US20050204438A1 - Graphical interface for a remote presence system - Google Patents

Abstract

A robot system that includes a robot and a remote station. The remote station may be a personal computer coupled to the robot through a broadband network. A user at the remote station may receive both video and audio from a camera and microphone of the robot, respectively. The remote station may include a display user interface that has a variety of viewable fields and selectable buttons.

Description

REFERENCE TO CROSS-RELATED APPLICATIONS
• This application claims priority to Application No. 60/548,561 filed on Feb. 26, 2004.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
• 1. Field of the Invention
• The subject matter disclosed generally relates to the field of mobile two-way teleconferencing.
• 2. Background Information
• There is a growing need to provide remote health care to patients that have a variety of ailments ranging from Alzheimers to stress disorders. To minimize costs it is desirable to-provide home care for such patients. Home care typically requires a periodic visit by a health care provider such as a nurse or some type of assistant. Due to financial and/or staffing issues the health care provider may not be there when the patient needs some type of assistance. Additionally, existing staff must be continuously trained, which can create a burden on training personnel. It would be desirable to provide a system that would allow a health care provider to remotely care for a patient without being physically present.
• Robots have been used in a variety of applications ranging from remote control of hazardous material to assisting in the performance of surgery. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,762,458 issued to Wang et al. discloses a system that allows a surgeon to perform minimally invasive medical procedures through the use of robotically controlled instruments. One of the robotic arms in the Wang system moves an endoscope that has a camera. The camera allows a surgeon to view a surgical area of a patient.
• Tele-robots such as hazardous waste handlers and bomb detectors may contain a camera that allows the operator to view the remote site. Canadian Pat. No. 2289697 issued to Treviranus, et al. discloses a teleconferencing platform that has both a camera and a monitor. The platform includes mechanisms to both pivot and raise the camera and monitor. The Treviranus patent also discloses embodiments with a mobile platform, and different mechanisms to move the camera and the monitor.
• There has been marketed a mobile robot introduced by InTouch-Health, Inc., the assignee of this application, under the trademarks COMPANION and RP-6. The InTouch robot is controlled by a user at a remote station. The remote station may be a personal computer with a joystick that allows the user to remotely control the movement of the robot. Both the robot and remote station have cameras, monitors, speakers and microphones to allow for two-way video/audio communication.
• U.S. patent application Pub. No. US 2001/0054071 filed in the name of Loeb, discloses a video-conferencing system that includes a number of graphical user interfaces (“GUIs”) that can be used to establish a video-conference. One of the GUIs has an icon that can be selected to make a call. The Loeb application discloses stationary video-conferencing equipment such as a television. There is no discussion in Loeb about the use of robotics.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
• A robot system that includes a remote station and a robot. The remote station includes a display user interface that can be used to operate the system.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
• FIG. 1 is an illustration of a robotic system;
• FIG. 2 is a schematic of an electrical system of a robot;
• FIG. 3 is a further schematic of the electrical system of the robot;
• FIG. 4 is a display user interface of a remote station;
• FIG. 5 is a display user interface showing an electronic medical record;
• FIG. 6 is a display user interface showing an image and an electronic medical record being simultaneously displayed.
• therobot12 may have a direct connection to the network thru for example a satellite.
• Theremote control station16 may include acomputer22 that has amonitor24, acamera26, amicrophone28 and aspeaker30. Thecomputer22 may also contain aninput device32 such as a joystick or a mouse. Thecontrol station16 is typically located in a place that is remote from therobot12. Although only oneremote control station16 is shown, the system10 may include a plurality of remote stations. In general any number ofrobots12 may be controlled by any number ofremote stations16 orother robots12. For example, oneremote station16 may be coupled to a plurality ofrobots12, or onerobot12 may be coupled to a plurality ofremote stations16, or a plurality ofrobots12.
