A Wearable GUI for Field Robots Andreas Hedstr¨ om, Henrik I Christensen, and Carl Lundberg Centre for Autonomous Systems (CAS), Numerical Analysis and Computer Science (NADA), Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), S-10044 Stockholm, Sweden, {ah,hic}@kth.se,Carl.Lundberg@fhs.mil.se, Summary. In most search and rescue or reconnaissance missions involving field robots the requirements of the operator being mobile and alert to sudden changes in the near environment, are just as important as the ability to control the robot proficiently. This implies that the GUI platform should be light-weight and portable, and that the GUI itself is carefully designed for the task at hand. In this paper different platform solutions and design of a user-friendly GUI for a packbot will be discussed. Our current wearable system will be presented along with some results from initial field tests in urban search and rescue facilities. Key words: GUI, Field Robot, Wearable 1 Introduction Deployment of robot systems for outdoor field applications poses a number of interesting challenges. The outdoor application of computer systems is in itself a challenge due to lack of screen contrast, limited availability of weather proof casings, etc. At the same time the mobile systems are often operated by inexperienced users, which calls for careful design of the interfaces. This involves both selection of a suitable hardware platform, and design of an associated interaction system with GUI etc. In joint research between the Centre for Autonomous Systems, KTH and the Swedish Defense Materials Administration (FMV) a study is considering how rugged platforms such as a PackBot can be utilised for search and detect type missions by inexperienced users. As part of international peace keeping missions or as part of search for people after major disasters there is an interest to deploy PackBot systems (See Fig. 1). These systems are to be used for early intelligence gathering before people enter a building or a neighborhood. A PackBot is by default delivered with an operator control unit (OCU) that is composed of a rugged laptop computer with an attached joystick for