UTTG: A Universal Teleoperation Framework Via Online Trajectory Generation

Abstract

Teleoperation is crucial for hazardous environment operations and serves as a key tool for collecting expert demonstrations in robot learning. However, existing methods face robotic hardware dependency and control frequency mismatches between teleoperation devices and robotic platforms. Our approach introduces a unified interface that automatically extracts kinematic parameters from Unified Robot Description Format (URDF) files, enabling plug-and-play deployment across diverse robotic systems. The proposed interpolation algorithm bridges the frequency gap between low-rate human inputs and high-frequency robotic control commands through online continuous trajectory generation, without requiring access to the closed, bottom-level control loop. To further reduce latency, a joint prediction module is incorporated to anticipate operator intent and compensate for delays. Moreover, we introduce a minimum-stretch spline to optimize motion smoothness and quality. The system supports both precision and rapid operation modes for different task requirements. Experiments on three robotic platforms, including dual-arm setups, demonstrate our framework's generality, smoothness, and responsiveness. Teleoperation latency remains below 50ms at 30Hz input and approaches 15ms at 200Hz input. The code is developed in C++ with a Python interface, and available at https://github.com/IRMV-Manipulation-Group/UTTG.