Development of a control algorithm for teleoperation of DFDF(IMEF/M6 hot cell) maintenance equipment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oh, Chae Youn; Kwon, Hyuk Jo; Kim, Hak Duck; Jun, Ji Myung; Oh, Hee Geun [Chonbuk National University, Chonju (Korea)

2002-03-01

Teleoperation has been used for separating operators from the working environment. Thus, it is usually used to perform a work in an inaccessible place such as space, deep sea, etc. Also, it is used to perform a work in an accessible but a very poor working environment such as explosive, poison gas, radioactive area, etc. It is one of the advanced technology-intensive research areas. It has potentially big economical and industrial value. There is a tendency to avoid working in a difficult, dirty or dangerous place, particularly, in a high radioactive area since there always exist a possibility to be in a very dangerous situation. Thus, developing and utilizing of a teleoperation system will minimize the possibility to be exposed in such a extreme situation directly. Recently, there has been many researches on reflecting force information occurring in teleoperation to the operator in addition to visual information. The reflected force information is used to control the teleoperation system bilaterally. It will contribute a lot to improve teleoperation's safety and working efficiency. This study developed a bilateral force reflecting control algorithm. It may be used as a key technology of a teleoperation system for maintaining, repairing and dismantling facilities exposed in a high radioactive. 42 refs., 71 figs., 12 tabs. (Author)

Implementation and design of a teleoperation system based on a VMEBUS/68020 pipelined architecture

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Thomas S.

1989-01-01

A pipelined control design and architecture for a force-feedback teleoperation system that is being implemented at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and which will be integrated with the autonomous portion of the testbed to achieve share control is described. At the local site, the operator sees real-time force/torque displays and moves two 6-degree of freedom (dof) force-reflecting hand-controllers as his hands feel the contact force/torques generated at the remote site where the robots interact with the environment. He also uses a graphical user menu to monitor robot states and specify system options. The teleoperation software is written in the C language and runs on MC68020-based processor boards in the VME chassis, which utilizes a real-time operating system; the hardware is configured to realize a four-stage pipeline configuration. The environment is very flexible, such that the system can easily be configured as a stand-alone facility for performing independent research in human factors, force control, and time-delayed systems.

A two-layer architecture for force-reflecting bilateral teleoperation with time delays

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Heck, D.J.F.; Saccon, A.; Nijmeijer, H.

2015-01-01

We propose a two-layer control architecture for bilateral teleoperation with communication delays. The controller is structured with an (outer) performance layer and an (inner) passivity layer. In the performance layer, any traditional controller for bilateral teleoperation can be implemented. In

Mechanical accessories for mobile teleoperators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feldman, M.J.; Herndon, J.N.

1985-01-01

The choice of optimum mechanical accessories for mobile teleoperators involves matching the criteria for emergency response with the available technology. This paper presents a general background to teleoperations, a potpourri of the manipulator systems available, and an argument for force reflecting manipulation. The theme presented is that the accomplishment of humanlike endeavors in hostile environments will be most successful when man model capabilities are utilized. The application of recent electronic technology to manipulator development has made new tools available to be applied to emergency response activities. The development activities described are products of the Consolidated Fuel Reprocessing Program at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. 13 refs., 7 figs

Direct force-reflecting two-layer approach for passive bilateral teleoperation with time delays

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Heck, D.; Saccon, A.; Beerens, R.; Nijmeijer, H.

2018-01-01

We propose a two-layer control architecture for bilateral teleoperation with communication delays. The controller is structured with an (inner) performance layer and an (outer) passivity layer. In the performance layer, any traditional controller for bilateral teleoperation can be implemented. The

NONLINEAR FORCE PROFILE USED TO INCREASE THE PERFORMANCE OF A HAPTIC USER INTERFACE FOR TELEOPERATING A ROBOTIC HAND

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Anthony L. Crawford

2012-07-01

MODIFIED PAPER TITLE AND ABSTRACT DUE TO SLIGHTLY MODIFIED SCOPE: TITLE: Nonlinear Force Profile Used to Increase the Performance of a Haptic User Interface for Teleoperating a Robotic Hand Natural movements and force feedback are important elements in using teleoperated equipment if complex and speedy manipulation tasks are to be accomplished in hazardous environments, such as hot cells, glove boxes, decommissioning, explosives disarmament, and space. The research associated with this paper hypothesizes that a user interface and complementary radiation compatible robotic hand that integrates the human hand’s anthropometric properties, speed capability, nonlinear strength profile, reduction of active degrees of freedom during the transition from manipulation to grasping, and just noticeable difference force sensation characteristics will enhance a user’s teleoperation performance. The main contribution of this research is in that a system that concisely integrates all these factors has yet to be developed and furthermore has yet to be applied to a hazardous environment as those referenced above. In fact, the most prominent slave manipulator teleoperation technology in use today is based on a design patented in 1945 (Patent 2632574) [1]. The robotic hand/user interface systems of similar function as the one being developed in this research limit their design input requirements in the best case to only complementing the hand’s anthropometric properties, speed capability, and linearly scaled force application relationship (e.g. robotic force is a constant, 4 times that of the user). In this paper a nonlinear relationship between the force experienced between the user interface and the robotic hand was devised based on property differences of manipulation and grasping activities as they pertain to the human hand. The results show that such a relationship when subjected to a manipulation task and grasping task produces increased performance compared to the

Haptic Data Processing for Teleoperation Systems: Prediction, Compression and Error Correction

OpenAIRE

Lee, Jae-young

2013-01-01

This thesis explores haptic data processing methods for teleoperation systems, including prediction, compression, and error correction. In the proposed haptic data prediction method, unreliable network conditions, such as time-varying delay and packet loss, are detected by a transport layer protocol. Given the information from the transport layer, a Bayesian approach is introduced to predict position and force data in haptic teleoperation systems. Stability of the proposed method within stoch...

A Generalized Visual Aid System for Teleoperation Applied to Satellite Servicing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guoliang Zhang

2014-02-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the latest results of a newly developed visual aid system for direct teleoperation. This method is extended to visual control to make an efficient teleoperation system by combining direct teleoperation and automatic control. On the one hand, an operator can conduct direct teleoperation with 3D graphic prediction simulation established by the VR technique. In order to remove inconsistencies between the virtual and real environments, a practical model-matching method is investigated. On the other hand, to realize real-time visual servoing control, a particular object recognition and pose estimation algorithm based on polygonal approximation is investigated to ensure a low computational cost for image processing. To avoid undesired forces involved in contact operation, 3D visual servoing incorporating a compliant control based on impedance control is developed. Finally, in a representative laboratory environment, a typical satellite servicing experiment is carried out based on this combined system. Experimental results demonstrate the feasibility and the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Advanced teleoperation in nuclear applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hamel, W.R.; Feldman, M.J.; Martin, H.L.

1984-01-01

A new generation of integrated remote maintenance systems is being developed to meet the needs of future nuclear fuel reprocessing at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Development activities cover all aspects of an advanced teleoperated maintenance system with particular emphasis on a new force-reflecting servomanipulator concept. The new manipulator, called the advanced servomanipulator, is microprocessor controlled and is designed to achieve force-reflection performance near that of mechanical master/slave manipulators. The advanced servomanipulator uses a gear-drive transmission which permits modularization for remote maintainability (by other advanced servomanipulators) and increases reliability. Human factors analysis has been used to develop an improved man/machine interface concept based upon colorgraphic displays and menu-driven tough screens. Initial test and evaluation of two advanced servomanipulator slave arms and several other development components have begun. 9 references, 5 figures

Haptic teleoperation systems signal processing perspective

CERN Document Server

Lee, Jae-young

2015-01-01

This book examines the signal processing perspective in haptic teleoperation systems. This text covers the topics of prediction, estimation, architecture, data compression, and error correction that can be applied to haptic teleoperation systems. The authors begin with an overview of haptic teleoperation systems, then look at a Bayesian approach to haptic teleoperation systems. They move onto a discussion of haptic data compression, haptic data digitization and forward error correction.   ·         Presents haptic data prediction/estimation methods that compensate for unreliable networks   ·         Discusses haptic data compression that reduces haptic data size over limited network bandwidth and haptic data error correction that compensate for packet loss problem   ·         Provides signal processing techniques used with existing control architectures.

Development of a piezo-actuated micro-teleoperation system for cell manipulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Zareinejad, M; Rezaei, S M; Abdullah, A; Shiry Ghidary, S

2009-03-01

Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) requires long training and has low success rates, primarily due to poor control over the injection force. Making force feedback available to the operator will improve the success rate of the injection task. A macro-micro-teleoperation system bridges the gap between the task performed at the micro-level and the macroscopic movements of the operator. The teleoperation slave manipulator should accurately position a needle to precisely penetrate a cell membrane. Piezoelectric actuators are widely used in micromanipulation applications; however, hysteresis non-linearity limits the accuracy of these actuators. This paper presents a novel approach for utilizing a piezoelectric nano-stage as slave manipulator of a teleoperation system. The Prandtl-Ishlinskii (PI) model is used to model actuator hysteresis in a feedforward scheme to cancel out this non-linearity. To deal with the influence of parametric uncertainties, unmodelled dynamics and PI identification error, a perturbation term is added to the slave model and applies a sliding mode-based impedance control with perturbation estimation. The stability of entire system is guaranteed by Llewellyn's absolute stability criterion. The performance of the proposed controller was investigated through experiments for cell membrane penetration. The experimental results verified the accurate position tracking in free motion and simultaneous position and force tracking in contact with a low stiffness environment.

The development of radiation hardened tele-robot system - Development of path-planning and control technology for tele-operated redundant manipulator

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chang, Pyung Hun; Park, Ki Cheol; Park, Suk Ho [Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Taejon (Korea)

1999-04-01

This project focuses on the development of the control system for a teleoperated redundant manipulator, which performs many tasks dexterously, while avoiding obstacles, instead of human workers in the extreme situations like nuclear power plants. To this end, four consecutive research works have been performed. First, two new methods for global path-planning have been developed to inspect the global behavior of the redundant manipulator. Second, characteristics of optimal solutions(COS) under inequality constraints have been analyzed and, using the COS, how to greatly enhance the conventional redundancy resolution methods in terms of performance and repeatability has also been proposed. Third, an effective control method for a redundant manipulator has been developed, which incorporates all kinds of physical limits into practical inequality constraints and is computationally efficient for real-time purposes. Finally, using this control method as the controller of the slave redundant manipulator and developing a master manipulator, the inertial torque and gravitation torque of which are negligible, a force-reflected teleoperation control system has been developed. Through the teleoperation control system, human operator can accurately control the position and the force of the end-effector of the slave manipulator while feeling the interaction force between the slave and the workpiece. In addition, the slave redundant manipulator autonomously can control the impedance and can optimize a given performance measure while avoiding physical limits such as joint angle limits and obstacles. 49 refs., 43 figs., 10 tabs. (Author)

Hydraulically powered dissimilar teleoperated system controller design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jansen, J.F.; Kress, R.L.

1996-01-01

This paper will address two issues associated with the implementation of a hydraulically powered dissimilar master-slave teleoperated system. These issues are the overall system control architecture and the design of robust hydraulic servo controllers for the position control problem. Finally, a discussion of overall system performance on an actual teleoperated system will be presented

Development of teleoperated cleanup system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Ki Ho; Park, J. J.; Yang, M. S.; Kwon, H. J.

2005-01-01

This report describes the development of a teleoperated cleanup system for use in a highly radioactive environment of DFDF(DUPIC Fuel Demonstration Facility) at KAERI where direct human access to the in-cell is strictly limited. The teleoperated cleanup system was designed to remotely remove contaminants placed or fixed on the floor surface of the hot-cell by mopping them with wet cloth. This cleanup system consists of a mopping slave, a mopping master and a control console. The mopping slave located at the in-cell comprises a mopping tool with a mopping cloth and a mobile platform, which were constructed in modules to facilitate maintenance. The mopping master that is an input device to control the mopping slave has kinematic dissimilarity with the mopping slave. The control console provides a means of bilateral control flows and communications between the mopping master and the mopping slave. In operation, the human operator from the out-of-cell performs a series of decontamination tasks remotely by manipulating the mopping slave located in-cell via a mopping master, having a sense of real mopping. The environmental and mechanical design considerations, and control systems of the developed teleoperated cleanup system are also described

Advanced teleoperation in nuclear applications: consolidated fuel reprocessing program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hamel, W.R.; Feldman, M.J.; Martin, H.L.

1984-01-01

A new generation of integrated remote maintenance systems is being developed to meet the needs of future nuclear fuel reprocessing at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Development activities cover all aspects of an advanced teleoperated maintenance system with particular emphasis on a new force-reflecting servomanipulator concept. The new manipulator, called the advanced servomanipulator, is microprocessor controlled and is designed to achieve force-reflection performance near that of mechanical master/slave manipulators. The advanced servomanipulator uses a gear-drive transmission which permits modularization for remote maintainability (by other advanced servomanipulators) and increases reliability. Human factors analysis has been used to develop an improved man/machine interface concept based upon colographic displays and menu-driven touch screens. Initial test and evaluation of two advanced servomanipulator slave arms and several other development components have begun. 9 references, 5 figures

Control issues related to bilateral teleoperation of long-reach, flexible manipulators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Love, L.J.

1997-01-01

A challenging problem presently being addressed by the Department of Energy (DOE) is the extraction of large volumes of hazardous waste from underground waste storage facilities. The nature of the material requires the use of robotic and teleoperated systems. Furthermore, the constraints of the storage tanks require the use of long reach manipulators. These robots are characterized by their large workspace and reduced mass. Unfortunately, this reduction in mass increases structural compliance, making these robots susceptible to vibration. Until recently, no attempt has been made to provide the operator any type of force reflection due to the compliance of the slave robot. This paper addresses the control of bilateral teleoperation systems that use long-reach, flexible manipulators. Analysis and experiments show that the compliance of the slave robot directly affects the stability of the teleoperation system. This study suggests that this may be controlled by increasing the damping on the master robot. However, this increase in target damping increases the energy an operator must exert during the execution of a task. A new teleoperation strategy adapts the target impedance of the master robot to variations in the identified impedance of the remote environment coupled to the slave robot. Experiments show increased performance due to a decrease in the energy the operator must provide during task execution

Compact teleoperated laparoendoscopic single-site robotic surgical system: Kinematics, control, and operation.

Science.gov (United States)

Isaac-Lowry, Oran Jacob; Okamoto, Steele; Pedram, Sahba Aghajani; Woo, Russell; Berkelman, Peter

2017-12-01

To date a variety of teleoperated surgical robotic systems have been developed to improve a surgeon's ability to perform demanding single-port procedures. However typical large systems are bulky, expensive, and afford limited angular motion, while smaller designs suffer complications arising from limited motion range, speed, and force generation. This work was to develop and validate a simple, compact, low cost single site teleoperated laparoendoscopic surgical robotic system, with demonstrated capability to carry out basic surgical procedures. This system builds upon previous work done at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and includes instrument and endoscope manipulators as well as compact articulated instruments designed to overcome single incision geometry complications. A robotic endoscope holder was used for the base, with an added support frame for teleoperated manipulators and instruments fabricated mostly from 3D printed parts. Kinematics and control methods were formulated for the novel manipulator configuration. Trajectory following results from an optical motion tracker and sample task performance results are presented. Results indicate that the system has successfully met the goal of basic surgical functionality while minimizing physical size, complexity, and cost. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Design and implementation of visual-haptic assistive control system for virtual rehabilitation exercise and teleoperation manipulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Veras, Eduardo J; De Laurentis, Kathryn J; Dubey, Rajiv

2008-01-01

This paper describes the design and implementation of a control system that integrates visual and haptic information to give assistive force feedback through a haptic controller (Omni Phantom) to the user. A sensor-based assistive function and velocity scaling program provides force feedback that helps the user complete trajectory following exercises for rehabilitation purposes. This system also incorporates a PUMA robot for teleoperation, which implements a camera and a laser range finder, controlled in real time by a PC, were implemented into the system to help the user to define the intended path to the selected target. The real-time force feedback from the remote robot to the haptic controller is made possible by using effective multithreading programming strategies in the control system design and by novel sensor integration. The sensor-based assistant function concept applied to teleoperation as well as shared control enhances the motion range and manipulation capabilities of the users executing rehabilitation exercises such as trajectory following along a sensor-based defined path. The system is modularly designed to allow for integration of different master devices and sensors. Furthermore, because this real-time system is versatile the haptic component can be used separately from the telerobotic component; in other words, one can use the haptic device for rehabilitation purposes for cases in which assistance is needed to perform tasks (e.g., stroke rehab) and also for teleoperation with force feedback and sensor assistance in either supervisory or automatic modes.

A design framework for teleoperators with kinesthetic feedback

Science.gov (United States)

Hannaford, Blake

1989-01-01

The application of a hybrid two-port model to teleoperators with force and velocity sensing at the master and slave is presented. The interfaces between human operator and master, and between environment and slave, are ports through which the teleoperator is designed to exchange energy between the operator and the environment. By computing or measuring the input-output properties of this two-port network, the hybrid two-port model of an actual or simulated teleoperator system can be obtained. It is shown that the hybrid model (as opposed to other two-port forms) leads to an intuitive representation of ideal teleoperator performace and applies to several teleoperator architectures. Thus measured values of the h matrix or values computed from a simulation can be used to compare performance with th ideal. The frequency-dependent h matrix is computed from a detailed SPICE model of an actual system, and the method is applied to a proposed architecture.

