Book Description

It was the purpose of this project to review the state of the art of the technology associated with remote manipulation with the intention of providing parameters by which the operator of the remote system could achieve a sense of operator presence. This psychological sense of 'presence, ' or immediacy, reflects the extent to which the sensor, display and control technology can be made transparent to the operator. The present sensor, display and control technology for remote manipulation is sufficient, if properly configured, to produce a laboratory prototype of a telepresence manipulation system. The manipulator arm technology, given impetus by interest in industrial robotics, is sufficient to provide the tight kinematic and dynamic loop required for effective manipulation. The articulated end effector and its interface with associated articulated master hand controller is an area requiring some design effort. There is sufficient technological power to support design work. There is a gap in the state of knowledge concerning the display of tactile and proprioceptive information to the operator. Specification of particular task environments will direct the research required to protect the manipulator and sensor from each environment's hostile elements.