• Eachrobot12 includes amovement platform34 that is attached to arobot housing36. Also attached to therobot housing36 are acamera38, amonitor40, a microphone(s)42 and a speaker(s)44. Themicrophone42 andspeaker30 may create a stereophonic sound. Therobot12 may also have anantenna46 that is wirelessly coupled to anantenna48 of thebase station14. The system10 allows a user at theremote control station16 to move therobot12 through operation of theinput device32. Therobot camera38 is coupled to theremote monitor24 so that a user at theremote station16 can view a patient. Likewise, therobot monitor40 is coupled to theremote camera26 so that the patient may view the user. Themicrophones28 and42, andspeakers30 and44, allow for audible communication between the patient and the user.
• Theremote station computer22 may operate Microsoft OS software and WINDOWS XP or other operating systems such as LINUX. Theremote computer22 may also operate a video driver, a camera driver, an audio driver and a joystick driver. The video images may be transmitted and received with compression software such as MPEG CODEC.
• Therobot12 may be coupled to one or moremedical monitoring devices50. Themedical monitoring device50 can take medical data from a patient. By of example, themedical monitoring device50 may be a stethoscope, a pulse oximeter and/or an EKG monitor. Themedical monitoring device50 may contain awireless transmitter52 that transmits the patient data to therobot12. The wirelessly transmitted data may be received byantennae46, or a separate antennae (not shown). Therobot12 can then transmit the data to theremote station16.
• The wireless transmission from themedical monitoring device50 may be in accord with various wireless standards such as IEEE. The standard used to transmit data from themedical monitoring device50 should not interfere with the wireless communication between therobot12 and thebase station14. Although wireless transmission is shown and described, it is to be understood that themedical monitoring device50 can be coupled to therobot12 by wires (not shown).
• Theremote station16 may be coupled to aserver54 through thenetwork18. Theserver54 may contain electronic medical records of a patient. By way of example, the electronic medical records may include written records of treatment, patient history, medication information, x-rays, EKGs, laboratory results, physician notes, etc. The medical records can be retrieved from theserver54 and displayed by themonitor24 of the remote station. In lieu of, or in addition to, the medical records can be stored in themobile robot12. Theremote station16 may allow the physician to modify the records and then store the modified records back in theserver54 and/orrobot12.
• FIGS. 2 and 3 show an embodiment of arobot12. Eachrobot12 may include a highlevel control system60 and a low level control system62. The highlevel control system60 may include aprocessor64 that is connected to a bus66. The bus is coupled to thecamera38 by an input/output (I/O)port68, and to themonitor40 by aserial output port70 and aVGA driver72. Themonitor40 may include a touchscreen function that allows the patient to enter input by touching the monitor screen.
• Thespeaker44 is coupled to the bus66 by a digital toanalog converter74. Themicrophone42 is coupled to the bus66 by an analog todigital converter76. Thehigh level controller60 may also contain random access memory (RAM)device78, anon-volatile RAM device80 and a mass storage device82 that are all coupled to thebus72. The mass storage device82 may contain medical files of the patient that can be accessed by the user at theremote control station16. For example, the mass storage device82 may contain a picture of the patient. The user, particularly a health care provider, can recall the old picture and make a side by side comparison on themonitor24 with a present video image of the patient provided by thecamera38. Therobot antennae46 may be coupled to awireless transceiver84. By way of example, thetransceiver84 may transmit and receive information in accordance with IEEE 802.11b. Thetransceiver84 may also process signals from the medical monitoring device in accordance with IEEE also known as Bluetooth. The robot may have a separate antennae to receive the wireless signals from the medical monitoring device.
• Thecontroller64 may operate with a LINUX OS operating system. Thecontroller64 may also operate MS WINDOWS along with video, camera and audio drivers for communication with theremote control station16. Video information may be transceived using MPEG CODEC compression techniques. The software may allow the user to send e-mail to the patient and vice versa, or allow the patient to access the Internet. In general thehigh level controller60 operates to control communication between therobot12 and theremote control station16.