Framework for teleoperated microassembly systems

Science.gov (United States)

Reinhart, Gunther; Anton, Oliver; Ehrenstrasser, Michael; Patron, Christian; Petzold, Bernd

2002-02-01

Manual assembly of minute parts is currently done using simple devices such as tweezers or magnifying glasses. The operator therefore requires a great deal of concentration for successful assembly. Teleoperated micro-assembly systems are a promising method for overcoming the scaling barrier. However, most of today's telepresence systems are based on proprietary and one-of-a-kind solutions. Frameworks which supply the basic functions of a telepresence system, e.g. to establish flexible communication links that depend on bandwidth requirements or to synchronize distributed components, are not currently available. Large amounts of time and money have to be invested in order to create task-specific teleoperated micro-assembly systems from scratch. For this reason, an object-oriented framework for telepresence systems that is based on CORBA as a common middleware was developed at the Institute for Machine Tools and Industrial Management (iwb). The framework is based on a distributed architectural concept and is realized in C++. External hardware components such as haptic, video or sensor devices are coupled to the system by means of defined software interfaces. In this case, the special requirements of teleoperation systems have to be considered, e.g. dynamic parameter settings for sensors during operation. Consequently, an architectural concept based on logical sensors has been developed to achieve maximum flexibility and to enable a task-oriented integration of hardware components.

Improving the performance of DTP2 bilateral teleoperation control system with haptic augmentation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Viinikainen, Mikko; Tuominen, Janne; Alho, Pekka; Mattila, Jouni

2014-01-01

Highlights: •An experimental haptic shared control system, called CAT developed at the DTP2. •We investigate how the system integrates with the ITER compliant DTP2 RHCS. •The effect of CAT experimentally assessed in an ITER relevant maintenance scenario. -- Abstract: The remote maintenance of the ITER divertor is largely dependent on the usage of haptically teleoperated manipulators and man-in-the-loop operations. These maintenance operations are very demanding for the manipulator operators, yet vital for the success of the whole ITER experiment. Haptic shared control of the maintenance manipulators offers a promising solution for assisting the teleoperators in the maintenance tasks. A shared control system assists the operator by generating artificial guiding force effects and overlaying them on top of the haptic feedback from the teleoperation environment. An experimental haptic shared control system, called the Computer Assisted Teleoperation (CAT) has been developed at the Divertor Test Platform 2 (DTP2). In this paper, we investigate the design of the system and how the system integrates with the ITER compliant DTP2 prototype Remote Handling Control System (RHCS). We also experimentally assess the effect of the guidance to the operator performance in an ITER-relevant maintenance scenario using the Water Hydraulic MANipulator (WHMAN), which is specially designed for the divertor maintenance. The result of the experiment gives suggestive indication that the CAT system improves the performance of the operators of the system

Teleoperation System with Hybrid Pneumatic-Piezoelectric Actuation for MRI-Guided Needle Insertion with Haptic Feedback.

Science.gov (United States)

Shang, Weijian; Su, Hao; Li, Gang; Fischer, Gregory S

2013-01-01

This paper presents a surgical master-slave tele-operation system for percutaneous interventional procedures under continuous magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) guidance. This system consists of a piezoelectrically actuated slave robot for needle placement with integrated fiber optic force sensor utilizing Fabry-Perot interferometry (FPI) sensing principle. The sensor flexure is optimized and embedded to the slave robot for measuring needle insertion force. A novel, compact opto-mechanical FPI sensor interface is integrated into an MRI robot control system. By leveraging the complementary features of pneumatic and piezoelectric actuation, a pneumatically actuated haptic master robot is also developed to render force associated with needle placement interventions to the clinician. An aluminum load cell is implemented and calibrated to close the impedance control loop of the master robot. A force-position control algorithm is developed to control the hybrid actuated system. Teleoperated needle insertion is demonstrated under live MR imaging, where the slave robot resides in the scanner bore and the user manipulates the master beside the patient outside the bore. Force and position tracking results of the master-slave robot are demonstrated to validate the tracking performance of the integrated system. It has a position tracking error of 0.318mm and sine wave force tracking error of 2.227N.

Teleoperation System with Hybrid Pneumatic-Piezoelectric Actuation for MRI-Guided Needle Insertion with Haptic Feedback

Science.gov (United States)

Shang, Weijian; Su, Hao; Li, Gang; Fischer, Gregory S.

2014-01-01

This paper presents a surgical master-slave tele-operation system for percutaneous interventional procedures under continuous magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) guidance. This system consists of a piezoelectrically actuated slave robot for needle placement with integrated fiber optic force sensor utilizing Fabry-Perot interferometry (FPI) sensing principle. The sensor flexure is optimized and embedded to the slave robot for measuring needle insertion force. A novel, compact opto-mechanical FPI sensor interface is integrated into an MRI robot control system. By leveraging the complementary features of pneumatic and piezoelectric actuation, a pneumatically actuated haptic master robot is also developed to render force associated with needle placement interventions to the clinician. An aluminum load cell is implemented and calibrated to close the impedance control loop of the master robot. A force-position control algorithm is developed to control the hybrid actuated system. Teleoperated needle insertion is demonstrated under live MR imaging, where the slave robot resides in the scanner bore and the user manipulates the master beside the patient outside the bore. Force and position tracking results of the master-slave robot are demonstrated to validate the tracking performance of the integrated system. It has a position tracking error of 0.318mm and sine wave force tracking error of 2.227N. PMID:25126446

Intelligent networked teleoperation control

CERN Document Server

Li, Zhijun; Su, Chun-Yi

2015-01-01

This book describes a unified framework for networked teleoperation systems involving multiple research fields: networked control systems for linear and nonlinear forms, bilateral teleoperation, trilateral teleoperation, multilateral teleoperation and cooperative teleoperation. It closely examines networked control as a field at the intersection of systems & control and robotics and presents a number of experimental case studies on testbeds for robotic systems, including networked haptic devices, robotic network systems and sensor network systems. The concepts and results outlined are easy to understand, even for readers fairly new to the subject. As such, the book offers a valuable reference work for researchers and engineers in the fields of systems & control and robotics.

Architectural study of the design and operation of advanced force feedback manual controllers

Science.gov (United States)

Tesar, Delbert; Kim, Whee-Kuk

1990-01-01

A teleoperator system consists of a manual controller, control hardware/software, and a remote manipulator. It was employed in either hazardous or unstructured, and/or remote environments. In teleoperation, the main-in-the-loop is the central concept that brings human intelligence to the teleoperator system. When teleoperation involves contact with an uncertain environment, providing the feeling of telepresence to the human operator is one of desired characteristics of the teleoperator system. Unfortunately, most available manual controllers in bilateral or force-reflecting teleoperator systems can be characterized by their bulky size, high costs, or lack of smoothness and transparency, and elementary architectures. To investigate other alternatives, a force-reflecting, 3 degree of freedom (dof) spherical manual controller is designed, analyzed, and implemented as a test bed demonstration in this research effort. To achieve an improved level of design to meet criteria such as compactness, portability, and a somewhat enhanced force-reflecting capability, the demonstration manual controller employs high gear-ratio reducers. To reduce the effects of the inertia and friction on the system, various force control strategies are applied and their performance investigated. The spherical manual controller uses a parallel geometry to minimize inertial and gravitational effects on its primary task of transparent information transfer. As an alternative to the spherical 3-dof manual controller, a new conceptual (or parallel) spherical 3-dof module is introduced with a full kinematic analysis. Also, the resulting kinematic properties are compared to those of other typical spherical 3-dof systems. The conceptual design of a parallel 6-dof manual controller and its kinematic analysis is presented. This 6-dof manual controller is similar to the Stewart Platform with the actuators located on the base to minimize the dynamic effects. Finally, a combination of the new 3-dof and 6-dof

Power and signal transmission for mobile teleoperated systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morris, A.C. Jr.; Hamel, W.R.

1986-01-01

Appropriate means must be furnished for supplying power and for sending controlling commands to mobile teleoperated systems. This paper describes a number of umbilical, onboard, and wireless systems used in transmitting power that are available for mobile teleoperator services. The pros and cons of selecting appropriate methods from a list of possible communication systems (wired, fiber optic, and radio frequency) are also examined. Moreover, hybrid systems combining wireless power transmissions with command-information signals are also possible. 20 refs., 6 figs., 1 tab

Teleoperation System with Hybrid Pneumatic-Piezoelectric Actuation for MRI-Guided Needle Insertion with Haptic Feedback

OpenAIRE

Shang, Weijian; Su, Hao; Li, Gang; Fischer, Gregory S.

2013-01-01

This paper presents a surgical master-slave tele-operation system for percutaneous interventional procedures under continuous magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) guidance. This system consists of a piezoelectrically actuated slave robot for needle placement with integrated fiber optic force sensor utilizing Fabry-Perot interferometry (FPI) sensing principle. The sensor flexure is optimized and embedded to the slave robot for measuring needle insertion force. A novel, compact opto-mechanical FPI ...

PD-like controller for delayed bilateral teleoperation of wheeled robots

Science.gov (United States)

Slawiñski, E.; Mut, V.; Santiago, D.

2016-08-01

This paper proposes a proportional derivative (PD)-like controller applied to the delayed bilateral teleoperation of wheeled robots with force feedback in face of asymmetric and varying-time delays. In contrast to bilateral teleoperation of manipulator robots, in these systems, there is a mismatch between the models of the master and slave (mobile robot), problem that is approached in this work, where the system stability is analysed. From this study, it is possible to infer the control parameters, depending on the time delay, necessary to assure stability. Finally, the performance of the delayed teleoperation system is evaluated through tests where a human operator drives a 3D simulator as well as a mobile robot for pushing objects.

Control issues for a hydraulically powered dissimilar teleoperated system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jansen, J.F.; Kress, R.L.

1995-01-01

This paper will address two issues associated with the implementation of a hydraulically powered dissimilar master-slave teleoperated system. These issues are the overall system control architecture and the design of robust hydraulic servo controllers for the position control problem. Finally, a discussion of overall system performance on an actual teleoperated system will be presented. (Schilling's Titan II hydraulic manipulators are the slave manipulators and the master manipulators are from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory-developed Advanced Servo Manipulator.)

The development of robotic system for the nuclear power plants - A study on the manipulation of teleoperation system using redundant robot

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Chung Oh; Cho, Hyung Seok; Jang, Pyung Hoon; Park, Ki Chul; Hyun, Jang Hwan; Kim, Joo Gon; Park, Young Joon; Hwang, Woong Tae; Jeon, Yong Soo; Lee, Joo Yeon; Ahn, Kyung Mo [Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

1996-07-01

In this project the following 4 sub- projects have been studied for use in nuclear power plants. 1) Development of precision control method for the hydraulic and pneumatic actuators: The fuzzy gain tuner for the pneumatic servo position control system with the state feedback controller was designed= by using the professional knowledge. Through the experimental study, this control method was verified to obtain the optimal fain automatically. 2) Development of an universal master arm and force reflecting teleoperation system: An autonomous telerobot system with a vision based force reflection capability was developed. To effectly implement visual force feedback, 3 different control methods were also developed. 3) A study on the analysis and control of the redundant robot manipulator: An optimal joint-path of 8-DOF redundant KAEROT for the nozzle dam task was generated and its effectiveness and safety was verified by using graphic/animation tool. The proposed dynamic control algorithm for the redundant robot was applied to the experiment of planar 3- DOF redundant robot, showing good performance. 4) A study on the robot/user interface design: A set of final design and its console table was developed, which has metaphorical identity and user-friendly interface and a study mock-up was also developed to identify the possibility in a clear form. 33 refs., 3 tabs., 11 figs. (author)

A Ground-Based Validation System of Teleoperation for a Space Robot

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xueqian Wang

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Teleoperation of space robots is very important for future on-orbit service. In order to assure the task is accomplished successfully, ground experiments are required to verify the function and validity of the teleoperation system before a space robot is launched. In this paper, a ground-based validation subsystem is developed as a part of a teleoperation system. The subsystem is mainly composed of four parts: the input verification module, the onboard verification module, the dynamic and image workstation, and the communication simulator. The input verification module, consisting of hardware and software of the master, is used to verify the input ability. The onboard verification module, consisting of the same hardware and software as the onboard processor, is used to verify the processor's computing ability and execution schedule. In addition, the dynamic and image workstation calculates the dynamic response of the space robot and target, and generates emulated camera images, including the hand-eye cameras, global-vision camera and rendezvous camera. The communication simulator provides fidelity communication conditions, i.e., time delays and communication bandwidth. Lastly, we integrated a teleoperation system and conducted many experiments on the system. Experiment results show that the ground system is very useful for verified teleoperation technology.

Operation Modes and Control Schemes for Internet-Based Teleoperation System with Time Delay

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

曾庆军; 宋爱国

2003-01-01

Teleoperation system plays an important role in executing task under hazard environment. As the computer networks such as the Internet are being used as the communication channel of teleoperation system, varying time delay causes the overall system unstable and reduces the performance of transparency. This paper proposed twelve operation modes with different control schemes for teleoperation on the Internet with time delay. And an optimal operation mode with control scheme was specified for teleoperation with time delay, based on the tradeoff between passivity and transparency properties. It experimentally confirmed the validity of the proposed optimal mode and control scheme by using a simple one DOF master-slave manipulator system.

Power and signal transmission for mobile teleoperated systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morris, A.C. Jr.; Hamel, W.R.

1985-01-01

Appropriate means must be furnished for supplying power and for sending controlling commands to mobile teleoperated systems. Because a sizable number of possibilities are available for such applications, methods used in designing both the power and communications systems built into mobile vehicles that serve in radiological emergencies must be carefully selected. This paper describes a number of umbilical, on-board, and wireless systems used in tranmitting power that are available for mobile teleoperator services. The pros and cons of selecting appropriate methods from a list of possible communication systems (wired, fiber optic, and radio frequency) are also examined. Moreover, hybrid systems combining wireless power transmissions with command-information signals are also possible

Modeling Human Steering Behavior During Path Following in Teleoperation of Unmanned Ground Vehicles.

Science.gov (United States)

Mirinejad, Hossein; Jayakumar, Paramsothy; Ersal, Tulga

2018-04-01

This paper presents a behavioral model representing the human steering performance in teleoperated unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs). Human steering performance in teleoperation is considerably different from the performance in regular onboard driving situations due to significant communication delays in teleoperation systems and limited information human teleoperators receive from the vehicle sensory system. Mathematical models capturing the teleoperation performance are a key to making the development and evaluation of teleoperated UGV technologies fully simulation based and thus more rapid and cost-effective. However, driver models developed for the typical onboard driving case do not readily address this need. To fill the gap, this paper adopts a cognitive model that was originally developed for a typical highway driving scenario and develops a tuning strategy that adjusts the model parameters in the absence of human data to reflect the effect of various latencies and UGV speeds on driver performance in a teleoperated path-following task. Based on data collected from a human subject test study, it is shown that the tuned model can predict both the trend of changes in driver performance for different driving conditions and the best steering performance of human subjects in all driving conditions considered. The proposed model with the tuning strategy has a satisfactory performance in predicting human steering behavior in the task of teleoperated path following of UGVs. The established model is a suited candidate to be used in place of human drivers for simulation-based studies of UGV mobility in teleoperation systems.

Manipulators in teleoperation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hamel, W.R.

1985-01-01

Teleoperated manipulators represent a mature technology which has evolved over nearly 40 years of applications experience. The wide range of manipulator concepts developed thus far reflect differing applications, priorities, and philosophies. The technology of teleoperated manipulators is in a rapid state of change (just as are industrial robotics) fueled by microelectronics and materials advances. Large strides in performance and dexterity are now practical and advantageous. Even though improved controls and sensory feedback will increase functionality, overall costs should be reduced as manipulator fabrication and assembly labor costs are reduced through improved manufacturing technology. As these advances begin to materialize, broader applications in nonnuclear areas should occur

Human Machine Interfaces for Teleoperators and Virtual Environments Conference

Science.gov (United States)

1990-01-01

In a teleoperator system the human operator senses, moves within, and operates upon a remote or hazardous environment by means of a slave mechanism (a mechanism often referred to as a teleoperator). In a virtual environment system the interactive human machine interface is retained but the slave mechanism and its environment are replaced by a computer simulation. Video is replaced by computer graphics. The auditory and force sensations imparted to the human operator are similarly computer generated. In contrast to a teleoperator system, where the purpose is to extend the operator's sensorimotor system in a manner that facilitates exploration and manipulation of the physical environment, in a virtual environment system, the purpose is to train, inform, alter, or study the human operator to modify the state of the computer and the information environment. A major application in which the human operator is the target is that of flight simulation. Although flight simulators have been around for more than a decade, they had little impact outside aviation presumably because the application was so specialized and so expensive.

Providing haptic feedback in robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery: a direct optical force-sensing solution for haptic rendering of deformable bodies.

