps to increase the possibility of the effects. In this type of graphs of the Cartesian axes are
enforcing the assumption of independence of errors. To referred to the main factors. The numbers in the corners
fulfill this basic principle it is required to randomize the correspond to the average perform time of 37.6 seconds, the
factors to obtain the combinations to be executed in the best time recorded is the result of the combination of the
experiment. Minitab software was used for this purpose, it is signal in a high level and a control also in high level.
a computer program designed to perform basic and advanced
Cube Plot (data means) for Time
statistical functions [17] to facilitate the randomization and
the order in which the experiment would be done and also
for data analysis. Table III shows the order of 16 out of 32 50.65 37.60 51.40 53.85

runs where randomized runs were performed. 103.75 97.25 98.55 99.80
W

C. Application of the experiment

Since we had already the order to realize the experiment C ontrol

then we performed it to get the response variable, in this 50.25 52.40

H
60.65 59.65

case to obtain the response variable the time would be 102.65 108.95
Signal
106.55 103.45

considered in seconds. For the implementation of the K

F M
L

Gender
experiment, it was required the participation of 16 persons, A
Tires
B

eight men and eight women, this in order to ensure that the
data obtained were significant. To each person was
explained the purpose of the experiment and allowed to take Fig. 3. The graphical representation of the effects.

a test to become familiar with the robot control system

Once performed and analyzed the plot of the assumptions,
before realizing the travel time. In each run for the we analyzed the ANOVA table for experimental design
experiment, the factors were modified according to the table mentioned; we also analyzed the main effects plot for a
with the randomized runs. The time was taken with a timer better assessment. By analyzing the graphs of Fig. 4, it is
from the starting point of the lap until the robot reached the shown that the factors that significantly influence our
end point, the time for every run was recorded. response variable are the Signal factor in high level and the
D. Analysis of the Experimental Design Control factor in high level as well. Such that, if we want to
minimize the time in the travel of a mobile robot then we
After obtaining the data at the end of the experiment it have to use a high Internet signal and a control system using
was verified the compliance with the assumptions of a steering wheel.
normality, constant variance and randomness for the set of
32 data obtained in the experiment using the Minitab
Main Effects Plot for Time
statistical tool. The graphics of the assumptions are shown in Data Means
Figure 2. Gender Control
108
96
Residual Plots for Time 84
Normal Probability Plot Versus Fits 72
99
10
60
90
Mean

F M K W
Residual
Percent

0
50
Signal Tires
-10 108
10
96
1 -20
-20 -10 0 10 20 50 75 100 84
Residual Fitted Value
72
Histogram Versus Order 60
8
10
6
L H A B
Frequency

Residual

0
4

-10
2 Fig. 4. Graphic of the main effects.
0 -20

For this particular study, realizing the ANOVA analysis, it

-16 -12 -8 -4 0 4 8 12 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32
Residual Observation Order

is shown that for the Signal and Control factors the value P
Fig. 2. Graphic assumptions of normality, constant variance and is less than 0.05 and thus the change in Genre is significant,
randomness.
for the Type of Wheel and the interaction the value P is
In the graph for the assumption of normality was observed more than 0.05 and thus they are not significant in the
that the points are located approximately around a straight performance of the robot as shown in Fig. 5.
line and therefore the residues of the model follow a normal In Figure 6 we can observe the Pareto diagram with the
distribution approximation. In the Graphic of Predicted vs main effects and the interactions, also we can see that neither
Residue it can be observed that the constant variance the effect of Genre, the Type of wheel nor the interaction are
assumption is met since all the points fall within a horizontal significant to reduce the variable time response.
band. Similarly, Fig 3 shows the graphical representation of Once we had the necessary information to identify the
significant factors, we used the Pareto diagram of

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standardized factors in Fig. 7 and Daniel in Fig. 8 to see the
Half Normal Plot of the Standardized Effects
result. In both cases the effects of signal and control factors (response is Time, Alpha = 0.05)
are significant. Effect Ty pe
98 Not Significant
Significant

95

90

Percent
85 Signal
80

70

60 C ontrol

50
40
30
20
10
0
0 5 10 15 20
Absolute Standardized Effect

Fig. 8. Daniel graphic of the standardized effects.

Similarly, it is verified that the interactions were not

significant, this with the help of the interaction plot shown in
Figure 9.