• Thehigh level controller60 may be linked to the low level controller62 byserial ports86 and88. The low level controller62 includes aprocessor90 that is coupled to aRAM device92 andnon-volatile RAM device94 by abus96. Eachrobot12 contains a plurality ofmotors98 andmotor encoders100. Themotors98 can activate the movement platform and move other parts of the robot such as the monitor and camera. Theencoders100 provide feedback information regarding the output of themotors98. Themotors98 can be coupled to thebus96 by a digital toanalog converter102 and adriver amplifier104. Theencoders100 can be coupled to thebus96 by a decoder106. Eachrobot12 also has a number of proximity sensors108 (see alsoFIG. 1). Theposition sensors108 can be coupled to thebus96 by asignal conditioning circuit110 and an analog todigital converter112.
• The low level controller62 runs software routines that mechanically actuate therobot12. For example, the low level controller62 provides instructions to actuate the movement platform to move therobot12. The low level controller62 may receive movement instructions from thehigh level controller60. The movement instructions may be received as movement commands from the remote control station or another robot. Although two controllers are shown, it is to be understood that eachrobot12 may have one controller, or more than two controllers, controlling the high and low level functions.
• The various electrical devices of eachrobot12 may be powered by a battery(ies)114. Thebattery114 may be recharged by abattery recharger station116. The low level controller62 may include abattery control circuit118 that senses the power level of thebattery114. The low level controller62 can sense when the power falls below a threshold and then send a message to thehigh level controller60.
• The system may be the same or similar to a robotic system provided by the assignee InTouch-Health, Inc. of Santa Barbara, Calif. under the name RP-6, which is hereby incorporated by reference. The system may also be the same or similar to the system disclosed in application No. 10/206,457 published on Jan. 29, 2004, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
• FIG. 4 shows a display user interface (“DUI”)120 that can be displayed at theremote station16 and/or therobot12. TheDUI120 may include arobot view field122 that displays a video image captured by the camera of the robot. TheDUI120 may also include astation view field124 that displays a video image provided by the camera of theremote station16. TheDUI120 may be part of an application program stored and operated by thecomputer22 of theremote station16.
• TheDUI120 may include agraphic button126 that can be selected to display an electronic medical record as shown inFIG. 5. Thebutton126 can be toggled to sequentially view the video image and the electronic medical record. Alternatively, theview field122 may be split to simultaneously display both the video image and the electronic medical record as shown inFIG. 6. The viewing field may allow the physician to modify the medical record by adding, changing or deleting all or part of the record. The remote clinician can also add to the medical record still images or video captured by the camera of the robot.
• TheDUI120 may have amonitor data field128 that can display the data generated by the medical monitoring device(s) and transmitted to the remote station. The data can be added to the electronic medical record, either automatically or through user input. For example, the data can be added to a record by “dragging” amonitor data field128 into theviewing field122.
• TheDUI120 may includealert input icons130 and132.Alert icon130 can be selected by the user at the remote station to generate an alert indicator such as a sound from the speaker of the robot. Selection of the icon generates an alert input to the robot. The robot generates a sound through its speaker in response to the alert input. By way of example, the sound may simulate the noise of a horn. Consequently, the icon may have the appearance of a horn. The remote station user may select the horn shapedicon130 while remotely moving the robot to alert persons to the presence of the moving robot.
• Alert icon132 can be selected to request access to the video images from the robot. The default state of the robot may be to not send video information to the remote station. Selecting thealert icon132 sends an alert input such as an access request to the robot. The robot then generates an alert indicator. The alert indicator can be a sound generated by the robot speaker, and/or a visual prompt on the robot monitor. By way of example, the visual prompt may be a “flashing” graphical icon. The sound may simulate the knocking of a door. Consequently, thealert icon128 may have the appearance of a door knocker.