Science.gov (United States)

Ehrampoosh, Shervin; Dave, Mohit; Kia, Michael A; Rablau, Corneliu; Zadeh, Mehrdad H

2013-01-01

This paper presents an enhanced haptic-enabled master-slave teleoperation system which can be used to provide force feedback to surgeons in minimally invasive surgery (MIS). One of the research goals was to develop a combined-control architecture framework that included both direct force reflection (DFR) and position-error-based (PEB) control strategies. To achieve this goal, it was essential to measure accurately the direct contact forces between deformable bodies and a robotic tool tip. To measure the forces at a surgical tool tip and enhance the performance of the teleoperation system, an optical force sensor was designed, prototyped, and added to a robot manipulator. The enhanced teleoperation architecture was formulated by developing mathematical models for the optical force sensor, the extended slave robot manipulator, and the combined-control strategy. Human factor studies were also conducted to (a) examine experimentally the performance of the enhanced teleoperation system with the optical force sensor, and (b) study human haptic perception during the identification of remote object deformability. The first experiment was carried out to discriminate deformability of objects when human subjects were in direct contact with deformable objects by means of a laparoscopic tool. The control parameters were then tuned based on the results of this experiment using a gain-scheduling method. The second experiment was conducted to study the effectiveness of the force feedback provided through the enhanced teleoperation system. The results show that the force feedback increased the ability of subjects to correctly identify materials of different deformable types. In addition, the virtual force feedback provided by the teleoperation system comes close to the real force feedback experienced in direct MIS. The experimental results provide design guidelines for choosing and validating the control architecture and the optical force sensor.

Robustly stable adaptive control of a tandem of master-slave robotic manipulators with force reflection by using a multiestimation scheme.

Science.gov (United States)

Ibeas, Asier; de la Sen, Manuel

2006-10-01

The problem of controlling a tandem of robotic manipulators composing a teleoperation system with force reflection is addressed in this paper. The final objective of this paper is twofold: 1) to design a robust control law capable of ensuring closed-loop stability for robots with uncertainties and 2) to use the so-obtained control law to improve the tracking of each robot to its corresponding reference model in comparison with previously existing controllers when the slave is interacting with the obstacle. In this way, a multiestimation-based adaptive controller is proposed. Thus, the master robot is able to follow more accurately the constrained motion defined by the slave when interacting with an obstacle than when a single-estimation-based controller is used, improving the transparency property of the teleoperation scheme. The closed-loop stability is guaranteed if a minimum residence time, which might be updated online when unknown, between different controller parameterizations is respected. Furthermore, the analysis of the teleoperation and stability capabilities of the overall scheme is carried out. Finally, some simulation examples showing the working of the multiestimation scheme complete this paper.

Pseudo-Haptic Feedback in Teleoperation.

Science.gov (United States)

Neupert, Carsten; Matich, Sebastian; Scherping, Nick; Kupnik, Mario; Werthschutzky, Roland; Hatzfeld, Christian

2016-01-01

In this paper, we develop possible realizations of pseudo-haptic feedback in teleoperation systems based on existing works for pseudo-haptic feedback in virtual reality and the intended applications. We derive four potential factors affecting the performance of haptic feedback (calculation operator, maximum displacement, offset force, and scaling factor), which are analyzed in three compliance identification experiments. First, we analyze the principle usability of pseudo-haptic feedback by comparing information transfer measures for teleoperation and direct interaction. Pseudo-haptic interaction yields well above-chance performance, while direct interaction performs almost perfectly. In order to optimize pseudo-haptic feedback, in the second study we perform a full-factorial experimental design with 36 subjects performing 6,480 trials with 36 different treatments. Information transfer ranges from 0.68 bit to 1.72 bit in a task with a theoretical maximum of 2.6 bit, with a predominant effect of the calculation operator and a minor effect of the maximum displacement. In a third study, short- and long-term learning effects are analyzed. Learning effects regarding the performance of pseudo-haptic feedback cannot be observed for single-day experiments. Tests over 10 days show a maximum increase in information transfer of 0.8 bit. The results show the feasibility of pseudo-haptic feedback for teleoperation and can be used as design basis for task-specific systems.

Internet Teleoperation of a Robot with Streaming Buffer System under Varying Time Delays

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Jahng-Hyon; Shin, Wanjae

It is known that existence of irregular transmission time delay is a major bottleneck for application of advanced robot control schemes to internet telerobotic systems. In the internet teleoperation system, the irregular transmission time delay causes a critical problem, which includes instability and inaccuracy. This paper suggests a practical internet teleoperation system with streaming buffer system, which consists of a buffer, a buffer manager, and a control timer. The proposed system converts the irregular transmission time delay to a constant. So, the system effectively transmits the control input to a remote site to operate a robot stably and accurately. This feature enables short control input intervals. That means the entire system has a large control bandwidth. The validity of the proposed method is demonstrated by experiments of teleoperation from USC (University of Southern California in U. S.A.) to HYU (Hanyang Univ. in Korea) through the Internet. The proposed method is also demonstrated by experiments of teleoperation through the wireless internet.

The evolution of teleoperated manipulators at ORNL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kress, R.L.; Jansen, J.F.; Noakes, M.W.; Herndon, J.N.

1996-01-01

ORNL has made significant contributions to teleoperator and telerobotics technology for two decades and continues with an aggressive program today. Examples of past projects are: (1) the M2 servomanipulator, which was the first digitally controlled teleoperator; (2) the Advanced Servomanipulator (ASM), which was the first remotely maintainable teleoperator; (3) the CESARm/Kraft dissimilar teleoperated system; and (4) the Laboratory Telerobotic Manipulator (LTM), a 7-Degree-of-Freedom (7-DOF) telerobot built as a prototype for work in space. More recently, ORNL has become heavily involved with Environmental Restoration and Waste Management (ERWM) robotics programs funded by the Department of Energy (DOE). The ERWM program requires high payloads and high dexterity. As a result, a hydraulically actuated, dual-arm system comprised of two 6-DOF arms mounted on a 5-DOF base has been constructed and is being used today for various research tasks and for decontamination and dismantlement activities. All of these teleoperated manipulator systems build upon the experiences gained throughout the almost two decades of development. Each system incorporates not only the latest technology in computers, sensors, and electronics, but each new . system also adds at least one new feature to the technologies already developed and demonstrated in the previous system(s). As a result of this process, a serious study of these manipulator systems is a study in the evolution of teleoperated manipulator the systems in general. This provides insight not only into the research and development paths chosen in the past, but also into the appropriate directions for future teleoperator and telerobotics research. This paper examines each of the teleoperated/telerobotic systems developed at ORNL, summarizes their features and capabilities, examines the state of the most current telerobotic system (the Dual Arm Work Module), PM provides direction for a Next Generation Telerobotic Manipulator system

Using virtual objects to aid underground storage tank teleoperation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anderson, R.J.; Davies, B.

1994-01-01

In this paper we describe an algorithm by which obstructions and surface features in an underground storage tank can be modeled and used to generate virtual barrier function for a real-time telerobotic system, which provides an aid to the operator for both real-time obstacle avoidance and for surface tracking. The algorithm requires that the slave's tool and every object in the waste storage tank be decomposed into convex polyhedral primitives, with the waste surface modeled by triangular prisms. Intrusion distance and extraction vectors are then derived at every time step by applying Gilbert's polyhedra distance algorithm, which has been adapted for the task. This information is then used to determine the compression and location of nonlinear virtual spring-dampers whose total force is summed and applied to the manipulator/teleoperator system. Experimental results using a PUMA 560 and a simulated waste surface validate the approach, showing that it is possible to compute the algorithm and generate smooth, realistic pseudo forces for the teleoperator system using standard VME bus hardware

Teleoperation system using Asynchronous transfer mode, ATM network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohd Dani Baba; A Nasoruddin Mohamad

1999-01-01

This paper examines the application of Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) in a distributed industrial environment such as in teleoperation, which performs real time control manipulation from a remote location. In our study, two models of teleoperation are proposed; the first model is a point to point connection and the second model is through an ATM network. The performance results are analysed as to determine whether the two models can support the teleoperation traffics via simulation using commercial software design tool. (Author)

An Intuitive Robot Teleoperation System for Nuclear Power Plant Decommissioning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Chang-hyuk; Gu, Taehyeong; Lee, Kyung-min; Ye, Sung-Joon; Bang, Young-bong

2017-01-01

A robot teleoperation system consists of a master device and a slave robot. The master device senses human intention and delivers it to the salve robot. A haptic device and an exoskeletal robot are widely used as the master device. The slave robot carries out operations delivered by the master device. It should guarantee enough degree of freedom (DOF) to perform the instructed operation and mobility in the environment inside the nuclear plant, such as flat surfaces and stairs. A 7-DOF robotic arm is commonly used as the slave device. This paper proposed a robot teleoperation system for nuclear power plant decommissioning. It discussed an experiment that was performed to validate the system's usability. The operator wearing the exoskeletal master device at the master site controlled the slave robot enabling it to move on a flat surface, climb/descend stairs, and move obstacles. The proposed robot teleoperation system can also be used in hazardous working environments where the use of such robots would be beneficial to human health and safety. In the future, research studies on the protection against radiation that damages the slave robot should be conducted.

Advanced instrumentation and teleoperation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Decreton, M.

1998-01-01

SCK-CEN's advanced instrumentation and teleoperation project aims at evaluating the potential of a telerobotic approach in a nuclear environment and, in particular, the use of remote-perception systems. Main achievements in 1997 in the areas of R and D on radiation tolerance for remote sensing, optical fibres and optical-fibre sensors, and computer-aided teleoperation are reported

Design of teleoperated robot system for nozzle dam maintenance in steam generator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Chang-Hoi; Hwang, Suk-Young; Lee, Young-Gwang; Kim, Byung-Soo; Kim, Seung-Ho; Lee, Jong-Min

1994-01-01

The recent development of teleoperated manipulator system in KAERI is presented. The manipulator system is composed of master-slave arm and control system with VME based hierarchical structure. Supervisory control part with graphic workstation provides affluent visual information to human operator. This robot can be operated either in the teleoperation mode with master-slave or in the program mode running by computer system itself to enable installation or removal of nozzle dam appropriately within a water chamber of steam generator. Evaluation and analysis have been carried out to get optimal parameters of the robot. (author)

System for intelligent teleoperation research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Orlando, N.E.

1983-01-01

The Automation Technology Branch of NASA Langley Research Center is developing a research capability in the field of artificial intelligence, particularly as applicable in teleoperator/robotics development for remote space operations. As a testbed for experimentation in these areas, a system concept has been developed and is being implemented. This system, termed DAISIE (Distributed Artificially Intelligent System for Interacting with the Environment), interfaces the key processes of perception, reasoning, and manipulation by linking hardware sensors and manipulators to a modular artificial intelligence (AI) software system in a hierarchical control structure. Verification experiments have been performed: one experiment used a blocksworld database and planner embedded in the DAISIE system to intelligently manipulate a simple physical environment; the other experiment implemented a joint-space collision avoidance algorithm. Continued system development is planned

Assisted supervision of a computer aided tele-operation system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Le Bars, H; Gravez, P; Fournier, R

1994-12-31

This paper talks about Computer Aided Tele-operation (CAT) in dismantling and maintenance of nuclear plants. The current research orientations at CEA, basic concepts of the supervision assistance system and the realisation of a prototype are presented. (TEC). 3 refs., 4 figs.

Assisted supervision of a computer aided tele-operation system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Le Bars, H.; Gravez, P.; Fournier, R.

1994-01-01

This paper talks about Computer Aided Tele-operation (CAT) in dismantling and maintenance of nuclear plants. The current research orientations at CEA, basic concepts of the supervision assistance system and the realisation of a prototype are presented. (TEC). 3 refs., 4 figs

Imposing motion constraints to a force reflecting tele-robot through real-time simulation of a virtual mechanism

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Joly, L.; Andriot, C.

1995-12-31

In a tele-operation system, assistance can be given to the operator by constraining the tele-robot position to remain within a restricted subspace of its workspace. A new approach to motion constraint is presented in this paper. The control law is established simulating a virtual ideal mechanism acting as a jig, and connected to the master and slave arms via springs and dampers. Using this approach, it is possible to impose any (sufficiently smooth) motion constraint to the system, including non linear constraints (complex surfaces) involving coupling between translations and rotations and physical equivalence ensures that the controller is passive. Experimental results obtained with a 6-DOF tele-operation system are given. Other applications of the virtual mechanism concept include hybrid position-force control and haptic interfaces. (authors). 11 refs., 7 figs.

Imposing motion constraints to a force reflecting tele-robot through real-time simulation of a virtual mechanism

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Joly, L.; Andriot, C.

1995-01-01

In a tele-operation system, assistance can be given to the operator by constraining the tele-robot position to remain within a restricted subspace of its workspace. A new approach to motion constraint is presented in this paper. The control law is established simulating a virtual ideal mechanism acting as a jig, and connected to the master and slave arms via springs and dampers. Using this approach, it is possible to impose any (sufficiently smooth) motion constraint to the system, including non linear constraints (complex surfaces) involving coupling between translations and rotations and physical equivalence ensures that the controller is passive. Experimental results obtained with a 6-DOF tele-operation system are given. Other applications of the virtual mechanism concept include hybrid position-force control and haptic interfaces. (authors). 11 refs., 7 figs

New tools for C.A.D. of input devices for tele-operation with force feedback

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gosselin, F.

2000-01-01

The performances of a tele-operation system are related to the master arm's ability to emulate the behavior of the remote environment. Ideally, it allows the operator to control the slave arm in a natural way as if that were an extension of its own body. The criteria to be checked for that are known but contradictory. It is thus necessary to make trade-offs on which there is not consensus. Existing input devices are therefore very varied thus more or less adapted to the tasks considered, which is in general checked a posteriori. In this document, we propose an original approach allowing to dimension the master arm a priori according to the use which one wishes to make. For that, we developed two tools: - the first one makes it possible to establish his specifications by taking account of the transmission of information between the operator and the slave arm. By exploiting their respective limitations, one is assured that the master arm will not limit the performances of the system, - the second one allows to design it (kinematics, size, motorization... ) according to the preceding specifications. For that, we use well-known theoretical tools which however are approached here as design tools. This leads to the definition of new concepts which do not appear in the literature. This approach is used to establish the specifications of a master arm for nuclear and offshore tele-operation then to design two input devices answering these specifications. The first has 3 degrees of freedom with force feedback. Its performances are higher than those of the best existing input devices. The second is a mock-up of a 6 degrees of freedom master arm. It uses a new parallel structure that is redundant in actuation and whose performances are remarkable. (author) [fr

Mobile robot teleoperation system for plant inspection based on collecting and utilizing environment data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kawabata, Kuniaki; Watanabe, Nobuyasu; Asama, Hajime; Kita, Nobuyuki; Yang, Hai-quan

2004-01-01

This paper describes about development of a mobile robot teleoperation system for plant inspection. In our system, the robot is an agent for collecting the environment data and is also teleoperated by the operator utilizing such accumulated environment data which is displayed on the operation interface. The robot equips many sensors for detecting the state of the robot and the environment. Such redundant sensory system can be also utilized to collect the working environment data on-site while the robot is patrolling. Here, proposed system introduces the framework of collecting and utilizing environment data for adaptive plant inspection using the teleoperated robot. A view simulator is primarily aiming to facilitate evaluation of the visual sensors and algorithms and is also extended as the Environment Server, which is the core technology of the digital maintenance field for the plant inspection. In order to construct detailed seamless digital maintenance field mobile robotic technology is utilized to supply environment data to the server. The sensory system on the robot collect the environment data on-site and such collected data is uploaded to the Environment Server for compiling accurate digital environment data base. The robot operator also can utilize accumulated environment data by referring to the Environment Server. In this paper, we explain the concept of our teleoperation system based on collecting and utilizing environment data. Using developed system, inspection patrol experiments were attempted in the plant mock-up. Experimental results are shown by using an omnidirectional mobile robot with sensory system and the Environment Server. (author)

Towards multi-platform software architecture for Collaborative Teleoperation

Science.gov (United States)

Domingues, Christophe; Otmane, Samir; Davesne, Frederic; Mallem, Malik

2009-03-01

Augmented Reality (AR) can provide to a Human Operator (HO) a real help in achieving complex tasks, such as remote control of robots and cooperative teleassistance. Using appropriate augmentations, the HO can interact faster, safer and easier with the remote real world. In this paper, we present an extension of an existing distributed software and network architecture for collaborative teleoperation based on networked human-scaled mixed reality and mobile platform. The first teleoperation system was composed by a VR application and a Web application. However the 2 systems cannot be used together and it is impossible to control a distant robot simultaneously. Our goal is to update the teleoperation system to permit a heterogeneous collaborative teleoperation between the 2 platforms. An important feature of this interface is based on the use of different Virtual Reality platforms and different Mobile platforms to control one or many robots.

