Human factors in space telepresence

The problems of interfacing a human with a teleoperation system, for work in space are discussed. Much of the information presented here is the result of experience gained by the M.I.T. Space Systems Laboratory during the past two years of work on the ARAMIS (Automation, Robotics, and Machine Intelligence Systems) project. Many factors impact the design of the man-machine interface for a teleoperator. The effects of each are described in turn. An annotated bibliography gives the key references that were used. No conclusions are presented as a best design, since much depends on the particular application desired, and the relevant technology is swiftly changing

User Intent Detection and Control of a Soft Poly-Limb

abstract: This work presents the integration of user intent detection and control in the development of the fluid-driven, wearable, and continuum, Soft Poly-Limb (SPL). The SPL utilizes the numerous traits of soft robotics to enable a novel approach to provide safe and compliant mobile manipulation assistance to healthy and impaired users. This wearable system equips the user with an additional limb made of soft materials that can be controlled to produce complex three-dimensional motion in space, like its biological counterparts with hydrostatic muscles. Similar to the elephant trunk, the SPL is able to manipulate objects using various end effectors, such as suction adhesion or a soft grasper, and can also wrap its entire length around objects for manipulation. User control of the limb is demonstrated using multiple user intent detection modalities. Further, the performance of the SPL studied by testing its capability to interact safely and closely around a user through a spatial mobility test. Finally, the limb’s ability to assist the user is explored through multitasking scenarios and pick and place tests with varying mounting locations of the arm around the user’s body. The results of these assessments demonstrate the SPL’s ability to safely interact with the user while exhibiting promising performance in assisting the user with a wide variety of tasks, in both work and general living scenarios.Dissertation/ThesisMasters Thesis Biomedical Engineering 201

Soft manipulators and grippers: A review

Soft robotics is a growing area of research which utilizes the compliance and adaptability of soft structures to develop highly adaptive robotics for soft interactions. One area in which soft robotics has the ability to make significant impact is in the development of soft grippers and manipulators. With an increased requirement for automation, robotics systems are required to perform task in unstructured and not well defined environments; conditions which conventional rigid robotics are not best suited. This requires a paradigm shift in the methods and materials used to develop robots such that they can adapt to and work safely in human environments. One solution to this is soft robotics, which enables soft interactions with the surroundings while maintaining the ability to apply significant force. This review paper assesses the current materials and methods, actuation methods and sensors which are used in the development of soft manipulators. The achievements and shortcomings of recent technology in these key areas are evaluated, and this paper concludes with a discussion on the potential impacts of soft manipulators on industry and society

The Development of a Sensitive Manipulation End Effector

This thesis designed and realized a two-degree of freedom wrist and two finger manipulator that completes the six-degree of freedom Sensitive Manipulation Platform, the arm of which was previously developed. This platform extends the previous research in the field of robotics by covering not only the end effector with deformable tactile sensors, but also the links of the arm. Having tactile sensors on the arm will improve the dynamic model of the system during contact with its environment and will allow research in contact navigation to be explored. This type of research is intended for developing algorithms for exploring dynamic environments. Unlike traditional robots that focus on collision avoidance, this platform is designed to seek out contact and use it to gather important information about its surroundings. This small desktop platform was designed to have similar proportions and properties to a small human arm. These properties include compliant joints and tactile sensitivity along the lengths of the arms. The primary applications for the completed platform will be research in contact navigation and manipulation in dynamic environments. However, there are countless potential applications for a compliant arm with increased tactile feedback, including prosthetics and domestic robotics. This thesis covers the details behind the design, analysis, and evaluation of the two degrees of the Wrist and two two-link fingers, with particular attention being given to the integration of series elastics actuators, the decoupling of the fingers from the wrist, and the incorporation of tactile sensors in both the forearm motor module and fingers

HERO Glove

Non-repetitive manipulation tasks that are easy for humans to perform are difficult for autonomous robots to execute. The Haptic Exoskeletal Robot Operator (HERO) Glove is a system designed for users to remotely control robot manipulators whilst providing sensory feedback to the user. This realistic haptic feedback is achieved through the use of toroidal air-filled actuators that stiffen up around the user’s fingers. Tactile sensor data is sent from the robot to the HERO Glove, where it is used to vary the pressure in the toroidal actuators to simulate the sense of touch. Curvature sensors and inertial measurement units are used to capture the glove’s pose to control the robot

Ground Robotic Hand Applications for the Space Program study (GRASP)

This document reports on a NASA-STDP effort to address research interests of the NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) through a study entitled, Ground Robotic-Hand Applications for the Space Program (GRASP). The primary objective of the GRASP study was to identify beneficial applications of specialized end-effectors and robotic hand devices for automating any ground operations which are performed at the Kennedy Space Center. Thus, operations for expendable vehicles, the Space Shuttle and its components, and all payloads were included in the study. Typical benefits of automating operations, or augmenting human operators performing physical tasks, include: reduced costs; enhanced safety and reliability; and reduced processing turnaround time