• In response to the alert indicator the user may provide a user input such as the depression of a button on the robot, or the selection of a graphical image on the robot monitor, to allow access to the robot camera. The robot may also have a voice recognition system that allows the user to grant access with a voice command. The user input causes the robot to begin transmitting video images from the robot camera to the remote station that requested access to the robot. A voice communication may be established before the cycle of the alert input and response, to allow the user at the remote station to talk to the caller recipient at the robot.
• TheDUI120 may include a graphical “battery meter”134 that indicates the amount of energy left in the robot battery. A graphical “signal strength meter”136 may indicate the strength of the wireless signal transmitted between the robot and the base station (seeFIG. 1).
• TheDUI120 may include alocation display138 that provides the location of the robot. TheCHANGE button140 can be selected to change the default robot in a new session. TheCHANGE button140 can be used to select and control a different robot in a system that has multiple robots. The user can initiate and terminate a session by selectingbox142. Thebox142 changes from CONNECT to DISCONNECT when the user selects the box to initiate a session. System settings and support can be selected throughbuttons144 and146.
• Both therobot view field122 and thestation view field124 may have associated graphics to vary the video and audio displays. Each field may have an associated graphicalaudio slide bar148 to vary the audio level of the microphone and anotherslide bar152 to vary the volume of the speakers.
• TheDUI120 may haveslide bars150,154 and156 to vary the zoom, focus and brightness of the cameras, respectively. A still picture may be taken at either the robot or remote station by selecting one of thegraphical camera icons158. The still picture may be the image presented at thecorresponding field122 or124 at the time thecamera icon158 is selected. Capturing and playing back video can be taken throughgraphical icons160. A return to real time video can be resumed, after the taking of a still picture, captured video, or reviewing a slide show, by selecting agraphical LIVE button162.
• A still picture can be loaded from disk for viewing through selection oficon164. Stored still images can be reviewed by selectingbuttons166. The number of the image displayed relative to the total number of images is shown bygraphical boxes168. The user can rapidly move through the still images in a slide show fashion or move through a captured video clip by moving theslide bar170. A captured video image can be paused through the selection ofcircle174. Play can be resumed through thesame button174. Video or still images may be dismissed from the active list throughbutton172. Video or still images may be transferred to the robot by selectingicon176. For example, a doctor at the remote station may transfer an x-ray to the screen of the robot.
• A graphical depiction of the base of the robot can be shown insensor field178. The sensor may have various sensors that sense contact with another object. Thesensor field178 can provide a visual display of the sensors that detect the object. By way of example, the field may have one or moregraphical dots180 that display where on the robot the sensors detected an object. This provides the user with a sense of the robot environment that is outside the view of the robot camera.
• The graphical depiction of the robot base may contain agraphical vector overlay182 that indicates the direction of robot movement. The direction of movement may be different than the direction the camera is facing. The vector can provide a visual aid when driving the robot.
• The system may provide the ability to annotate184 the image displayed infield122 and/or124. For example, a doctor at the remote station may annotate some portion of the image captured by the robot camera. The annotated image may be stored by the system. The system may also allow for annotation of images sent to the robot throughicon176. For example, a doctor may send an x-ray to the robot which is displayed by the robot screen. The doctor can annotate the x-ray to point out a portion of the x-ray to personnel located at the robot site. This can assist in allowing the doctor to instruct personnel at the robot site.
• The display user interface may includegraphical inputs186 that allow the operator to turn the views of the remote station and remote cameras on and off.
• While certain exemplary embodiments have been described and shown in the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that such embodiments are merely illustrative of and not restrictive on the broad invention, and that this invention not be limited to the specific constructions and arrangements shown and described, since various other modifications may occur to those ordinarily skilled in the art.