Towards multi-platform software architecture for Collaborative Teleoperation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Domingues, Christophe; Otmane, Samir; Davesne, Frederic; Mallem, Malik

2009-01-01

Augmented Reality (AR) can provide to a Human Operator (HO) a real help in achieving complex tasks, such as remote control of robots and cooperative teleassistance. Using appropriate augmentations, the HO can interact faster, safer and easier with the remote real world. In this paper, we present an extension of an existing distributed software and network architecture for collaborative teleoperation based on networked human-scaled mixed reality and mobile platform. The first teleoperation system was composed by a VR application and a Web application. However the 2 systems cannot be used together and it is impossible to control a distant robot simultaneously. Our goal is to update the teleoperation system to permit a heterogeneous collaborative teleoperation between the 2 platforms. An important feature of this interface is based on the use of different Virtual Reality platforms and different Mobile platforms to control one or many robots.

Wave impedance selection for passivity-based bilateral teleoperation

Science.gov (United States)

D'Amore, Nicholas John

When a task must be executed in a remote or dangerous environment, teleoperation systems may be employed to extend the influence of the human operator. In the case of manipulation tasks, haptic feedback of the forces experienced by the remote (slave) system is often highly useful in improving an operator's ability to perform effectively. In many of these cases (especially teleoperation over the internet and ground-to-space teleoperation), substantial communication latency exists in the control loop and has the strong tendency to cause instability of the system. The first viable solution to this problem in the literature was based on a scattering/wave transformation from transmission line theory. This wave transformation requires the designer to select a wave impedance parameter appropriate to the teleoperation system. It is widely recognized that a small value of wave impedance is well suited to free motion and a large value is preferable for contact tasks. Beyond this basic observation, however, very little guidance exists in the literature regarding the selection of an appropriate value. Moreover, prior research on impedance selection generally fails to account for the fact that in any realistic contact task there will simultaneously exist contact considerations (perpendicular to the surface of contact) and quasi-free-motion considerations (parallel to the surface of contact). The primary contribution of the present work is to introduce an approximate linearized optimum for the choice of wave impedance and to apply this quasi-optimal choice to the Cartesian reality of such a contact task, in which it cannot be expected that a given joint will be either perfectly normal to or perfectly parallel to the motion constraint. The proposed scheme selects a wave impedance matrix that is appropriate to the conditions encountered by the manipulator. This choice may be implemented as a static wave impedance value or as a time-varying choice updated according to the

Semiautonomous teleoperation system with vision guidance

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Wai; Pretlove, John R. G.

1998-12-01

This paper describes the ongoing research work on developing a telerobotic system in Mechatronic Systems and Robotics Research group at the University of Surrey. As human operators' manual control of remote robots always suffer from reduced performance and difficulties in perceiving information from the remote site, a system with a certain level of intelligence and autonomy will help to solve some of these problems. Thus, this system has been developed for this purpose. It also serves as an experimental platform to test the idea of using the combination of human and computer intelligence in teleoperation and finding out the optimum balance between them. The system consists of a Polhemus- based input device, a computer vision sub-system and a graphical user interface which communicates the operator with the remote robot. The system description is given in this paper as well as the preliminary experimental results of the system evaluation.

Integration of force reflection with tactile sensing for minimally invasive robotics-assisted tumor localization.

Science.gov (United States)

Talasaz, A; Patel, R V

2013-01-01

Tactile sensing and force reflection have been the subject of considerable research for tumor localization in soft-tissue palpation. The work presented in this paper investigates the relevance of force feedback (presented visually as well as directly) during tactile sensing (presented visually only) for tumor localization using an experimental setup close to one that could be applied for real robotics-assisted minimally invasive surgery. The setup is a teleoperated (master-slave) system facilitated with a state-of-the-art minimally invasive probe with a rigidly mounted tactile sensor at the tip and an externally mounted force sensor at the base of the probe. The objective is to capture the tactile information and measure the interaction forces between the probe and tissue during palpation and to explore how they can be integrated to improve the performance of tumor localization. To quantitatively explore the effect of force feedback on tactile sensing tumor localization, several experiments were conducted by human subjects to locate artificial tumors embedded in the ex vivo bovine livers. The results show that using tactile sensing in a force-controlled environment can realize, on average, 57 percent decrease in the maximum force and 55 percent decrease in the average force applied to tissue while increasing the tumor detection accuracy by up to 50 percent compared to the case of using tactile feedback alone. The results also show that while visual presentation of force feedback gives straightforward quantitative measures, improved performance of tactile sensing tumor localization is achieved at the expense of longer times for the user. Also, the quickness and intuitive data mapping of direct force feedback makes it more appealing to experienced users.

Robot technology. Vol. 3B. Teleoperation and robotics: applications and technology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vertut, J; Coiffet, P

1985-01-01

Teleoperation is concerned with the exploration and exploitation of of spaces which do not allow, because of their inaccessibility or hostility, direct access to man. This volume (Parts 2, 3 and 4) covers the contribution of computer science and automatic control to this technology. Part 2 includes a description of teleoperation systems followed by chapters on the operator substitution function by computer feedback to the operator. Part 3 has chapters on performance evaluation of teleoperation systems and the human operator in the teleoperation system. Part 4 is about applications of teleoperation in the nuclear industry, underwater, in space, in medicine, in industry and in security and civil protection. The nuclear applications include research and pilot facilities, reactor operation and maintenance, reactor decommissioning and dismantling and in emergencies, for example following a reactor accident. (U.K.).

Research of a New 6-Dof Force Feedback Hand Controller System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xin Gao

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The field of teleoperation with force telepresence has expanded its scope to include manipulation at different scales and in virtual worlds, and the key component of which is force feedback hand controller. This paper presents a novel force feedback hand controller system, including a 3-dof translational and 3-dof rotational hand controllers, respectively, to implement position and posture teleoperation of the robot end effector. The 3-dof translational hand controller adopts innovative three-axes decoupling structure based on the linear motor; the 3-dof rotational hand controller adopts serial mechanism based on three-axes intersecting at one point, improving its overall stiffness. Based on the kinematics, statics, and dynamics analyses for two platforms separately, the system applies big closed-loop force control method based on the zero force/torque, improving the feedback force/torque accuracy effectively. Experimental results show that self-developed 6-dof force feedback hand controller has good mechanical properties. The translational hand controller has the following advantages: simple kinematics solver, fast dynamic response, and better than 0.05 mm accuracy of three-axis end positioning, while the advantages of the rotational hand controller are wide turning space, larger than 1 Nm feedback, greater than 180 degrees of operating space of three axes, respectively, and high operation precision.

Trust between man and machine in a teleoperation system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dassonville, I.; Jolly, D.; Desodt, A.M.

1996-01-01

The work we present deals with the trust of man in a teleoperation system. Trust is important because it is linked to stress which modifies human reliability. We are trying to quantify trust. In this paper, we'll present the theory of trust in relationships, and its extension for a man-machine system. Then, we explain the links between trust and human reliability. Then, we introduce our experimental process and the first results concerning selfconfidence

Robotics and tele-operation technology for applications in nuclear fields

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kosuge, Kazuhiro; Hirata, Yasuhisa; Takeo, Koji

2002-01-01

In this article, we introduce available robotics and tele-operation technology for applications in Nuclear Fields. First, robotics technology for manipulation of a large object is introduced which has been experimentally applied to ITER Maintenance Robot. Then, transportation technology of a large object by multiple mobile robots is reviewed. At last, recent tele-operation technologies and a prototype tele-operation system, referred to as VISIT (Visual Interface System for Interactive Task-execution), is introduced. Several experimental results are also introduced. (author)

Mobile teleoperator remote sensing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hall, E.L.

1986-01-01

Sensing systems are an important element of mobile teleoperators and robots. This paper discusses certain problems and limitations of vision and other sensing systems with respect to operations in a radiological accident environment. Methods which appear promising for near-term improvements to sensor technology are described. 3 refs

Teleoperation and computer control of a backhoe/manipulator system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amazeen, C.A.; Bishop, S.S.

1987-01-01

Teleoperation of the U.S. Army's Small Emplacement Excavator (SEE) is now in the prototype stage of development. Initial work is directed towards remotely controlling the SEE backhoe attachment as well as a Belvoir Research, Development, and Engineering Center (BRDEC)-developed heavy-lift manipulator (HLM). The HLM is an alternate end effector for the backhoe. Primitive computer control of the backhoe, with a bucket as an end effector, has been achieved. This paper presents the current and planned system configurations and discusses system applications

Mobile teleoperator research at Savannah River Laboratory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Byrd, J.S.

1985-01-01

A Robotics Technology Group was organized at Savannah River Laboratory to employ modern automation and robotics for applications at the Savannah River site. Several industrial robots have been installed in plant processes. Other robotics systems are under development in the laboratories, including mobile teleoperators for general remote tasks and emergency response operations. This paper discusses present work on a low-cost wheeled mobile vehicle, a modular light duty manipulator arm, a large gantry telerobot system, and a high technology six-legged walking robot with a teleoperated arm

Human factors activities in teleoperator development at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Draper, J.V.; Herndon, J.N.

1986-01-01

The Consolidated Fuel Reprocessing Program (CFRP) at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory is developing advanced teleoperator systems for maintenance of future nuclear reprocessing facilities. Remote maintenance systems developed by the CFRP emphasize man-in-the-loop teleoperation. Consequently, human factors issues which affect teleoperator performance must be addressed. This papers surveys research and development activities carried out by the human factors group within the Remote Control Engineering Task of the CFRP

Social Inclusion of Senior Citizens by a Teleoperated Android

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yamazaki, Ryuji; Nishio, Shuichi; Ishiguro, Hiroshi

As populations continue to age, there is a growing need for assistive technologies that help senior citizens maintain their autonomy and enjoy their lives. We explore the potential of teleoperated androids, which are embodied telecommunication media with humanlike appearances. Our exploratory study...... focused on the social aspects of Telenoid, a teleoperated android designed as a minimalistic human, which might facilitate communica- tion between senior citizens and its operators. We con- ducted cross-cultural field trials in Japan and Denmark by introducing Telenoid into care facilities and the pri......- vate homes of seniors to observe how they responded to it. In Japan, we set up a teleoperation system in an elemen- tary school and investigated how it shaped communica- tion through the internet between the elderly in a care facility and the children who acted as teleoperators. In both countries...

Telepresence and teleoperation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parsons, H.M.

1990-01-01

Some developers of mobile teleoperators for remote systems have been emphasizing telepresence as an important design consideration. This paper discusses what that term means and what it implies for human/machine interfaces from a human factors viewpoint. In general, telepresence means designing a control station's equipment so an operator has a sense of presence at the remote manipulator or vehicle being controlled

Teleoperation over low bandwidth communication links

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fryer, R.J.; Mair, G.M.; Clark, N.; Heng, J.

1996-01-01

Teleoperation is well established for many areas of hazardous environment working. Where such environments are well structured and contained, such as within a working plant, communications bandwidths need not be a constraining factor. However where the worksite is remote, large, poorly structured or damaged communications rapidly become a critical factor in the efficient deployment and use of teleoperation equipment. The paper justifies and describes means which we are exploring to reduce the required communications bandwidth for teleoperation whist retaining full functionality. Techniques involved include incorporation of local intelligence at the worksite, with bandwidth devoted to high-level up-link control signals and down-link feedback, and the use of highly compressed video feeding 'virtual reality type' HMDs to provide maximum system transparency for the operator. The work is drawing on previous experience with an 'anthropomorphic robot heat' for telepresence work, and proprietary algorithms capable of compressing full colour video to standard telephone modem data rates. (Author)

Joining teleoperation with robotics for advanced manipulation in hostile environments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martin, H.L.; Hamel, W.R.

1984-01-01

Manipulators have been used for many years to perform remote handling tasks in hazardous environments. The development history of teleoperators is reviewed, and applications around the world are summarized. The effect of computer supervisory control is discussed, and similarities between robots and teleoperator research activities are delineated. With improved control strategies and system designs, combination of positive attributes of robots with teleoperators will lead to advanced machines capable of autonomy in unstructured environments. This concept of a telerobot is introduced as a goal for future activities

Advanced remotely maintainable force-reflecting servomanipulator concept

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuban, D.P.; Martin, H.L.

1984-01-01

A remotely maintainable force-reflecting servomanipulator concept is being developed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory as part of the Consolidated Fuel Reprocessing Program. This new manipulator addresses requirements of advanced nuclear fuel reprocessing with emphasis on force reflection, remote maintainability, reliability, radiation tolerance, and corrosion resistance. The advanced servomanipulator is uniquely subdivided into remotely replaceable modules which will permit in situ manipulator repair by spare module replacement. Manipulator modularization and increased reliability are accomplished through a force transmission system that uses gears and torque tubes. Digital control algorithms and mechanical precision are used to offset the increased backlash, friction, and inertia resulting from the gear drives. This results in the first remotely maintainable force-reflecting servomanipulator in the world. 10 references, 4 figures, 1 table

Fuzzy Logic Supervised Teleoperation Control for Mobile Robot

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

无

2008-01-01

The supervised teleoperation control is presented for a mobile robot to implement the tasks by using fuzzy logic. The teleoperation control system includes joystick based user interaction mechanism, the high level instruction set and fuzzy logic behaviors integrated in a supervised autonomy teleoperation control system for indoor navigation. These behaviors include left wall following, right wall following, turn left, turn right, left obstacle avoidance, right obstacle avoidance and corridor following based on ultrasonic range finders data. The robot compares the instructive high level command from the operator and relays back a suggestive signal back to the operator in case of mismatch between environment and instructive command. This strategy relieves the operator's cognitive burden, handle unforeseen situations and uncertainties of environment autonomously. The effectiveness of the proposed method for navigation in an unstructured environment is verified by experiments conducted on a mobile robot equipped with only ultrasonic range finders for environment sensing.

Control for delayed bilateral teleoperation of a quadrotor.

Science.gov (United States)

Slawiñski, E; Santiago, D; Mut, V

2017-11-01

This paper proposes a cascade control scheme for delayed bilateral teleoperation of a quadcopter. The strategy transforms a 6D real quadcopter to an easy-to-teleoperate 3D virtual quadcopter. The scheme is formed by a P+d plus PID controller for each dof. The analysis based on Lyapunov theory gets as result the way to set the control parameters depending on the magnitude of the asymmetric time delays (forward and backward delays). This technic aims to reach stability, simplicity and good performance in practice. Besides, experimental tests about delayed bilateral teleoperation of a quadcopter including the proposed control scheme are shown in order to evaluate the system performance. Copyright © 2017 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Advance of the new MA 23 force reflecting manipulator system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vertut, Jean; Coiffet, Philippe; Petit, Michel

1976-01-01

This new bilateral servo manipulator system is under development since 1974, in close cooperation between different french organizations with the leadership of the Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique. This Group is facing in the same Technology different applications covering nuclear remote manipulation, undersea remote work, second generation industrial robots and manipulators for handicaped persons. Brief description of the different arms ranging from 5kg to 20kg mass capacity are given with corresponding tested performances. They all use original electric DC actuators with extremely low friction and zero backlash, with only cables and tapes. System works in different modes: the direct master slave force reflecting mode, an advanced tape recording programmer, minicomputer control, and the combined modes. Work is concentrated on full dynamic control and force control by minicomputer

Task analysis of human-in-the-loop tele-operated maintenance: What can be learned from JET?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boessenkool, H.; Thomas, J.; Heemskerk, C.J.M.; Baar, M.R. de; Steinbuch, M.; Abbink, D.A.

2014-01-01

Highlights: •Maintenance task execution at JET was analyzed to guide improvements for ITER. •A large variation in task duration was found for various operator experience levels. •Results indicate significant room for improvement for tele-operated performance. •Improvent of visual feedback and artificial guiding forces was considered promising. -- Abstract: Remote maintenance will determine the available uptime of future fusion plants such as ITER. Experience at predecessor JET showed that a human-in-the-loop tele-operated approach is crucial, although this approach entails drawbacks such as the unavoidable extensive operator training and relatively long execution times. These drawbacks are common knowledge, but little quantitative research is available to guide improvements (such as improved training methods, or active operator support systems). The aim of this paper is to identify the key areas for further improvement of tele-operated maintenance. This is achieved by a detailed task analysis based on recent maintenance at JET, using task logbooks and video data as well as interviews with experienced master–slave operators. The resulting task analysis shows the (sub)tasks that were most time-consuming and shows a large variance in time performance within operators, but also substantial differences between qualified operators with different levels of experience. The operator interviews indicate that intuitive (virtual) visual feedback and artificial (guiding) forces are promising directions for improvement. The results found in this study will be used for future research and development activities focusing on haptic guiding strategies, with the aim to further design and optimize RH maintenance systems for ITER and beyond

Coordinated control of multi-axis tasks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mc Kinnon, G.M.; King, M.L.; Runnings, D.W.

