Abstract—Nowadays, coordinated switching between autonomous and manual operation, according to the demands of the operator and the task, has become a common type of control approach to compensate for the limitations of autonomous systems. This control mode switching, known also as “Transition of Control”, is usually referred to the transition from autonomous to manual operation and it could have negative effects on the operator or its surroundings depending on the strategies used. In autonomous cars, an unsuccessful takeover command can potentially risk the safety of the drivers and pedestrians. Remote operators of telepresence robots may not be exposed to such risks, but they are not exempt from the negative effects of the transition, especially when the operator is involved in another activity before taking control of the system. This paper reports the design of an interface for a dual control mode telepresence system, explores the factors implied when switching the operation mode, and finally proposes a time-based strategy for the transition of control from autonomous to manual control. I. INTRODUCTION The recent advances in the development of robotic systems have shown a promising potential to greatly augment human capabilities. However, it is still not possible to achieve a degree of autonomy comparable to the human control. For this reason, alternative control strategies have been created, such as shared control and control mode switching[1][2][3], in which the limitations of autonomous systems are compensated with the intervention of local or remote human partners. In the case of mode switching, one of the most common examples of this type of systems are teleoperated robots. In highly automated vehicles, it is common to have periods of transition in which drivers switch between autonomous and manual operation. However, it is the transition from autonomous driving to manual control that demands a higher level of adjustment by the human operator[4]. This particular scenario, opens a window of negative effects than can lead to accidents. Due to limitations in current autonomous systems, nowadays the transition of control becomes inevitable. In telepresence robots, the transition of control does not particularly affect the safety of the operator or the interlocutor. However, as in the studies on autonomous cars, there may be psychological impact on the human operators. In Human- Robot interaction contexts it is expected that robotic systems will have a smooth interaction with humans. For this reason, telepresence robots with double agency, or in other words, with autonomous or manual control mode of operation, should be designed to achieve this feature. Nevertheless, it is not clear how we should manage the transition of control in this type of systems. In this regard, this document aims to contribute by exploring the dimensions of the transition of control from the operator’s perspective, and proposing a time-base switching strategy from autonomous to manual control. II. RELATED WORKS A. Social Presence in Remote Operated Robots Systems which support video and audio communication combined with robotic platforms are nowadays known as robotic telepresence systems [5]. This type of tangible communication media can become the avatar of its human operator, transmitting his social presence and allowing him to physically interact with people located in different locations[6], [7]. In the last decade, several researches have conducted exploring the potential of this systems[8],[9],[10]. The transmission of social presence is one of the most valuable features of teleoperated robots. Among the fields of application, one of the most promising is the education sector. A research conducted with school children from different countries showed how equipping a telepresence robot with a gripper hand, controlled by a child operator, helped to overcome social barriers[11]. Current household robots are also able to transmit social presence, such as, Papero[12], developed by NEC, possess conversation functions along with physical interaction by using touch sensors and can be controlled remotely. From commercial robotic platforms, Pepper[13], developed by Softbank Robotics, is nowadays one of the most commercial social robots along with the cleaning robot, Roomba. B. Double Agency in Telepresence Robots Many media devices for telepresence purposes have been developed in the recent years, most of them resembling animals or creatures that attract consumers’ attention. However, recent researches have stated that physical communication media whose appearance greatly differs from humans can distort the operator’s personality perceived by interlocutors[14], [15], [16], [17]. In the last research, the interaction of the interlocutors with different types of media was compared. The results showed that the media that differ mostly from the operator confused the participants about who was controlling the communication media. Although particular characteristics of robots, such as identity are effective at generating social presence, this risks causing an unwanted distortion of presence in the remote sender[18]. Therefore, the degree of identity of a robot can A Time-based Strategy for the Transition of Control in Telepresence Robots Dante Arroyo and Fumihide Tanaka *Research supported by Grant-in-aid for Scientific Research (15H01708) Dante Arroyo is with the Department of Intelligent Interaction Technologies, University of Tsukuba, Japan (e-mail: arroyo@ftl.iit.tsukuba.ac.jp). Fumihide Tanaka is with the Department of Intelligent Interaction Technologies, University of Tsukuba, Japan (e-mail: tanaka@iit.tsukuba.ac.jp).