Interaction effects
W K A B

100 Gender
M
Gender 75 F

50

100 C ontrol
W
75 Control K

50

Fig. 5. Analysis of the Variance for the time 100 Signal

H
Signal 75 L

50

Pareto Chart of the Standardized Effects 100 W heels

(response is Time, Alpha = 0.05) A
75 Wheels B
2.12
F actor N ame 50
C
A G ender
B M F H L
B C ontrol
CD C S ignal
D Wheels
A BD
D
AB
Fig. 9. Graphics of effects and interactions.
AC D
Term

A
AD
AC It was also performed the analysis for the best ANOVA
BC
A BC which is a simpler model than the normal ANOVA, this
BD
A BC D
explains better the behavior of the variable response, the aim
BC D
is to eliminate the effects less important. The Pareto chart for
0 5 10
Standardized Effect
15 20
the best ANOVA clearly shows in Figure 10 that there are
only two significant effects to reduce the travel time of the
robot.
Fig. 6. Pareto chart of effects and interactions..

Pareto Chart of the Standardized Effects Pareto Chart of the Standardized Effects
(response is Time, Alpha = 0.05) (response is Time, Alpha = 0.05)

2.05 2.05

Signal

Signal
Control
Term
Term

Wheels
Control

Gender

0 5 10 15 20 0 5 10 15 20
Standardized Effect Standardized Effect

Fig. 7. Pareto chart of the Standardized Effects Fig. 10. Pareto chart for the best ANOVA

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 VI. CONCLUSION
In the experiment that was performed and the analysis [8]
applied to the data we can conclude that signal and control
factors have a greater influence on the performance of the
[9]
robot since the time the tour was reduced to 37.6 sec. and
therefore the best approach to minimize the response
variable (time) in the path of a mobile robotic prototype [10]
controlled via Internet is that an individual controls the
[11]
mobile device through a steering wheel with a good internet
signal, regardless the gender and the type of tires used. At [12]
the same time with the help of the software, we were able to [13]
perform the regression model and obtained a coefficient of [14]
determination adjusted 92.46% which makes the prediction [15]
more reliable. The application of the method to analyze data
improved the strategy of operation to control remotely the [16]
robot "Pakal", which won the first place in the competition
[17]
Mercury Remote Robot Challenge 2011 held at OSU.
There has been presented an efficient method for reducing
the travel time for an internet-controlled robot, in spite of
this method is normally used for the statistical design of
experiments. Factorial design is an effective strategy to help
determine the effect of the factors with the response variable
of the system. Factorial design can also be used to improve
the performance of different robotic systems.
As future work we intend to further investigate the
optimization of the Teleoperated Robotic System using
factorial design to systems which needs to improve
performance in their own activities, identifying the factors
that most influence in the teleoperation
Mathematics,Statistics and Comp. Science, University of Calabar, pp
1 – 6, January 2010.
M. Buragohain and C. Mahanta. “Full Factorial Design Based ANFIS
Model for Complex Systems”. IEEE India Conference, pp 1 – 6,
September 2006.
Humberto Gutierrez Pulido and Román de la Vara Salazar, “Análisis y
Diseño de Experimentos”, vol 2, McGraw-Hill Interamericana,
January 2008, p 128.
Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp. 2011. SolidWorks 2010
http://www.solidworks.es
Mercury Remote Robot Challenge, 2011 Competition Rules
http://mercury.okstate.edu
DMP Electronics Inc. RoBoard RB-100 http://www.roboard.com
Parallax Inc. HB-25 Motor Controller, http://www.parallax.com
VIVOTEK Inc. 3GPP MPEG-4 WLAN Fixed Network Camera
IP7137. http://www.vivotek.com
Canonical Ltd. Ubuntu 2011. Ubuntu version 10.04
http://www.ubuntu.com
National Instruments Corporation 2011. LabVIEW 2011
http://www.ni.com/labview
Minitab Inc. Software to quality improvement.
http://www.minitab.com

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

We want to thank to the National Council of Science and

Technology (CONACYT) of Mexico for the support
provided to carry out this work. Also at the Laboratory of
Robotics and Control at the Popular Autonomous University
of the State of Puebla (UPAEP) for providing the material
necessary to realize the experiment. And finally to Ph. D.
Carl Latino, Associate Professor of the Electrical and
Computer Engineering School of OSU, for allowing us to
participate in the Mercury Remote Robot Challenge 2011.

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