1987-01-01

The use of manipulators and the development of manipulator technology has steadily increased in recent years. Consequently, teleoperation of the remote operation of a machine or piece of equipment has also increased. Typically, teleoperation is employed in situations where the environment is dangerous or too remote for humans to work. In space exploration with the use of dextrous manipulators, teleoperation has become a critical component. This paper describes tests carried out to evaluate three man-machine interfaces with two dextrous manipulators. The three interfaces were a master/slave system with force reflection, a master slave system without force reflection, and two six degree of freedom handcontrollers. Results indicated that task accuracy was superior with the handcontrollers

An operator training simulator based on interactive virtual teleoperation: nuclear facilities maintenance applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Ki Ho; Kim, Seung Ho

1997-01-01

Remote manipulation in nuclear hazardous environment is very often complex and difficult to operate and requires excessively careful preparation. Remote slave manipulators for unstructured work are manually controlled by a human operator. Small errors made by the operator via the master manipulator during operation can cause the slave to be surffered from excessive forces and result in considerable damages to the slave iteself and its environment. In this paper, we present a prototype of an operator training simulator for use in nuclear facilities maintenance applications, as part of the ongoing Nuclear Robotics Development Program at Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI). The operator training simulator provides a means by which, in virtual task simulation, the operator can try out and train for expected remote tasks that the real slave manipulator will perform in advance. The operator interacts with both the virtual slave and task environment through the real master. Virtual interaction force feedback is provided to the operator. We also describe a man-in-the loop control scheme to realize bilateral force reflection in virtual teleoperation

Workload, flow, and telepresence during teleoperation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Draper, J.V. [Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States); Blair, L.M. [Human Machine Interfaces, Inc., Knoxville, TN (United States)

1996-04-01

There is much speculation about the relations among workload, flow, telepresence, and performance during teleoperation, but few data that provide evidence concerning them. This paper presents results an investigation conducted during completion of a pipe cutting task using a teleoperator at ORNL. Results show support for the hypothesis that telepresence is related to expenditure of attentional resources, and some support for the hypothesis that telepresence is related to flow. The discussion examines the results from an attentional resources perspective on teleoperation.

Workload, flow, and telepresence during teleoperation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Draper, J.V.; Blair, L.M.

1996-01-01

There is much speculation about the relations among workload, flow, telepresence, and performance during teleoperation, but few data that provide evidence concerning them. This paper presents results an investigation conducted during completion of a pipe cutting task using a teleoperator at ORNL. Results show support for the hypothesis that telepresence is related to expenditure of attentional resources, and some support for the hypothesis that telepresence is related to flow. The discussion examines the results from an attentional resources perspective on teleoperation

Robot technology. Vol. 3A. Teleoperation and robotics: evolution and development

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vertut, J; Coiffet, P

1985-01-01

Teleoperation is concerned with the exploration and exploitation of spaces which do not allow, because of their inaccessibility or hostility, direct access to man. This volume (Part 1) covers the advances in mastering teleoperation, using only a knowledge of mechanics. The story is one of a gradual orderly succession of creative designs over many years. Diagrams and photographs illustrate the designs. This a comprehensive coverage of the subject. Following a chapter on the background to the subject the chapters cover the classification of teleoperation systems, mechanical master-slave telemanipulators for handling radioactive materials, motorized unilateral telemanipulators with open-loop control, bilateral servo manipulators, transporters and vehicles and, finally, one on the art of teleoperation at the time of the introduction of computer science. The book has been translated from French. (U.K.).

Teleoperators: Man's Machine Partners

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Corliss, William R.

1972-01-01

This booklet is about teleoperators, a class of machines that augment man rather than replace him. Teleoperators have the ability to add to man's strength, his reach, and his ability to work in hostile environments.

An MRI-Guided Telesurgery System Using a Fabry-Perot Interferometry Force Sensor and a Pneumatic Haptic Device.

Science.gov (United States)

Su, Hao; Shang, Weijian; Li, Gang; Patel, Niravkumar; Fischer, Gregory S

2017-08-01

This paper presents a surgical master-slave teleoperation system for percutaneous interventional procedures under continuous magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) guidance. The slave robot consists of a piezoelectrically actuated 6-degree-of-freedom (DOF) robot for needle placement with an integrated fiber optic force sensor (1-DOF axial force measurement) using the Fabry-Perot interferometry (FPI) sensing principle; it is configured to operate inside the bore of the MRI scanner during imaging. By leveraging the advantages of pneumatic and piezoelectric actuation in force and position control respectively, we have designed a pneumatically actuated master robot (haptic device) with strain gauge based force sensing that is configured to operate the slave from within the scanner room during imaging. The slave robot follows the insertion motion of the haptic device while the haptic device displays the needle insertion force as measured by the FPI sensor. Image interference evaluation demonstrates that the telesurgery system presents a signal to noise ratio reduction of less than 17% and less than 1% geometric distortion during simultaneous robot motion and imaging. Teleoperated needle insertion and rotation experiments were performed to reach 10 targets in a soft tissue-mimicking phantom with 0.70 ± 0.35 mm Cartesian space error.

A CORBA-Based Control Architecture for Real-Time Teleoperation Tasks in a Developmental Humanoid Robot

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hanafiah Yussof

2011-06-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the development of new Humanoid Robot Control Architecture (HRCA platform based on Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA in a developmental biped humanoid robot for real-time teleoperation tasks. The objective is to make the control platform open for collaborative teleoperation research in humanoid robotics via the internet. Meanwhile, to generate optimal trajectory generation in bipedal walk, we proposed a real time generation of optimal gait by using Genetic Algorithms (GA to minimize the energy for humanoid robot gait. In addition, we proposed simplification of kinematical solutions to generate controlled trajectories of humanoid robot legs in teleoperation tasks. The proposed control systems and strategies was evaluated in teleoperation experiments between Australia and Japan using humanoid robot Bonten-Maru. Additionally, we have developed a user-friendly Virtual Reality (VR user interface that is composed of ultrasonic 3D mouse system and a Head Mounted Display (HMD for working coexistence of human and humanoid robot in teleoperation tasks. The teleoperation experiments show good performance of the proposed system and control, and also verified the good performance for working coexistence of human and humanoid robot.

A CORBA-Based Control Architecture for Real-Time Teleoperation Tasks in a Developmental Humanoid Robot

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hanafiah Yussof

2011-06-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the development of new Humanoid Robot Control Architecture (HRCA platform based on Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA in a developmental biped humanoid robot for real‐time teleoperation tasks. The objective is to make the control platform open for collaborative teleoperation research in humanoid robotics via the internet. Meanwhile, to generate optimal trajectory generation in bipedal walk, we proposed a real time generation of optimal gait by using Genetic Algorithms (GA to minimize the energy for humanoid robot gait. In addition, we proposed simplification of kinematical solutions to generate controlled trajectories of humanoid robot legs in teleoperation tasks. The proposed control systems and strategies was evaluated in teleoperation experiments between Australia and Japan using humanoid robot Bonten‐Maru. Additionally, we have developed a user‐ friendly Virtual Reality (VR user interface that is composed of ultrasonic 3D mouse system and a Head Mounted Display (HMD for working coexistence of human and humanoid robot in teleoperation tasks. The teleoperation experiments show good performance of the proposed system and control, and also verified the good performance for working coexistence of human and humanoid robot.

Robust Stability of Scaled-Four-Channel Teleoperation with Internet Time-Varying Delays

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emma Delgado

2016-04-01

Full Text Available We describe the application of a generic stability framework for a teleoperation system under time-varying delay conditions, as addressed in a previous work, to a scaled-four-channel (γ-4C control scheme. Described is how varying delays are dealt with by means of dynamic encapsulation, giving rise to mu-test conditions for robust stability and offering an appealing frequency technique to deal with the stability robustness of the architecture. We discuss ideal transparency problems and we adapt classical solutions so that controllers are proper, without single or double differentiators, and thus avoid the negative effects of noise. The control scheme was fine-tuned and tested for complete stability to zero of the whole state, while seeking a practical solution to the trade-off between stability and transparency in the Internet-based teleoperation. These ideas were tested on an Internet-based application with two Omni devices at remote laboratory locations via simulations and real remote experiments that achieved robust stability, while performing well in terms of position synchronization and force transparency.

Robust Stability of Scaled-Four-Channel Teleoperation with Internet Time-Varying Delays.

Science.gov (United States)

Delgado, Emma; Barreiro, Antonio; Falcón, Pablo; Díaz-Cacho, Miguel

2016-04-26

We describe the application of a generic stability framework for a teleoperation system under time-varying delay conditions, as addressed in a previous work, to a scaled-four-channel (γ-4C) control scheme. Described is how varying delays are dealt with by means of dynamic encapsulation, giving rise to mu-test conditions for robust stability and offering an appealing frequency technique to deal with the stability robustness of the architecture. We discuss ideal transparency problems and we adapt classical solutions so that controllers are proper, without single or double differentiators, and thus avoid the negative effects of noise. The control scheme was fine-tuned and tested for complete stability to zero of the whole state, while seeking a practical solution to the trade-off between stability and transparency in the Internet-based teleoperation. These ideas were tested on an Internet-based application with two Omni devices at remote laboratory locations via simulations and real remote experiments that achieved robust stability, while performing well in terms of position synchronization and force transparency.

Operator learning effects in teleoperated rendezvous & docking

Science.gov (United States)

Wilde, M.; Harder, J.; Purschke, R.

Teleoperation of spacecraft proximity operations and docking requires delicate timing and coordination of spacecraft maneuvers. Experience has shown that human operators show large performance fluctuations in these areas, which are a major factor to be addressed in operator training. In order to allow the quantification of the impact of these human fluctuations on control system performance and the human perception of this performance, a learning curve study was conducted with teleoperated final approach and docking scenarios. Over a period of ten experiment days, three test participants were tasked with repeatedly completing a set of three training scenarios. The scenarios were designed to contain different combinations of the major elements of any final approach and docking situation, and to feature an increasing difficulty level. The individual difficulty levels for the three operators furthermore differed in the level of operator support functions available in their human-machine interfaces. Operator performance in the test scenarios were evaluated in the fields approach success and precision, docking safety, and approach efficiency by a combination of recorded maneuver data and questionnaires. The results show that operator experience and the associated learning curves increase operator performance substantially, regardless of the support system used. The paper also shows that the fluctuations in operator performance and self-perception are substantial between as well as within experiment days, and must be reckoned with in teleoperation system design and mission planning.

Complete Low-Cost Implementation of a Teleoperated Control System for a Humanoid Robot

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rafael Barea

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Humanoid robotics is a field of a great research interest nowadays. This work implements a low-cost teleoperated system to control a humanoid robot, as a first step for further development and study of human motion and walking. A human suit is built, consisting of 8 sensors, 6 resistive linear potentiometers on the lower extremities and 2 digital accelerometers for the arms. The goal is to replicate the suit movements in a small humanoid robot. The data from the sensors is wirelessly transmitted via two ZigBee RF configurable modules installed on each device: the robot and the suit. Replicating the suit movements requires a robot stability control module to prevent falling down while executing different actions involving knees flexion. This is carried out via a feedback control system with an accelerometer placed on the robot’s back. The measurement from this sensor is filtered using Kalman. In addition, a two input fuzzy algorithm controlling five servo motors regulates the robot balance. The humanoid robot is controlled by a medium capacity processor and a low computational cost is achieved for executing the different algorithms. Both hardware and software of the system are based on open platforms. The successful experiments carried out validate the implementation of the proposed teleoperated system.

ANDROID BASED TELEOPERATION FOR THE FINCH ROBOT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oliver Faust

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The act of creating a robot involves systems engineering and creative problem solutions. It is about using established components to create a system that works in the natural or at least in the human environment. The current project is no exception, we have used the Robot Operating System (ROS to create an android based teleoperator application for the Finch robot. A Raspberry Pi processing platform establishes the link between the android device and the Finch robot. The most creative task, during the system design, was to translate the commands from the teleoperator application into wheel movements of the Finch robot. The translation must take into account the physical setup of the robot, including unintended negative influences, such as drag. The command translation involved a nonlinear coordinate transformation. The ROS framework enabled us to focus on that nonstandard coordinate translation task by offering a high level of abstraction and the ability to create component functionalities independently.

Experiments in teleoperator and autonomous control of space robotic vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

Alexander, Harold L.

1991-01-01

A program of research embracing teleoperator and automatic navigational control of freely flying satellite robots is presented. Current research goals include: (1) developing visual operator interfaces for improved vehicle teleoperation; (2) determining the effects of different visual interface system designs on operator performance; and (3) achieving autonomous vision-based vehicle navigation and control. This research program combines virtual-environment teleoperation studies and neutral-buoyancy experiments using a space-robot simulator vehicle currently under development. Visual-interface design options under investigation include monoscopic versus stereoscopic displays and cameras, helmet-mounted versus panel-mounted display monitors, head-tracking versus fixed or manually steerable remote cameras, and the provision of vehicle-fixed visual cues, or markers, in the remote scene for improved sensing of vehicle position, orientation, and motion.

Modular architecture for robotics and teleoperation

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Robert J.

1996-12-03

Systems and methods for modularization and discretization of real-time robot, telerobot and teleoperation systems using passive, network based control laws. Modules consist of network one-ports and two-ports. Wave variables and position information are passed between modules. The behavior of each module is decomposed into uncoupled linear-time-invariant, and coupled, nonlinear memoryless elements and then are separately discretized.

Effects of force reflection on servomanipulator task performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Draper, J.V.; Moore, W.E.; Herndon, J.N.; Weil, B.S.

1986-01-01

This paper reports results of a testing program that assessed the impact of force reflection on servomanipulator task performance. The testing program compared three force-reflection levels: 4 to 1 (four units of force on the slave produce one unit of force at the master controller), 1 to 1, and infinity to 1 (no force reflection). Time required to complete tasks, rate of occurrence of errors, the maximum force applied to task components, and variability in forces during completion of representative remote handling tasks were used as dependent variables. Operators exhibited lower error rates, lower peak forces, and more consistent application of forces using force reflection than they did without it. These data support the hypothesis that force reflection provides useful information for servomanipulator operators

Telerobotics: through-the-Internet teleoperation of the ABB IRB 2000 industrial robot

Science.gov (United States)

Alvares, Alberto J.; Caribe de Carvalho, Guilherme; Paulinyi, Luis F. d. A.; Alfaro, Sadek C. A.

1999-11-01

Robotic systems can be controlled remotely through the use of telerobotics. This work presents a through-the-internet teleoperation system for remotely operating the IRB2000 industrial robot. The IRB2000 controller allows external access through a RS232 serial communication link, which is based on a 42 function proprietary communication protocol. The proposed teleoperation system uses this communication capability by connecting it to a local area network based on TCP/IP (Transport Control Protocol/Internet Protocol). The system was implemented using a Client/Server architecture, having as server a UNIX (LINUX) platform.

Usability study of a vineyard teleoperated compost spreader.

Science.gov (United States)

Ferrari, Ester; Cavallo, Eugenio

2012-01-01

Teleoperation has been widely applied in modern industry because of a variety of advantages, such as providing replaceable surrogates for humans in dangerous or difficult working environments over long distances. In this paper, a usability evaluation study of a teleoperation system for a compost spreader robotic machine is presented. The machine has been designed for the application of compost in small and stepping parcels of hilly vineyards. Driving and working tasks can be controlled remotely by a portable piloting unit, reducing the risk for the operator in the event of machine overturning. Participants of the study were asked to perform a series of tasks and sub-tasks and to vocalize their thoughts while working with the machine. The tasks were designed to simulate typical user experience. Once all the tasks were accomplished each participant was asked to fill a questionnaire. The evaluation considered aspects such as learnability, ease of use, understandability, controllability, frustration, mental effort, distraction, clarity of presentation, perceived usefulness, temporal efficiency and machine aesthetic. Results show that usability evaluation helped detecting design deficiencies in the teleoperated compost spreader machine.

Analysis of human-in-the-loop tele-operated maintenance inspection tasks using VR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boessenkool, H.; Abbink, D.A.; Heemskerk, C.J.M.; Steinbuch, M.; Baar, M.R. de; Wildenbeest, J.G.W.; Ronden, D.; Koning, J.F.

