Haptic-Guided Teleoperation of a 7-DoF Collaborative Robot Arm With an Identical Twin Master

In this article, we describe two techniques to enable haptic-guided teleoperation using 7-DoF cobot arms as master and slave devices. A shortcoming of using cobots as master-slave systems is the lack of force feedback at the master side. However, recent developments in cobot technologies have brought in affordable, flexible, and safe torque-controlled robot arms, which can be programmed to generate force feedback to mimic the operation of a haptic device. In this article, we use two Franka Emika Panda robot arms as a twin master-slave system to enable haptic-guided teleoperation. We propose a two layer mechanism to implement force feedback due to 1) object interactions in the slave workspace, and 2) virtual forces, e.g. those that can repel from static obstacles in the remote environment or provide task-related guidance forces. We present two different approaches for force rendering and conduct an experimental study to evaluate the performance and usability of these approaches in comparison to teleoperation without haptic guidance. Our results indicate that the proposed joint torque coupling method for rendering task forces improves energy requirements during haptic guided telemanipulation, providing realistic force feedback by accurately matching the slave torque readings at the master side

Interactive and cooperative sensing and control for advanced teleoperation

This paper presents the paradigm of interactive and cooperative sensing and control as a fundamental mechanism of integrating and fusing the strengths of man and machine for advanced teleoperation. The interactive and cooperative sensing and control is considered as an extended and generalized form of traded and shared control. The emphasis of interactive and cooperative sensing and control is given to the distribution of mutually nonexclusive subtasks to man and machine, the interactive invocation of subtasks under the man/machine symbiotic relationship, and the fusion of information and decisionmaking between man and machine according to their confidence measures. The proposed interactive and cooperative sensing and control system is composed of such major functional blocks as the logical sensor system, the sensor-based local autonomy, the virtual environment formation, and the cooperative decision-making between man and machine. The Sensing-Knowledge-Command (SKC) fusion network is proposed as a fundamental architecture for implementing cooperative and interactive sensing and control. Simulation results are shown

Model-Augmented Haptic Telemanipulation: Concept, Retrospective Overview, and Current Use Cases

Certain telerobotic applications, including telerobotics in space, pose particularly demanding challenges to both technology and humans. Traditional bilateral telemanipulation approaches often cannot be used in such applications due to technical and physical limitations such as long and varying delays, packet loss, and limited bandwidth, as well as high reliability, precision, and task duration requirements. In order to close this gap, we research model-augmented haptic telemanipulation (MATM) that uses two kinds of models: a remote model that enables shared autonomous functionality of the teleoperated robot, and a local model that aims to generate assistive augmented haptic feedback for the human operator. Several technological methods that form the backbone of the MATM approach have already been successfully demonstrated in accomplished telerobotic space missions. On this basis, we have applied our approach in more recent research to applications in the fields of orbital robotics, telesurgery, caregiving, and telenavigation. In the course of this work, we have advanced specific aspects of the approach that were of particular importance for each respective application, especially shared autonomy, and haptic augmentation. This overview paper discusses the MATM approach in detail, presents the latest research results of the various technologies encompassed within this approach, provides a retrospective of DLR's telerobotic space missions, demonstrates the broad application potential of MATM based on the aforementioned use cases, and outlines lessons learned and open challenges

The anatomy of teleneurosurgery in China

With its huge population and vast territory, China faces a great challenge in providing modern advanced health care services to all parts of the country. The advances of information communication technologies (ICTs) and the advent of internet have revolutionised the means in the delivery of healthcare via telemedicine to remote and underserved populations, which to a certain extent has been very well exploited in China, especially where 70% peasants residing in the rural areas. This paper reviews the latest development in telemedicine infrastructure in China with the focus on the development of teleneurosurgery, drawing from the results gained from a 3-year networking project between Europe and China on telemedicine (TIME, 2005–2007) funded by European Commission under Asia ICT programme, with an aim to shape up envisages of future medical care in China. Comparison with its counterparts in Europe is also addressed

Progressive co-adaptation in human-machine interaction

In this paper we discuss the concept of co-adaptation between a human operator and a machine interface and we summarize its application with emphasis on two different domains, teleoperation and assistive technology. The analysis of the literature reveals that only in few cases the possibility of a temporal evolution of the co-adaptation parameters has been considered. In particular, it has been overlooked the role of time-related indexes that capture changes in motor and cognitive abilities of the human operator. We argue that for a more effective long-term co-adaptation process, the interface should be able to predict and adjust its parameters according to the evolution of human skills and performance. We thus propose a novel approach termed progressive co-adaptation, whereby human performance is continuously monitored and the system makes inferences about changes in the users' cognitive and motor skills. We illustrate the features of progressive co-adaptation in two possible applications, robotic telemanipulation and active vision for the visually impaired