The development of a man/machine interface system that can be used to remotely control a system composed of a transporter base and a force-reflecting, survocontrolled manipulator is reported. The concept features the incorporation of totally remote operation. A simulator is build to optimize man/machine interface requirements

Clarke, M. M.

Garin, J.

English

NASA Technical Reports Server

, N82-13678 I
HAN/MACHINE INTERFACE DEVELOPHENT
FOR THE REMOTEXCONCEPT*
J. Garin
Fuel Recycle Division
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37850
M. M. Clarke
Oak Ridge Associated Universities f
Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830 ,.
SUMMARY
This paper describes ongoing research at the Oak Ridge National
Laboratory (ORNL) to develop a man/machine interface system that can be used
to remotely control a system composed of a transporter base and a force-
reflecting, servo-controlled manipulator. A unique feature of the concept is
the incorporation of totally remote operation. Thus, a major objective is the
requirement that an operator have a sense of presence in the remote
environment. Man/machine interface requirements for this totally remote :'
operation remain to be developed. Therefore, a simulator is being built to
optimize such requirements. These developments are the subject of this paper.
INTRODUCTION
Work on the conceptual design of a pilot-scale plant for reprocessing
breeder reactor fuels is underway at ORNL. The plant design will meet a11
current federal regulations for reprocessing plantsand will serve as a
prototype for future production plants. A unique feature of this concept is
the incorporation of totally remote operation and maintenance of the process
equipment within a large barn-like hot cell. This approach, called REMOTEX,
uses servomanipulators coupled with television viewing to extend human _
capabilities into the hostile cell environment. The P_MOTEX concept provides
significant improvements for fuel reprocessing plants and other nuclear
facilities in the areas of safeguarding nuclear materials, reducing radiation
exposure to humans, improving plant availability, recovering from unplanned
events, and plant decommissioning.
*Research sponsored by the Office of Nuclear Fuel Cycle, U.S. Department
of Energy, under Contract No. W-7405-eng-26 with Union Carbide Corporation.
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The success of the P_ML.T_Xconcept is probably most dependent on the
performance of the remote manipulation, viewing, and maintenance system. A
review of other facilities indicates that using more versatile mar'pulation
will result in decreased complexity (and cost) of in-cell equipment and the
downtime associated with maintenance. This indication can be substantiated in
a number of ways. For example, increasing the dexterity of remote main-
tenance manipulators to approach that of direct handling may reduce the cost
of designing and building such equipment.
Numerous studies and tests have defined dexterity as the time required to
perform sets of work tasks using different types of remote manipulators. The
general results of these studies are presented in Ref. I. Dexterity depends
on force reflection (kinesthetic sensing), tactile feedback, visual feedback,
and audio feedback. Therefore, we hypothesized that by maximizing properly
filtered feedback, the effectiveness of our teleoperated systems would also be }
maximized. Optimally, the man/machine interface provides information feedback I
from the work environment that allows the operator to 7eact in "real time" and (
to provide feedforward infomation into the work place. 1
APPROACHTO SIMULATORDEVFi JPHENT (
The development of the man/machine interface at ORNLbegan with a state-
of-the-art literature search of studies on related systems. This search
revealed a need for emphasizing visual systems and the types of teleoperated
servomanipulator controls.
Conceptual design of the ORNLsystem will continue with the testing of
prototypes. The prototypes are evaluated at the subsystem level described in
Ref. 2 and then undergo a full system test in a simulated environment (the
simulator).
The simulator is an integrated man/machine interface that contains all of
the subsystems in a modular form. These subsystems consist of imaging closed
circuit television, graphic display, _udio system, manipulator controls,
camera controls and selectors_ transporter controllers and auxiliary control
systems.
This man/machine interface is then coupled to a remote handling system
and a simulated nuclear fuel recycling environment, A series of generic tasks
have been selected using a detailed time and motion study based on similar
facilities and the current conceptual design.
The evaluation and selection of each man/machine subsystem will then ..
depend on system test evaluations and the performance of the teleoperated
system.
STATUS
The man/machine interface simulator is 90% complete (see Figs. 1 and 2).
Figure 1 shows an artist's concept of the optimized system using one operator
man/machine interface. Figure 2 shows the man/machine interface module as
currently assembled.
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FUTUREPLANS
Immediate plans for future work include the following:
i. Design of in-ce11, small-volume work tasks appropriate to a simulated
chemical process module;
2. Evaluation of sma11-volume coverage cameras for large-volume Usage; and
5. Evaluation of small- and large-volume cameras for obstacle avoidance.
Longer-range goals include system optimization for the following:
I. Larger volume, less dextrous manipulator tasks; and
2. Transporter deployment.
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REFERENCES
1. J. Garin, "Remotex and Servomanipulator Needs in Nuclear Fuel
Reprocessing Plants," Proo.j of Worlcshopto De_ir_zte the Eoono_r_e, i
Teohnioal, and PolioF Iee_e for the Rewote lqaint_noe in EnergF
SFet_e_ University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, March 1981.
2. M. M. Clarke and J. Garin, "Identification of Cognitive Factors Related
to Remote Work Performance Using Closed Circuit TV Display_ _Proc. ZTth
Annual Conference on Manual ControIj Los Angeles, June 16-17, 1981.
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Man/machine interface development for the REMOTEX concept

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