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► Execution of tele-operated inspection tasks for ITER maintenance was analyzed. ► Human factors experiments using Virtual Reality showed to be a valuable approach. ► A large variation in time performance and number of collisions was found. ► Results indicate significant room for improvement for teleoperated free space tasks. ► A promising solution is haptic shared control: assist operator with guiding forces. -- Abstract: One of the challenges in future fusion plants such as ITER is the remote maintenance of the plant. Foreseen human-in-the-loop tele-operation is characterized by limited visual and haptic feedback from the environment, which results in degraded task performance and increased operator workload. For improved tele-operated task performance it is required to get insight in the expected tasks and problems during maintenance at ITER. By means of an exploratory human factor experiment, this paper analyses problems and bottlenecks during the execution of foreseen tele-operated maintenance at ITER, identifying most promising areas of improvement. The focus of this paper is on free space (sub)tasks where contact with the environment needs to be avoided. A group of 5 subjects was asked to carry-out an ITER related free space task (visual inspection), using a six degree of freedom master device connected to a simulated hot cell environment. The results show large variation in time performance between subjects and an increasing number of collisions for more difficult tasks, indicating room for improvement for free space (sub)tasks. The results will be used in future research on the haptic guidance strategies in the ITER Remote Handling framework

Analysis of human-in-the-loop tele-operated maintenance inspection tasks using VR

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Boessenkool, H., E-mail: h.boessenkool@differ.nl [FOM Institute DIFFER (Dutch Institute for Fundamental Energy Research), Association EURATOM-FOM, Partner in the Trilateral Euregio Cluster, PO Box 1207, 3430 BE Nieuwegein (Netherlands); Eindhoven University of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Dynamics and Control Group, PO Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven (Netherlands); Abbink, D.A. [Delft University of Technology, Faculty of 3mE, BioMechanical Engineering Department, Mekelweg 2, 2628 CD Delft (Netherlands); Heemskerk, C.J.M. [Heemskerk Innovative Technology B.V., Jonckerweg 12, 2201 DZ Noordwijk (Netherlands); Steinbuch, M. [Eindhoven University of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Dynamics and Control Group, PO Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven (Netherlands); Baar, M.R. de [FOM Institute DIFFER (Dutch Institute for Fundamental Energy Research), Association EURATOM-FOM, Partner in the Trilateral Euregio Cluster, PO Box 1207, 3430 BE Nieuwegein (Netherlands); Eindhoven University of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Dynamics and Control Group, PO Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven (Netherlands); Wildenbeest, J.G.W. [Delft University of Technology, Faculty of 3mE, BioMechanical Engineering Department, Mekelweg 2, 2628 CD Delft (Netherlands); Heemskerk Innovative Technology B.V., Jonckerweg 12, 2201 DZ Noordwijk (Netherlands); Ronden, D. [FOM Institute DIFFER (Dutch Institute for Fundamental Energy Research), Association EURATOM-FOM, Partner in the Trilateral Euregio Cluster, PO Box 1207, 3430 BE Nieuwegein (Netherlands); Koning, J.F. [Heemskerk Innovative Technology B.V., Jonckerweg 12, 2201 DZ Noordwijk (Netherlands)

2013-10-15

Highlights: ► Execution of tele-operated inspection tasks for ITER maintenance was analyzed. ► Human factors experiments using Virtual Reality showed to be a valuable approach. ► A large variation in time performance and number of collisions was found. ► Results indicate significant room for improvement for teleoperated free space tasks. ► A promising solution is haptic shared control: assist operator with guiding forces. -- Abstract: One of the challenges in future fusion plants such as ITER is the remote maintenance of the plant. Foreseen human-in-the-loop tele-operation is characterized by limited visual and haptic feedback from the environment, which results in degraded task performance and increased operator workload. For improved tele-operated task performance it is required to get insight in the expected tasks and problems during maintenance at ITER. By means of an exploratory human factor experiment, this paper analyses problems and bottlenecks during the execution of foreseen tele-operated maintenance at ITER, identifying most promising areas of improvement. The focus of this paper is on free space (sub)tasks where contact with the environment needs to be avoided. A group of 5 subjects was asked to carry-out an ITER related free space task (visual inspection), using a six degree of freedom master device connected to a simulated hot cell environment. The results show large variation in time performance between subjects and an increasing number of collisions for more difficult tasks, indicating room for improvement for free space (sub)tasks. The results will be used in future research on the haptic guidance strategies in the ITER Remote Handling framework.

Neural-adaptive control of single-master-multiple-slaves teleoperation for coordinated multiple mobile manipulators with time-varying communication delays and input uncertainties.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Zhijun; Su, Chun-Yi

2013-09-01

In this paper, adaptive neural network control is investigated for single-master-multiple-slaves teleoperation in consideration of time delays and input dead-zone uncertainties for multiple mobile manipulators carrying a common object in a cooperative manner. Firstly, concise dynamics of teleoperation systems consisting of a single master robot, multiple coordinated slave robots, and the object are developed in the task space. To handle asymmetric time-varying delays in communication channels and unknown asymmetric input dead zones, the nonlinear dynamics of the teleoperation system are transformed into two subsystems through feedback linearization: local master or slave dynamics including the unknown input dead zones and delayed dynamics for the purpose of synchronization. Then, a model reference neural network control strategy based on linear matrix inequalities (LMI) and adaptive techniques is proposed. The developed control approach ensures that the defined tracking errors converge to zero whereas the coordination internal force errors remain bounded and can be made arbitrarily small. Throughout this paper, stability analysis is performed via explicit Lyapunov techniques under specific LMI conditions. The proposed adaptive neural network control scheme is robust against motion disturbances, parametric uncertainties, time-varying delays, and input dead zones, which is validated by simulation studies.

Teleoperation for learning by demonstration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kukliński, Kamil; Fischer, Kerstin; Marhenke, Ilka

2014-01-01

Learning by demonstration is a useful technique to augment a robot's behavioral inventory, and teleoperation allows lay users to demonstrate novel behaviors intuitively to the robot. In this paper, we compare two modes of teleoperation of an industrial robot, the demonstration by means of a data...... glove and by means of a control object (peg). Experiments with 16 lay users, performing assembly task on the Cranfield benchmark objects, show that the control peg leads to more success, more efficient demonstration and fewer errors....

Building a Relationship between Robot Characteristics and Teleoperation User Interfaces.

Science.gov (United States)

Mortimer, Michael; Horan, Ben; Seyedmahmoudian, Mehdi

2017-03-14

The Robot Operating System (ROS) provides roboticists with a standardized and distributed framework for real-time communication between robotic systems using a microkernel environment. This paper looks at how ROS metadata, Unified Robot Description Format (URDF), Semantic Robot Description Format (SRDF), and its message description language, can be used to identify key robot characteristics to inform User Interface (UI) design for the teleoperation of heterogeneous robot teams. Logical relationships between UI components and robot characteristics are defined by a set of relationship rules created using relevant and available information including developer expertise and ROS metadata. This provides a significant opportunity to move towards a rule-driven approach for generating the designs of teleoperation UIs; in particular the reduction of the number of different UI configurations required to teleoperate each individual robot within a heterogeneous robot team. This approach is based on using an underlying rule set identifying robots that can be teleoperated using the same UI configuration due to having the same or similar robot characteristics. Aside from reducing the number of different UI configurations an operator needs to be familiar with, this approach also supports consistency in UI configurations when a teleoperator is periodically switching between different robots. To achieve this aim, a Matlab toolbox is developed providing users with the ability to define rules specifying the relationship between robot characteristics and UI components. Once rules are defined, selections that best describe the characteristics of the robot type within a particular heterogeneous robot team can be made. A main advantage of this approach is that rather than specifying discrete robots comprising the team, the user can specify characteristics of the team more generally allowing the system to deal with slight variations that may occur in the future. In fact, by using the

Building a Relationship between Robot Characteristics and Teleoperation User Interfaces

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael Mortimer

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The Robot Operating System (ROS provides roboticists with a standardized and distributed framework for real-time communication between robotic systems using a microkernel environment. This paper looks at how ROS metadata, Unified Robot Description Format (URDF, Semantic Robot Description Format (SRDF, and its message description language, can be used to identify key robot characteristics to inform User Interface (UI design for the teleoperation of heterogeneous robot teams. Logical relationships between UI components and robot characteristics are defined by a set of relationship rules created using relevant and available information including developer expertise and ROS metadata. This provides a significant opportunity to move towards a rule-driven approach for generating the designs of teleoperation UIs; in particular the reduction of the number of different UI configurations required to teleoperate each individual robot within a heterogeneous robot team. This approach is based on using an underlying rule set identifying robots that can be teleoperated using the same UI configuration due to having the same or similar robot characteristics. Aside from reducing the number of different UI configurations an operator needs to be familiar with, this approach also supports consistency in UI configurations when a teleoperator is periodically switching between different robots. To achieve this aim, a Matlab toolbox is developed providing users with the ability to define rules specifying the relationship between robot characteristics and UI components. Once rules are defined, selections that best describe the characteristics of the robot type within a particular heterogeneous robot team can be made. A main advantage of this approach is that rather than specifying discrete robots comprising the team, the user can specify characteristics of the team more generally allowing the system to deal with slight variations that may occur in the future. In fact, by

Human-Centered Design and Evaluation of Haptic Cueing for Teleoperation of Multiple Mobile Robots.

Science.gov (United States)

Son, Hyoung Il; Franchi, Antonio; Chuang, Lewis L; Kim, Junsuk; Bulthoff, Heinrich H; Giordano, Paolo Robuffo

2013-04-01

In this paper, we investigate the effect of haptic cueing on a human operator's performance in the field of bilateral teleoperation of multiple mobile robots, particularly multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Two aspects of human performance are deemed important in this area, namely, the maneuverability of mobile robots and the perceptual sensitivity of the remote environment. We introduce metrics that allow us to address these aspects in two psychophysical studies, which are reported here. Three fundamental haptic cue types were evaluated. The Force cue conveys information on the proximity of the commanded trajectory to obstacles in the remote environment. The Velocity cue represents the mismatch between the commanded and actual velocities of the UAVs and can implicitly provide a rich amount of information regarding the actual behavior of the UAVs. Finally, the Velocity+Force cue is a linear combination of the two. Our experimental results show that, while maneuverability is best supported by the Force cue feedback, perceptual sensitivity is best served by the Velocity cue feedback. In addition, we show that large gains in the haptic feedbacks do not always guarantee an enhancement in the teleoperator's performance.

Performance benefits of telerobotics and teleoperation - enhancements for an arm-based tank waste retrieval system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Horschel, D.S.; Gibbons, P.W.; Draper, J.V.

1995-06-01

This report evaluates telerobotic and teleoperational arm-based retrieval systems that require advanced robotic controls. These systems will be deployed in waste retrieval activities in Hanford's Single Shell Tanks (SSTs). The report assumes that arm-based, retrieval systems will combine a teleoperational arm and control system enhanced by a number of advanced and telerobotic controls. The report describes many possible enhancements, spanning the full range of the control spectrum with the potential for technical maturation. The enhancements considered present a variety of choices and factors including: the enhancements to be included in the actual control system, safety, detailed task analyses, human factors, cost-benefit ratios, and availability and maturity of technology. Because the actual system will be designed by an offsite vendor, the procurement specifications must have the flexibility to allow bidders to propose a broad range of ideas, yet build in enough restrictions to filter out infeasible and undesirable approaches. At the same time they must allow selection of a technically promising proposal. Based on a preliminary analysis of the waste retrieval task, and considering factors such as operator limitations and the current state of robotics technology, the authors recommend a set of enhancements that will (1) allow the system to complete its waste retrieval mission, and (2) enable future upgrades in response to changing mission needs and technological advances

Performance benefits of telerobotics and teleoperation - enhancements for an arm-based tank waste retrieval system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Horschel, D.S. [Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States); Gibbons, P.W. [Westinghouse Hanford Co., Richland, WA (United States); Draper, J.V. [Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)] [and others

1995-06-01

This report evaluates telerobotic and teleoperational arm-based retrieval systems that require advanced robotic controls. These systems will be deployed in waste retrieval activities in Hanford`s Single Shell Tanks (SSTs). The report assumes that arm-based, retrieval systems will combine a teleoperational arm and control system enhanced by a number of advanced and telerobotic controls. The report describes many possible enhancements, spanning the full range of the control spectrum with the potential for technical maturation. The enhancements considered present a variety of choices and factors including: the enhancements to be included in the actual control system, safety, detailed task analyses, human factors, cost-benefit ratios, and availability and maturity of technology. Because the actual system will be designed by an offsite vendor, the procurement specifications must have the flexibility to allow bidders to propose a broad range of ideas, yet build in enough restrictions to filter out infeasible and undesirable approaches. At the same time they must allow selection of a technically promising proposal. Based on a preliminary analysis of the waste retrieval task, and considering factors such as operator limitations and the current state of robotics technology, the authors recommend a set of enhancements that will (1) allow the system to complete its waste retrieval mission, and (2) enable future upgrades in response to changing mission needs and technological advances.

Multilateral haptics-based immersive teleoperation for improvised explosive device disposal

Science.gov (United States)

Erickson, David; Lacheray, Hervé; Daly, John

2013-05-01

Of great interest to police and military organizations is the development of effective improvised explosive device (IED) disposal (IEDD) technology to aid in activities such as mine field clearing, and bomb disposal. At the same time minimizing risk to personnel. This paper presents new results in the research and development of a next generation mobile immersive teleoperated explosive ordnance disposal system. This system incorporates elements of 3D vision, multilateral teleoperation for high transparency haptic feedback, immersive augmented reality operator control interfaces, and a realistic hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) 3D simulation environment incorporating vehicle and manipulator dynamics for both operator training and algorithm development. In the past year, new algorithms have been developed to facilitate incorporating commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) robotic hardware into the teleoperation system. In particular, a real-time numerical inverse position kinematics algorithm that can be applied to a wide range of manipulators has been implemented, an inertial measurement unit (IMU) attitude stabilization system for manipulators has been developed and experimentally validated, and a voice­operated manipulator control system has been developed and integrated into the operator control station. The integration of these components into a vehicle simulation environment with half-car vehicle dynamics has also been successfully carried out. A physical half-car plant is currently being constructed for HIL integration with the simulation environment.

Manipulator Performance Evaluation Using Fitts' Taping Task

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Draper, J.V.; Jared, B.C.; Noakes, M.W.

1999-04-25

Metaphorically, a teleoperator with master controllers projects the user's arms and hands into a re- mote area, Therefore, human users interact with teleoperators at a more fundamental level than they do with most human-machine systems. Instead of inputting decisions about how the system should func- tion, teleoperator users input the movements they might make if they were truly in the remote area and the remote machine must recreate their trajectories and impedance. This intense human-machine inter- action requires displays and controls more carefully attuned to human motor capabilities than is neces- sary with most systems. It is important for teleoperated manipulators to be able to recreate human trajectories and impedance in real time. One method for assessing manipulator performance is to observe how well a system be- haves while a human user completes human dexterity tasks with it. Fitts' tapping task has been, used many times in the past for this purpose. This report describes such a performance assessment. The International Submarine Engineering (ISE) Autonomous/Teleoperated Operations Manipulator (ATOM) servomanipulator system was evalu- ated using a generic positioning accuracy task. The task is a simple one but has the merits of (1) pro- ducing a performance function estimate rather than a point estimate and (2) being widely used in the past for human and servomanipulator dexterity tests. Results of testing using this task may, therefore, allow comparison with other manipulators, and is generically representative of a broad class of tasks. Results of the testing indicate that the ATOM manipulator is capable of performing the task. Force reflection had a negative impact on task efficiency in these data. This was most likely caused by the high resistance to movement the master controller exhibited with the force reflection engaged. Measurements of exerted forces were not made, so it is not possible to say whether the force reflection helped

Teleoperation environment based on virtual reality. Application of two-planes method for position measurement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoshikawa, Hidekazu; Tezuka, Tetsuo; Inoue, Ryuji

1998-01-01

A teleoperation system based on virtual environment (VE) is an emergent technology for operating a robot in remote or hazardous environment. We have developed a VE-based teleoperation system for robot-arm manipulation in a simplified real world. The VE for manipulating the robot arm is constructed by measuring the 3D positions of the objects around the robot arm by motion-stereo method. The 3D position is estimated by using two-(calibration) planes method based on images captured by the CCD camera on the robot-arm, since the two-planes method does not need pin-hole-model assumption to the camera system. The precision of this 3D-measurement is evaluated through experiments and then derived is the theoretical model to the error in the measurement. This measurement system is applied to VE-based teleoperation experiment for Peg-in-hole practice by the robot arm. (author)

Integration of advanced teleoperation technologies for control of space robots

Science.gov (United States)

Stagnaro, Michael J.

1993-01-01

Teleoperated robots require one or more humans to control actuators, mechanisms, and other robot equipment given feedback from onboard sensors. To accomplish this task, the human or humans require some form of control station. Desirable features of such a control station include operation by a single human, comfort, and natural human interfaces (visual, audio, motion, tactile, etc.). These interfaces should work to maximize performance of the human/robot system by streamlining the link between human brain and robot equipment. This paper describes development of a control station testbed with the characteristics described above. Initially, this testbed will be used to control two teleoperated robots. Features of the robots include anthropomorphic mechanisms, slaving to the testbed, and delivery of sensory feedback to the testbed. The testbed will make use of technologies such as helmet mounted displays, voice recognition, and exoskeleton masters. It will allow tor integration and testing of emerging telepresence technologies along with techniques for coping with control link time delays. Systems developed from this testbed could be applied to ground control of space based robots. During man-tended operations, the Space Station Freedom may benefit from ground control of IVA or EVA robots with science or maintenance tasks. Planetary exploration may also find advanced teleoperation systems to be very useful.

Experiments in augmented teleoperation for mobile robots: I

Science.gov (United States)

Witus, Gary; Hunt, Shawn; Ellis, R. Darrin

2007-04-01

Teleoperated mobile robots are beginning to be used for a variety of tasks that require movement in close quarters in the vicinity of moving and parked vehicles, buildings and other man-made structures, and the target object for inspection or manipulation. The robots must be close enough to deploy short-range sensors and manipulators, and must be able to maneuver without potentially damaging collisions. Teleoperation is fatiguing and stressful even without the requirement for close positioning. In cooperation with the TARDEC Robotic Mobility Laboratory (TRML), we are investigating approaches to reduce workload and improve performance through augmented teleoperation. Human-robot interfaces for teleoperation commonly provide two degrees-of-freedom (DoF) motion control with visual feedback from an on-board egocentric camera and no supplemental distance or orientation cueing. This paper reports on the results of preliminary experiments to assess the effects on man-machine task performance of several options for augmented teleoperation: (a) 3 DoF motion control (rotation and omni-directional translation) versus 2 DoF control (rotation and forward/reverse motion), (b) on-board egocentric camera versus fixed-position overwatch camera versus dual egocentric-and-overwatch cameras, and (c) presence or absence of distance and orientation visual cueing. We examined three dimensions of performance: completion time, spatial accuracy, and workspace area. We investigated effects on the expected completion time and on the variance in completion time. Spatial accuracy had three components: orientation, aimpoint, and distance. We collected performance under different task conditions: (a) three position-and-orientation tolerance or accuracy objectives, and (b) four travel distances between successive inspection points. We collected data from three subjects. We analyzed the main effects and conditional interaction effects among the teleoperation options and task conditions. We were

Status of the Advanced Teleoperation Project in the French A.R.A. program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andre, G.; Fournier, R.