Claims (100)

1. A robot system, comprising:

a mobile robot that has a camera that captures an image; and, a remote station that is coupled to said robot, said remote station includes a display user interface that displays the image and provides a first graphical input that can be selected to vary the image.

2. The system ofclaim 1, wherein said mobile robot can be controlled from said remote station.

3. The system ofclaim 1, wherein said first graphical input can be selected to view a still picture image.

4. The system ofclaim 1, wherein said first graphical input is a slide bar that can be selected to view a plurality of still picture images.

5. The system ofclaim 1, wherein a still picture image provided by said mobile robot camera can be stored at said remote station by selecting said first graphical input.

6. The system ofclaim 1, wherein selecting said first graphical input can initiate a storage of a video segment of said image.

7. The system ofclaim 1, wherein said mobile robot includes a battery and said display user interface depicts how much energy is left in said battery.

8. The system ofclaim 1, further comprising a base station that is coupled to said remote station and wirelessly coupled to said mobile robot, said display user interface depicts a signal strength of a signal transmitted between said base station and said mobile robot.

9. The system ofclaim 1, further comprising a second graphical input that can be selected to vary a characteristic of the image.

10. The system ofclaim 1, wherein mobile robot includes a microphone and said remote station includes a speaker, said display user interface including a second graphical input that can be selected to vary a characteristic of sound provided by said microphone.

11. A method for operating robot system, comprising:

moving a mobile robot that has a camera that captures an image;

transmitting the image to a remote station; and,

displaying a display user interface at the remote station, the display user interface displays an image and provides a first graphical input that can be selected to vary the image.

12. The method ofclaim 11, wherein movement of the mobile robot is controlled by the remote station.

13. The method ofclaim 11, further comprising selecting the first graphical input to display a still picture image.

14. The method ofclaim 11, wherein the first graphical input is a slide bar, and further comprising selecting said slide bar to view a plurality of still picture images.

15. The method ofclaim 11, further comprising selecting the first graphical input to store a still picture image provided by the mobile robot camera.

16. The method ofclaim 11, further comprising selecting said first graphical input to initiate a storage of a video segment of said image.

17. The method ofclaim 11, wherein the mobile robot includes a battery and the display user interface depicts how much energy is left in the battery.

18. The method ofclaim 11, further comprising transmitting a signal between the mobile robot and a base station that is coupled to the remote station and wirelessly coupled to said mobile robot, and displaying a signal strength of a signal on the display user interface.

19. The method ofclaim 11, further comprising selecting a second graphical input displayed by the display user interface to vary a characteristic of the image.

20. The method ofclaim 11, wherein the mobile robot includes a microphone and the remote station includes a speaker, and further comprising selecting a second graphical input to vary a characteristic of sound provided by said microphone.

21. A robot system, comprising:

a mobile robot;

a base station that transmits a wireless signal to said mobile robot; and,

a remote station that is coupled to said mobile robot through said base station, said remote station includes a display user interface that displays a signal strength of the wireless signal.

22. The system ofclaim 21, wherein said display user interface displays an image and a first graphical input that can be selected to vary the image.

23. The system ofclaim 22, wherein the image is provided by a camera of said mobile robot.

24. The system ofclaim 22, wherein said first graphical input can be selected to view a still picture image.

25. The system ofclaim 22, wherein said first graphical input is a slide bar that can be selected to view a plurality of still picture images.

26. The system ofclaim 22, wherein a still picture image provided by said mobile robot camera can be stored at said remote station by selecting said first graphical input.

27. The system ofclaim 21, wherein selecting said first graphical input can initiate a storage of a video segment of said image.

28. The system ofclaim 21, wherein said mobile robot includes a battery and said display user interface depicts how much energy is left in said battery.

29. The system ofclaim 22, wherein said display user interface includes a second graphical input that can be selected to vary a characteristic of the image.

30. The system ofclaim 21, wherein mobile robot includes a microphone and said remote station includes a speaker, said display user interface includes a graphical input that can be selected to vary a characteristic of sound provided by said microphone.

31. A method for operating a robot system, comprising:

transmitting a wireless signal from a base station to a mobile robot;

moving the mobile robot; and,

displaying a display user interface at a remote station that is coupled to the base station, the display user interface displays a signal strength of the wireless signal.

32. The method ofclaim 31, wherein the display user interface displays an image and a first graphical input that can be selected to vary the image.