광섬유 힘 센서가 내장된 로봇 원격 및 무인 조작을 위한 모듈화 로봇 스킨

학위논문(석사) -- 서울대학교대학원 : 공과대학 기계공학부, 2021.8. 박용래.Robots have been used to replace human workers for dangerous and difficult tasks that require human-like dexterity. To perform sophisticated tasks, force and tactile sensing is one of the key requirements to achieve dexterous manipulation. Robots equipped with sensitive skin that can play a role of mechanoreception in animals will be able to perform tasks with high levels of dexterity. In this research, we propose modularized robotic skin that is capable of not only localizing external contacts but also estimating the magnitudes of the contact forces. In order to acquire three pieces of key information on a contact, such as contact locations in horizontal and vertical directions and the magnitude of the force, each skin module requires three degrees of freedom in sensing. In the proposed skin, force sensing is achieved by a custom-designed triangular beam structure. A force applied to the outer surface of the skin module is transmitted to the beam structure underneath, and bending of the beam is detected by fiber optic strain sensors, called fiber Bragg gratings. The proposed skin shows resolutions of 1.45 N for force estimation and 1.85 mm and 1.91 mm for contact localization in horizontal and vertical directions, respectively. We also demonstrate applications of the proposed skin for remote and autonomous operations of commercial robotic arms equipped with an array of the skin modules.로봇은 인간과 같은 높은 조작성이 필요한 어려운 작업 환경이나 위험한 환경에서 인간을 대체할 수 있도록 연구되고 있다. 이를 위해 동물의 기계적 감응(mechanoreception) 역할과 같은 기능을 수행하면서 로봇에 부착될 수 있는 스킨을 연구하고 있고, 민감한 로봇 스킨이 부착된 로봇은 높은 수준의 조작성을 가지고 주어진 작업을 성공할 수 있다. 다시 말해 로봇의 힘 센싱과 촉각 센싱 기능은 정교한 로봇 조작의 핵심 요소들 중 하나로 로봇의 세밀한 작업들을 수행하기 필요로 하다. 따라서 우리는 이 연구에서 외부 접촉의 위치뿐만 아니라 외력의 크기도 추정할 수 있는 모듈화된 로봇 스킨을 제안한다. 접촉 힘의 크기, 접촉의 수직 및 수평 위치 등 접촉에 대한 3가지 정보를 얻기 위해서 각 스킨 모듈은 3 자유도를 가지도록 설계하였다. 제안한 스킨에서 힘 센싱은 새롭게 설계한 삼각형 형태의 빔 구조의 변형을 통해서 측정한다. 구체적으로 스킨 모듈의 외피에 가해진 힘은 빔 구조로 전달되고, 이로 인해 발생하는 빔 구조의 변형은 “fiber Bragg gratings” 이라고 불리는 광섬유 스트레인 센서들에 의해서 측정된다. 제안한 스킨은 1.45 N의 힘 추정 해상도를 가지고, 수평 및 수직 위치 추정은 각각 1.85 mm와 1.91 mm의 해상도를 가진다. 우리는 상용화된 로봇팔에 여러 개의 스킨 모듈을 배열 및 부착하여 로봇의 원격 조작 및 무인 조작을 실행하였고, 스킨의 활용성을 검증하였다.1. Introduction 1 2. Design 7 2.1. Skin Module . 2.2. Skin Array . 3. Modeling 12 3.1. FBG Sensing Principle and Temperature Compensation 25 3.2. Estimation of Beam Force and Deflection . 3.3. Estimation of Spring Force . 3.4. Estimation of Contact Locations and Force . 4. Experiments 25 4.1. Experimental Setup . 4.2. Initialization . 4.3. Parameter Optimization . 4.4. Result . 5. Application 32 5.1. Remote Robot Manipulation . 5.2. Autonomous Robot Control . 6. Discussion 46 7. Conclusion 48 8. Appendix 49 8.1. Beam Deflection . Bibliography 52 Abstract in Korean 60석

Soft Robot-Assisted Minimally Invasive Surgery and Interventions: Advances and Outlook

Since the emergence of soft robotics around two decades ago, research interest in the field has escalated at a pace. It is fuelled by the industry's appreciation of the wide range of soft materials available that can be used to create highly dexterous robots with adaptability characteristics far beyond that which can be achieved with rigid component devices. The ability, inherent in soft robots, to compliantly adapt to the environment, has significantly sparked interest from the surgical robotics community. This article provides an in-depth overview of recent progress and outlines the remaining challenges in the development of soft robotics for minimally invasive surgery