1987-01-01

This paper reports the research and development work carried out in the French advanced teleoperation project. The successful achievement of significant progress, in recent years, allows to considerably advance the state of the art so that it objectively constitutes the foundation of a new generation of remote systems. After briefly recalling the organization of this project, the authors outline the basic concepts related to the evolution of teleoperation with regard to the notions of flexibility, adaptivity, autonomy, transparency. The authors present the overall architecture of the computer aided teleoperation system. The following sections deal with fundamental studies which have been realized and key subsystems which have been developed. The authors emphasize on the computer control system which includes: generalized bilateral control and supervisory control. Secondly, they underline the role of sophisticated technologies: sensory system, computer graphics. . ., for generating adaptive control functions and for providing new interfaces. Thirdly, they describe the integrated experimental site and, a set of generic experiments in nuclear applications. The paper ends with future perspectives

The Effect of Trial-by-trial Adaptation on Conflicts in Haptic Shared Control for Free-Air Teleoperation Tasks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Jonge, A. W.; Wildenbeest, J. G. W.; Boessenkool, H.; Abbink, D. A.

2016-01-01

Haptic shared control can improve execution of teleoperation and driving tasks. However, shared control designs may suffer from conflicts between individual human operators and constant haptic assistance when their desired trajectories differ, leading to momentarily increased forces, discomfort or

Safe teleoperation based on flexible intraoperative planning for robot-assisted laser microsurgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Mattos, Leonardo S; Caldwell, Darwin G

2012-01-01

This paper describes a new intraoperative planning system created to improve precision and safety in teleoperated laser microsurgeries. It addresses major safety issues related to real-time control of a surgical laser during teleoperated procedures, which are related to the reliability and robustness of the telecommunication channels. Here, a safe solution is presented, consisting in a new planning system architecture that maintains the flexibility and benefits of real-time teleoperation and keeps the surgeon in control of all surgical actions. The developed system is based on our virtual scalpel system for robot-assisted laser microsurgery, and allows the intuitive use of stylus to create surgical plans directly over live video of the surgical field. In this case, surgical plans are defined as graphic objects overlaid on the live video, which can be easily modified or replaced as needed, and which are transmitted to the main surgical system controller for subsequent safe execution. In the process of improving safety, this new planning system also resulted in improved laser aiming precision and improved capability for higher quality laser procedures, both due to the new surgical plan execution module, which allows very fast and precise laser aiming control. Experimental results presented herein show that, in addition to the safety improvements, the new planning system resulted in a 48% improvement in laser aiming precision when compared to the previous virtual scalpel system.

Software Systems for Robotics An Applied Research Perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Greg Broten

2006-03-01

Full Text Available Over the past 20 years, Defence Research and Development Canada has developed numerous tele-operated unmanned ground vehicles (UGV, many founded on the ANCÆUS command and control system. This paper relates how long experience with tele-operated UGVs influenced DRDC's shift in focus from tele-operated to autonomous unmanned vehicles (UV, the forces that guided DRDC's development approach and DRDC's experience adapting a specific tool set, MIRO, to a UGV implementation.

Time domain passivity controller for 4-channel time-delay bilateral teleoperation.

Science.gov (United States)

Rebelo, Joao; Schiele, Andre

2015-01-01

This paper presents an extension of the time-domain passivity control approach to a four-channel bilateral controller under the effects of time delays. Time-domain passivity control has been used successfully to stabilize teleoperation systems with position-force and position-position controllers; however, the performance with such control architectures is sub-optimal both with and without time delays. This work extends the network representation of the time-domain passivity controller to the four-channel architecture, which provides perfect transparency to the user without time delay. The proposed architecture is based on modelling the controllers as dependent voltage sources and using only series passivity controllers. The obtained results are shown on a one degree-of-freedom setup and illustrate the stabilization behaviour of the proposed controller when time delay is present in the communication channel.

Human Machine Interfaces for Teleoperators and Virtual Environments

Science.gov (United States)

Durlach, Nathaniel I. (Compiler); Sheridan, Thomas B. (Compiler); Ellis, Stephen R. (Compiler)

1991-01-01

In Mar. 1990, a meeting organized around the general theme of teleoperation research into virtual environment display technology was conducted. This is a collection of conference-related fragments that will give a glimpse of the potential of the following fields and how they interplay: sensorimotor performance; human-machine interfaces; teleoperation; virtual environments; performance measurement and evaluation methods; and design principles and predictive models.

Performance experiments with alternative advanced teleoperator control modes for a simulated solar maximum satellite repair

Science.gov (United States)

Das, H.; Zak, H.; Kim, W. S.; Bejczy, A. K.; Schenker, P. S.

1992-01-01

Experiments are described which were conducted at the JPL Advanced Teleoperator Lab to demonstrate and evaluate the effectiveness of various teleoperator control modes in the performance of a simulated Solar Max Satellite Repair (SMSR) task. THe SMSR was selected as a test because it is very rich in performance capability requirements and it actually has been performed by two EVA astronauts in the Space Shuttle Bay in 1984. The main subtasks are: thermal blanket removal; installation of a hinge attachment for electrical panel opening; opening of electrical panel; removal of electrical connectors; relining of cable bundles; replacement of electrical panel; securing parts and cables; re-mate electrical connectors; closing of electrical panel; and reinstating thermal blanket. The current performance experiments are limited to thermal blanket cutting, electrical panel unbolting and handling electrical bundles and connectors. In one formal experiment even different control modes were applied to the unbolting and reinsertion of electrical panel screws subtasks. The seven control modes are alternative combinations of manual position and rate control with force feedback and remote compliance referenced to force-torque sensor information. Force-torque sensor and end effector position data and task completion times were recorded for analysis and quantification of operator performance.

Passive Transparency Compensation for Bilateral Teleoperators with Communication Delays

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Erick J. Rodríguez-Seda

2015-01-01

Full Text Available One of the main challenges in the realization of time-delayed bilateral teleoperators is the stable adaptation of transparency when the remote environmental dynamics are time-varying. In this paper, we propose a bilateral control strategy that passively adjusts the transparency of the system when the slave robot transitions between two different environments. The proposed controller exploits the effect that the wave impedance (a design parameter of the passivity-based scattering transformation has on transparency without comprising closed-loop stability, regardless of time-varying communication delays. To properly adjust transparency, the control scheme smoothly switches the wave impedance parameter between a low value, ideal for free motion, and a sufficiently large value, suited for hard-contact tasks. We show that, by adopting this strategy, the transmitted impedance to the operator approximates more closely the environmental impedance value. Furthermore, we theoretically prove master-slave position coordination and force tracking under different scenarios. Simulation results illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy.

Sensing And Force-Reflecting Exoskeleton

Science.gov (United States)

Eberman, Brian; Fontana, Richard; Marcus, Beth

1993-01-01

Sensing and force-reflecting exoskeleton (SAFiRE) provides control signals to robot hand and force feedback from robot hand to human operator. Operator makes robot hand touch objects gently and manipulates them finely without exerting excessive forces. Device attaches to operator's hand; comfortable and lightweight. Includes finger exoskeleton, cable mechanical transmission, two dc servomotors, partial thumb exoskeleton, harness, amplifier box, two computer circuit boards, and software. Transduces motion of index finger and thumb. Video monitor of associated computer displays image corresponding to motion.

Force-feedback tele operation of industrial robots a cost effective solution for decontamination of nuclear plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Desbats, P.; Andriot, C.; Gicquel, P.; Viallesoubranne, J.P.; Souche, C.

1998-01-01

Decontamination and maintenance in hot cells are some new emerging applications of industrial robots in the nuclear fuel cycle plants. Industrial robots are low cost, accurate and reliable manipulator arms which are used in manufacturing industries usually. Thanks to the recent evolution of robotics technologies, some industrial robots may be adapted to nuclear environment. These robots are transportable, sealed and can be decontaminated, and they may be 'hardened' up to a level of irradiation dose sufficient for operation in low and medium irradiating/contaminating environments. Although industrial robots are usually programmed to perform specific and repetitive tasks, they may be remotely tele-operated by human operators as well. This allows industrial robots to perform usual tele-manipulation tasks encountered in the nuclear plants and more. The paper presents the computer based tele-operation control system TAO2000 TM , developed by the Tele-operation and Robotics Service of CEA, which has been applied to the RX90 TM industrial robot from ST-UBLI company. This robot has been selected in order to perform various maintenance and decontamination tasks in COGEMA plants. TAO2000 provides the overall tele-robotic and robotic functions necessary to perform any remote tele-operation application in hostile environment: force-feedback master-slave control; computer- assisted tele-operation of mechanical processes; trajectory programming as well as various robotics functions; graphical modelling of working environment and simulation; automatic path planning with obstacle avoidance; man-machine interface for tasks programming and mission execution. Experimental results reported in the paper demonstrate the feasibility of force-feedback master-slave control of standard industrial robots. Finally, the design of new, cost effective. tele-operation systems based on industrial robots may be intended for nuclear plants maintenance. (author)

Teleoperation of Robonaut Using Finger Tracking

Science.gov (United States)

Champoux, Rachel G.; Luo, Victor

2012-01-01

With the advent of new finger tracking systems, the idea of a more expressive and intuitive user interface is being explored and implemented. One practical application for this new kind of interface is that of teleoperating a robot. For humanoid robots, a finger tracking interface is required due to the level of complexity in a human-like hand, where a joystick isn't accurate. Moreover, for some tasks, using one's own hands allows the user to communicate their intentions more effectively than other input. The purpose of this project was to develop a natural user interface for someone to teleoperate a robot that is elsewhere. Specifically, this was designed to control Robonaut on the international space station to do tasks too dangerous and/or too trivial for human astronauts. This interface was developed by integrating and modifying 3Gear's software, which includes a library of gestures and the ability to track hands. The end result is an interface in which the user can manipulate objects in real time in the user interface. then, the information is relayed to a simulator, the stand in for Robonaut, at a slight delay.

Operator dynamics for stability condition in haptic and teleoperation system: A survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Hongbing; Zhang, Lei; Kawashima, Kenji

2018-04-01

Currently, haptic systems ignore the varying impedance of the human hand with its countless configurations and thus cannot recreate the complex haptic interactions. The literature does not reveal a comprehensive survey on the methods proposed and this study is an attempt to bridge this gap. The paper includes an extensive review of human arm impedance modeling and control deployed to address inherent stability and transparency issues in haptic interaction and teleoperation systems. Detailed classification and comparative study of various contributions in human arm modeling are presented and summarized in tables and diagrams. The main challenges in modeling human arm impedance for haptic robotic applications are identified. The possible future research directions are outlined based on the gaps identified in the survey. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Improving UGV teleoperation performance using novel visualization techniques and manual interfaces

Science.gov (United States)

Vozar, Steven; Tilbury, Dawn M.

2012-06-01

Unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) are well-suited to a variety of tasks that are dangerous or repetitive for humans to perform. Despite recent advances, UGVs still suffer from reliability issues, and human operation failures have been identified as one root cause of UGV system failure. However, most literature relevant to UGV reliability does not address the effects of human errors or the user interface. Our previous work investigated the issue of user situational awareness and sense of presence in the robot workspace by implementing a Mixed Reality interface featuring a first-person video feed with an Augmented Reality overlay and a third-person Virtual Reality display. The interface was evaluated in a series of user tests in which users manually controlled a UGV with a manipulator arm using traditional input modalities including a computer mouse, keyboard and gamepad. In this study, we learned that users found it challenging to mentally map commands from the manual inputs to the robot arm behavior. Also, switching between control modalities seemed to add to the cognitive load during teleoperation tasks. A master-slave style manual controller can provide an intuitive one-to-one mapping from user input to robot pose, and has the potential to improve both operator situational awareness for teleoperation tasks and decrease mission completion time. This paper describes the design and implementation of a teleoperated UGV with a Mixed Reality visualization interface and a master-slave controller that is suitable for teleoperated mobile manipulation tasks.

Shared control on lunar spacecraft teleoperation rendezvous operations with large time delay

Science.gov (United States)

Ya-kun, Zhang; Hai-yang, Li; Rui-xue, Huang; Jiang-hui, Liu

2017-08-01

Teleoperation could be used in space on-orbit serving missions, such as object deorbits, spacecraft approaches, and automatic rendezvous and docking back-up systems. Teleoperation rendezvous and docking in lunar orbit may encounter bottlenecks for the inherent time delay in the communication link and the limited measurement accuracy of sensors. Moreover, human intervention is unsuitable in view of the partial communication coverage problem. To solve these problems, a shared control strategy for teleoperation rendezvous and docking is detailed. The control authority in lunar orbital maneuvers that involves two spacecraft as rendezvous and docking in the final phase was discussed in this paper. The predictive display model based on the relative dynamic equations is established to overcome the influence of the large time delay in communication link. We discuss and attempt to prove via consistent, ground-based simulations the relative merits of fully autonomous control mode (i.e., onboard computer-based), fully manual control (i.e., human-driven at the ground station) and shared control mode. The simulation experiments were conducted on the nine-degrees-of-freedom teleoperation rendezvous and docking simulation platform. Simulation results indicated that the shared control methods can overcome the influence of time delay effects. In addition, the docking success probability of shared control method was enhanced compared with automatic and manual modes.

A high capability teleoperated vehicle for hazardous applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dudar, A.M.; Witherspoon, R.L.

1995-01-01

The Robotics Development Group at the Savannah River Site is developing a high performance teleoperated vehicle for use in radioactive and hazardous environments. The three-wheeled vehicle incorporates a highly dexterous 6 degree-of-freedom (DOF), hydraulically-powered manipulator made by Schilling Development, Inc. The teleoperator is called Little MoRT (MObile Radio-controlled Teleoperator) and is a modified version of a commercially available, battery-powered, warehouse vehicle. Little MoRT is controlled remotely by a universal robot controller either through a radio frequency link or a tethered cable. Six video cameras and a microphone provide the operator with audio-visual feedback of the vehicle and its surrounding environment. The vehicle also incorporates a hydraulic power unit consisting of a propane-driven engine for powering the Schilling manipulator. Little MoRT is capable of operating in outdoor as well as indoor environments and is well suited for decontamination and decommissioning activities such as dismantling, sorting, and surveying of radioactive waste

Immersive Virtual Reality with Applications to Tele-Operation and Training

Science.gov (United States)

2016-03-07

reviewed journals : Number of Papers published in non peer-reviewed journals : Final Report: Immersive Virtual Reality with Applications to Tele-Operation... Immersive Virtual Reality with Applications to Tele-Operation and Training The proposed project aims to develop a fundamental framework for...establishing an immersive virtual reality environment for robust and scalable human robotics interaction in a cooperative intelligent architecture at the

Assistant Personal Robot (APR: Conception and Application of a Tele-Operated Assisted Living Robot

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eduard Clotet

2016-04-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the technical description, mechanical design, electronic components, software implementation and possible applications of a tele-operated mobile robot designed as an assisted living tool. This robotic concept has been named Assistant Personal Robot (or APR for short and has been designed as a remotely telecontrolled robotic platform built to provide social and assistive services to elderly people and those with impaired mobility. The APR features a fast high-mobility motion system adapted for tele-operation in plain indoor areas, which incorporates a high-priority collision avoidance procedure. This paper presents the mechanical architecture, electrical fundaments and software implementation required in order to develop the main functionalities of an assistive robot. The APR uses a tablet in order to implement the basic peer-to-peer videoconference and tele-operation control combined with a tactile graphic user interface. The paper also presents the development of some applications proposed in the framework of an assisted living robot.

Telerobotic Control Architecture Including Force-Reflection

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Murphy, Mark

1998-01-01

This report describes the implementation of a telerobotic control architecture to manipulate a standard six-degree-of-freedom robot via a unique seven-degree-of-freedom force-reflecting exoskeleton...

Kinetic scrolling-based position mapping for haptic teleoperation of unmanned aerial vehicles

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ruesch, A.; Mersha, A.Y.; Stramigioli, Stefano; Carloni, Raffaella

In this paper, we present a haptic teleoperation control algorithm for unmanned aerial vehicles, applying a kinetic scrolling-based position mapping. The proposed algorithm overcomes the master workspace limitations and enables to teleoperate the aerial vehicle in unbounded workspace in a fast and

Force Reflection Algorithms for Exoskeleton Controllers

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Bryfogle, Mark

1991-01-01

This research effort investigated the kinematics and dynamics of open chain, serial linkage mechanisms with specific emphasis placed upon the application of this linkage as a force reflecting exoskeleton mechanism...