33. The method ofclaim 32, further comprising selecting the first graphical input to display a still picture image.

34. The method ofclaim 32, wherein the first graphical input is a slide bar and further comprising selecting the slide bar to view a plurality of still picture images.

35. The method ofclaim 32, further comprising selecting the first graphical input to store a still picture image provided by the mobile robot camera.

36. The method ofclaim 31, further comprising selecting said first graphical input to initiate a storage of a video segment of the image.

37. The method ofclaim 31, wherein movement of the mobile robot is controlled by the remote station.

38. The method ofclaim 31, wherein the mobile robot includes a battery and the display user interface depicts an amount of energy within the battery.

39. The method ofclaim 32, further comprising selecting a second graphical input displayed by the graphical user interface to vary a characteristic of the image.

40. The method ofclaim 31, wherein the mobile robot includes a microphone and the remote station includes a speaker, and further comprising selecting a graphical input to vary a characteristic of sound provided by said microphone.

41. A robot system, comprising:

a mobile robot that contains a battery; and,

a remote station that is coupled to said mobile robot, said remote station includes a display user interface that displays an amount of energy within said battery.

42. The system ofclaim 41, wherein said display user interface displays an image and a first graphical input that can be selected to vary the image.

43. The system ofclaim 42, wherein said image is provided by a camera of said mobile robot.

44. The system ofclaim 42, wherein said first graphical input can be selected to view a still picture image.

45. The system ofclaim 42, wherein said first graphical input is a slide bar that can be selected to view a plurality of still picture images.

46. The system ofclaim 42, wherein a still picture image provided by said mobile robot camera can be stored at said remote station by selecting said first graphical input.

47. The system ofclaim 41, wherein selecting said first graphical input can initiate a storage of a video segment of said image.

48. The system ofclaim 42, wherein said display user interface includes a second graphical input that can be selected to vary a characteristic of the image.

49. The system ofclaim 41, wherein mobile robot includes a microphone and said remote station includes a speaker, said display user interface including a graphical input that can be selected to vary a characteristic of sound provided by said microphone.

50. A method for operating a robot system, comprising:

moving a mobile robot that has a battery; and,

presenting a display user interface at a remote station, the display user interface displays an amount of energy within the battery.

51. The method ofclaim 50, wherein the display user interface displays an image and a first graphical input selected to vary the image.

52. The method ofclaim 51, further comprising selecting the first graphical input to display a still picture image.

53. The method ofclaim 51, wherein the first graphical input is a slide bar and further comprising selecting the slide bar to view a plurality of still picture images.

54. The method ofclaim 50, further comprising selecting the first graphical input to store a still picture image provided by the mobile robot camera.

55. The method ofclaim 51, further comprising selecting said first graphical input to initiate a storage of a video segment of said image.

56. The method ofclaim 51, wherein movement of the mobile robot is controlled by the remote station.

57. The method ofclaim 51, further comprising selecting a graphical input displayed by the display user interface to vary a characteristic of the image.

58. The method ofclaim 51, wherein the mobile robot includes a microphone and the remote station includes a speaker, and further comprising selecting a second graphical input to vary a characteristic of sound provided by said microphone.

59. A robot system, comprising:

a mobile robot with a sensor that provides an indication of when said robot is in proximity to an object; and,

a remote station that is coupled to said mobile robot, said remote station includes a display user interface that displays a graphical representation of when said sensor provides said indication.

60. The system ofclaim 59, wherein said display user interface displays an image provided by said mobile robot.

61. The system ofclaim 59, wherein said display user interface displays a graphical feature that indicates a direction of movement of said mobile robot.

62. The system ofclaim 59, wherein said display user interface displays a graphical input that can be selected to transmit an image to said mobile robot.

63. The system ofclaim 60, wherein a user can annotate the image.

64. The system ofclaim 59, wherein said mobile robot includes a screen that displays an image and a user can annotate the image.

65. The system ofclaim 59, wherein said display user interface includes a graphical input that can be selected to select a mobile robot from a plurality of mobile robots.

66. A method for operating a robot system, comprising:

moving a mobile robot with a sensor that provides an indication of when the mobile robot is in proximity to an object; and,

presenting a display user interface at a remote station, the display user interface displays a graphical representation of when the sensor provides the indication.

67. The method ofclaim 66, wherein the display user interface displays an image.

68. The method ofclaim 66, further comprising displaying a graphical feature that indicates a direction of movement of the mobile robot.

69. The method ofclaim 66, further comprising selecting a graphical input to transmit an image to the mobile robot.

70. The method ofclaim 67, further comprising annotating the image.

71. The method ofclaim 66, further comprising selecting a graphical input to select a mobile robot from a plurality of mobile robots.

72. A robot system, comprising:

a mobile robot; and,

a remote station that is coupled to said mobile robot, said remote station includes a display user interface that displays a graphical feature that indicates a direction of movement of said mobile robot.

73. The system ofclaim 72, wherein said display user interface displays an image provided by said mobile robot.

74. The system ofclaim 72, wherein said display user interface displays a graphical input that can be selected to transmit an image to said mobile robot.

75. The system ofclaim 73, wherein a user can annotate the image.

76. The system ofclaim 72, wherein said mobile robot includes a screen that displays an image and a user can annotate the image.

77. The system ofclaim 72, wherein said display user interface includes a graphical input that can be selected to select a mobile robot from a plurality of mobile robots.

78. A method for operating a robot system, comprising:

moving a mobile robot; and,

presenting a display user interface at a remote station, the display user interface displays a graphical feature that indicates a direction of movement of the mobile robot.

79. The method ofclaim 78, wherein the display user interface displays an image.

80. The method ofclaim 78, further comprising selecting a graphical input to transmit an image to the mobile robot.

81. The method ofclaim 79, further comprising annotating the image.

82. The method ofclaim 78, further comprising selecting a graphical input to select a mobile robot from a plurality of mobile robots.

83. A robot system, comprising:

a mobile robot that has a screen; and,

a remote station that is coupled to said mobile robot, said remote station includes a display user interface that displays a graphical input that can be selected to transmit an image to said mobile robot.

84. The system ofclaim 83, wherein said display user interface displays an image provided by said mobile robot.

85. The system ofclaim 84, wherein a user can annotate the image.

86. The system ofclaim 83, wherein said robot screen displays the image and a user can annotate the image.

87. The system ofclaim 82, wherein said display user interface includes a graphical input that can be selected to select a mobile robot from a plurality of mobile robots.

88. A method for operating a robot system, comprising:

moving a mobile robot that has a screen; and,

presenting a display user interface at a remote station, the display user interface displays a graphical input that can be selected to transmit an image to the mobile robot.

89. The method ofclaim 88, wherein the display user interface displays an image.

90. The method ofclaim 88, further comprising annotating the image.

91. The method ofclaim 88, wherein the image is displayed by a robot screen and a user can annotate the image.

92. The method ofclaim 88, further comprising selecting a graphical input to select a robot from a plurality of robots.

93. A robot system, comprising:

a plurality of mobile robots; and,

a remote station that is coupled to at least one of said mobile robots, said remote station includes a display user interface that displays a graphical input that can be selected to select one of said mobile robots.

94. The system ofclaim 93, wherein said display user interface displays an image provided by said mobile robot.

95. The system ofclaim 94, wherein a user can annotate the image.

96. The system ofclaim 93, wherein said mobile robot includes a screen that displays an image and a user can annotate the image.

97. A method for operating a robot system, comprising:

providing a plurality of mobile robots; and,

presenting a display user interface at a remote station, the display user interface displays a graphical input that can be selected to select one of the mobile robots.

98. The method ofclaim 97, wherein the display user interface displays an image.

99. The method ofclaim 97, further comprising annotating the image.

100. The method ofclaim 97, wherein the image is displayed by a robot screen and a user can annotate the image.

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