Detection of Nuclear Sources by UAV Teleoperation Using a Visuo-Haptic Augmented Reality Interface.

Science.gov (United States)

Aleotti, Jacopo; Micconi, Giorgio; Caselli, Stefano; Benassi, Giacomo; Zambelli, Nicola; Bettelli, Manuele; Zappettini, Andrea

2017-09-29

A visuo-haptic augmented reality (VHAR) interface is presented enabling an operator to teleoperate an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) equipped with a custom CdZnTe-based spectroscopic gamma-ray detector in outdoor environments. The task is to localize nuclear radiation sources, whose location is unknown to the user, without the close exposure of the operator. The developed detector also enables identification of the localized nuclear sources. The aim of the VHAR interface is to increase the situation awareness of the operator. The user teleoperates the UAV using a 3DOF haptic device that provides an attractive force feedback around the location of the most intense detected radiation source. Moreover, a fixed camera on the ground observes the environment where the UAV is flying. A 3D augmented reality scene is displayed on a computer screen accessible to the operator. Multiple types of graphical overlays are shown, including sensor data acquired by the nuclear radiation detector, a virtual cursor that tracks the UAV and geographical information, such as buildings. Experiments performed in a real environment are reported using an intense nuclear source.

Teleoperator comfort and psychometric stability: Criteria for limiting master-controller forces of operation and feedback during telemanipulation

Science.gov (United States)

Wiker, Steven F.; Hershkowitz, Elaine; Zik, John

1989-01-01

The following question is addressed: How much force should operators exert, or experience, when operating a telemanipulator master-controller for sustained periods without encountering significant fatigue and discomfort, and without loss of stability in psychometric perception of force. The need to minimize exertion demands to avoid fatigue is diametrically opposed by the need to present a wide range of force stimuli to enhance perception of applied or reflected forces. For 104 minutes subjects repetitiously performed a series of 15 s isometric pinch grasps; controlled at 5, 15, and 25 percent of their maximum voluntary strength. Cyclic pinch grasps were separated by rest intervals of 7.5 and 15 s. Upon completion of every 10 minute period, subjects interrupted grasping activities to gage the intensity of fatigue and discomfort in the hand and forearm using a cross-modal matching technique. A series of psychometric tests were then conducted to determine accuracy and stability in the subject's perception of force experienced. Results showed that onset of sensations of discomfort and fatigue were dependent upon the magnitude of grasp force, work/rest ratio, and progression of task. Declines in force magnitude estimation slopes, indicating a reduction in force perception sensitivity, occurred with increased grasp force when work/rest ratios were greater than 1.0. Specific recommendations for avoiding discomfort and shifts in force perception, by limiting pinch grasp force required for master-controller operation and range of force reflection or work/rest ratios, are provided.

On bilateral teleoperation of aerial robots

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mersha, A.Y.; Stramigioli, Stefano; Carloni, Raffaella

This paper presents a generic hierarchical passive teleoperation control architecture that effectively addresses the issues of workspace incompatibility and precision, as well as other classical and peculiar challenges. More specifically, the control scheme consists of a user-defined variable scale

On the Value of Estimating Human Arm Stiffness during Virtual Teleoperation with Robotic Manipulators.

Science.gov (United States)

Buzzi, Jacopo; Ferrigno, Giancarlo; Jansma, Joost M; De Momi, Elena

2017-01-01

Teleoperated robotic systems are widely spreading in multiple different fields, from hazardous environments exploration to surgery. In teleoperation, users directly manipulate a master device to achieve task execution at the slave robot side; this interaction is fundamental to guarantee both system stability and task execution performance. In this work, we propose a non-disruptive method to study the arm endpoint stiffness. We evaluate how users exploit the kinetic redundancy of the arm to achieve stability and precision during the execution of different tasks with different master devices. Four users were asked to perform two planar trajectories following virtual tasks using both a serial and a parallel link master device. Users' arm kinematics and muscular activation were acquired and combined with a user-specific musculoskeletal model to estimate the joint stiffness. Using the arm kinematic Jacobian, the arm end-point stiffness was derived. The proposed non-disruptive method is capable of estimating the arm endpoint stiffness during the execution of virtual teleoperated tasks. The obtained results are in accordance with the existing literature in human motor control and show, throughout the tested trajectory, a modulation of the arm endpoint stiffness that is affected by task characteristics and hand speed and acceleration.

On the Value of Estimating Human Arm Stiffness during Virtual Teleoperation with Robotic Manipulators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jacopo Buzzi

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Teleoperated robotic systems are widely spreading in multiple different fields, from hazardous environments exploration to surgery. In teleoperation, users directly manipulate a master device to achieve task execution at the slave robot side; this interaction is fundamental to guarantee both system stability and task execution performance. In this work, we propose a non-disruptive method to study the arm endpoint stiffness. We evaluate how users exploit the kinetic redundancy of the arm to achieve stability and precision during the execution of different tasks with different master devices. Four users were asked to perform two planar trajectories following virtual tasks using both a serial and a parallel link master device. Users' arm kinematics and muscular activation were acquired and combined with a user-specific musculoskeletal model to estimate the joint stiffness. Using the arm kinematic Jacobian, the arm end-point stiffness was derived. The proposed non-disruptive method is capable of estimating the arm endpoint stiffness during the execution of virtual teleoperated tasks. The obtained results are in accordance with the existing literature in human motor control and show, throughout the tested trajectory, a modulation of the arm endpoint stiffness that is affected by task characteristics and hand speed and acceleration.

Tele-operated service robots : ROSE

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Osch, van M.P.W.J.; Bera, D.; Hee, van K.M.; Koks, Y.; Zeegers, H.

2014-01-01

Service robots are robots that are intended to perform tasks normally done by humans in an environment in which humans work as well. However, they are neither required to accomplish these tasks in the same way as humans nor need to look like a human being. A tele-operated robot is controlled from a

Passive impedance-based second-order sliding mode control for non-linear teleoperators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luis G García-Valdovinos

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Bilateral teleoperation systems have attracted significant attention in the last decade mainly because of technological advancements in both the communication channel and computers performance. In addition, non-linear multi-degree-of-freedom bilateral teleoperators along with state observers have become an open research area. In this article, a model-free exact differentiator is used to estimate the full state along with a chattering-free second-order sliding mode controller to guarantee a robust impedance tracking under both constant and an unknown time delay of non-linear multi-degree-of-freedom robots. The robustness of the proposed controller is improved by introducing a change of coordinates in terms of a new nominal reference similar to that used in adaptive control theory. Experimental results that validate the predicted behaviour are presented and discussed using a Phantom Premium 1.0 as the master robot and a Catalyst-5 virtual model as the slave robot. The dynamics of the Catalyst-5 system is solved online.

Reasons for singularity in robot teleoperation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Marhenke, Ilka; Fischer, Kerstin; Savarimuthu, Thiusius Rajeeth

2014-01-01

In this paper, the causes for singularity of a robot arm in teleoperation for robot learning from demonstration are analyzed. Singularity is the alignment of robot joints, which prevents the configuration of the inverse kinematics. Inspired by users' own hypotheses, we investigated speed and dela...

The development of Windows based control system for the tele-robotics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Byung Soo; Kim, Seung Ho; Seo, Yong Chil; Kim, Ki Ho; Hwang, Suk Yeoung; Kim, Chang Hoi; Jung, Seung Ho; Lee, Young Kwang

1998-03-01

The WSCS (Windows-based Supervisory Control System) has been developed for the efficient control of the mobile robot in the hazardous area, such as reactor surroundings of HPWR (Heavy Pressurized Water Reactor). The WSCS is basically computer program which consists windows menu-program, socket-based communication program, force reflection joystick program, and OpenGL-based 3D graphic program. Also, the WSCS includes the force control algorithm of a master control device ( in this case, joystick) for the enhanced operability. To evaluate the effectiveness of the designed WSCS and the force reflection control algorithm, a series of experiments has been made in such a way that human operators command the desired motion of robot by manipulating the joystick in the virtual environment. As a result, it was proven that the designed WSCS is very easy-to-use and effective. Also, the developed force reflection algorithm is more efficient than that of general tele-operation, even though there are some difference in human dexterity. In near future, the WSCS will be applied in the next version of KAEROT. (author). 11 refs., 14 tabs., 1 fig

The Effect of Non-Lambertian Surface Reflectance on Aerosol Radiative Forcing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ricchiazzi, P.; O' Hirok, W.; Gautier, C.

2005-03-18

Surface reflectance is an important factor in determining the strength of aerosol radiative forcing. Previous studies of radiative forcing assumed that the reflected surface radiance is isotropic and does not depend on incident illumination angle. This Lambertian reflection model is not a very good descriptor of reflectance from real land and ocean surfaces. In this study we present computational results for the seasonal average of short and long wave aerosol radiative forcing at the top of the atmosphere and at the surface. The effect of the Lambertian assumption is found through comparison with calculations using a more detailed bi-direction reflectance distribution function (BRDF).

Application of advanced remote systems technology to future waste handling facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kring, C.T.; Meacham, S.A.

1987-01-01

The Consolidated Fuel Reprocessing Program (CFRP) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has been advancing the technology of remote handling and remote maintenance for in-cell systems planned for future nuclear fuel reprocessing plants. Much of the experience and technology developed over the past decade in this endeavor is directly applicable to the proposed in-cell systems being considered for the facilities of the Federal Waste Management System (FWMS). The application of teleoperated, force-reflecting servomanipulators with television viewing could be a major step forward in waste handling facility design. Primary emphasis in the current program is the operation of a prototype remote handling and maintenance system, the advanced servomanipulator (ASM), which specifically addresses the requirements of fuel reprocessing and waste handling with emphasis on force reflection, remote maintainability, reliability, radiation tolerance, and corrosion resistance. Concurrent with the evolution of dexterous manipulators, concepts have also been developed that provide guidance for standardization of the design of the remotely operated and maintained equipment, the interface between the maintenance tools and the equipment, and the interface between the in-cell components and the facility

Advanced remote handling for future applications: The advanced integrated maintenance system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Herndon, J.N.; Kring, C.T.; Rowe, J.C.

1986-01-01

The Consolidated Fuel Reprocessing Program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory has been developing advanced techniques for remote maintenance of future US fuel reprocessing plants. The developed technology has a wide spectrum of application for other hazardous environments. These efforts are based on the application of teleoperated, force-reflecting servomanipulators for dexterous remote handling with television viewing for large-volume hazardous applications. These developments fully address the nonrepetitive nature of remote maintenance in the unstructured environments encountered in fuel reprocessing. This paper covers the primary emphasis in the present program; the design, fabrication, installation, and operation of a prototype remote handling system for reprocessing applications, the Advanced Integrated Maintenance System

Social Acceptance of a Teleoperated Android

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ryuji, Yamazaki; Nishio, Shuichi; Ishiguro, Hiroshi

2012-01-01

We explored the potential of teleoperated android robots, which are embodied telecommunication media with humanlike appearances, and how they affect people in the real world when they are employed to express a telepresence and a sense of ‘being there’. In Denmark, our exploratory study focused on...

An Adaptive Regulator for Space Teleoperation System in Task Space

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chao Ge

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The problem of the gravity information which can not be obtained in advance for bilateral teleoperation is studied. In outer space exploration, the gravity term changes with the position changing of the slave manipulator. So it is necessary to design an adaptive regulator controller to compensate for the unknown gravity signal. Moreover, to get a more accurate position tracking performance, the controller is designed in the task space instead of the joint space. Additionally, the time delay considered in this paper is not only time varying but also unsymmetrical. Finally, simulations are presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

Immersive vision assisted remote teleoperation using head mounted displays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vakkapatla, Veerendrababu; Singh, Ashutosh Pratap; Rakesh, V.; Rajagopalan, C.; Murugan, S.; Sai Baba, M.

2016-01-01

Handling and inspection of irradiated material is inevitable in nuclear industry. Hot cells are shielded radiation containment chambers equipped with master slave manipulators that facilitates remote handling. The existing methods using viewing windows and cameras for viewing the contents of hot cell to manipulate the radioactive elements have problems such as optical distortion, limited distance teleoperation, limited field of view that lead to inefficient operation. This paper presents a method of achieving immersive teleoperation to operate the master slave manipulator in hot cells by exploiting the advanced tracking and display capabilities of head mounted display devices. (author)

Detection of Nuclear Sources by UAV Teleoperation Using a Visuo-Haptic Augmented Reality Interface

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jacopo Aleotti

2017-09-01

Full Text Available A visuo-haptic augmented reality (VHAR interface is presented enabling an operator to teleoperate an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV equipped with a custom CdZnTe-based spectroscopic gamma-ray detector in outdoor environments. The task is to localize nuclear radiation sources, whose location is unknown to the user, without the close exposure of the operator. The developed detector also enables identification of the localized nuclear sources. The aim of the VHAR interface is to increase the situation awareness of the operator. The user teleoperates the UAV using a 3DOF haptic device that provides an attractive force feedback around the location of the most intense detected radiation source. Moreover, a fixed camera on the ground observes the environment where the UAV is flying. A 3D augmented reality scene is displayed on a computer screen accessible to the operator. Multiple types of graphical overlays are shown, including sensor data acquired by the nuclear radiation detector, a virtual cursor that tracks the UAV and geographical information, such as buildings. Experiments performed in a real environment are reported using an intense nuclear source.

Duty cycle testing and performance evaluation of the SM-229 teleoperator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stoughton, R.S.; Kuban, D.P.

1985-11-01

This paper contains the first known experimental studies and analyses of teleoperator performance for specific duty cycles. The results are presented in two distinct areas as position usage patterns, and as three-dimensional power grids. The position usage patterns are a valuable means to assess the available motion range. The power grids are a unique concept for evaluating joint performance. Final conclusions contain recommendations to upgrade the teleoperator for optimum performance. 3 refs., 16 figs

TAO-2/SPARTE, a language-enhanced computer aided teleoperation system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gravez, P.; Fournier, R.

1991-01-01

TAO-2 is a computer system designed by CEA/DTA/UR for the remote control of nuclear servicing servomanipulators. It results from several years of research which have led to the current availability of an industrial product featuring highly advanced performances. For undersea applications, a development has also been carried out with CYBERNETIX for controlling the new hydraulic arm built by this company. An integral element of TAO-2 is the SPARTE language which deals with off-line task programming and focuses on combined manual, automatic and mixed control modes. Additionally, it takes into account the on-line part of the human operator relative to adjustment, monitoring and incident recovery. Other promising features are hybrid control specification, mechanisms for the management of external events and 'learning by touching' capabilities. The present paper describes the basic principles of TAO-2. It first recalls the fundamentals of Computer Aided Teleoperation (CAT). The functional and hardware architectures which implement the TAO-2 CAT concepts are then outlined. The next parts emphasize the original characteristics of the SPARTE control and programming language. The paper ends with a brief presentation of our approach for CAT symbolic control

Experimental setup for evaluating an adaptive user interface for teleoperation control

Science.gov (United States)

Wijayasinghe, Indika B.; Peetha, Srikanth; Abubakar, Shamsudeen; Saadatzi, Mohammad Nasser; Cremer, Sven; Popa, Dan O.

2017-05-01

A vital part of human interactions with a machine is the control interface, which single-handedly could define the user satisfaction and the efficiency of performing a task. This paper elaborates the implementation of an experimental setup to study an adaptive algorithm that can help the user better tele-operate the robot. The formulation of the adaptive interface and associate learning algorithms are general enough to apply when the mapping between the user controls and the robot actuators is complex and/or ambiguous. The method uses a genetic algorithm to find the optimal parameters that produce the input-output mapping for teleoperation control. In this paper, we describe the experimental setup and associated results that was used to validate the adaptive interface to a differential drive robot from two different input devices; a joystick, and a Myo gesture control armband. Results show that after the learning phase, the interface converges to an intuitive mapping that can help even inexperienced users drive the system to a goal location.

Objective evaluation of situation awareness for dynamic decision makers in teleoperations

Science.gov (United States)

Endsley, Mica R.

1991-01-01

Situation awareness, a current mental mode of the environment, is critical to the ability of operators to perform complex and dynamic tasks. This should be particularly true for teleoperators, who are separated from the situation they need to be aware of. The design of the man-machine interface must be guided by the goal of maintaining and enhancing situation awareness. The objective of this work has been to build a foundation upon which research in the area can proceed. A model of dynamic human decision making which is inclusive of situation awareness will be presented, along with a definition of situation awareness. A method for measuring situation awareness will also be presented as a tool for evaluating design concepts. The Situation Awareness Global Assessment Technique (SAGAT) is an objective measure of situation awareness originally developed for the fighter cockpit environment. The results of SAGAT validation efforts will be presented. Implications of this research for teleoperators and other operators of dynamic systems will be discussed.

An assigned responsibility system for robotic teleoperation control.

Science.gov (United States)

Small, Nicolas; Lee, Kevin; Mann, Graham

2018-01-01

This paper proposes an architecture that explores a gap in the spectrum of existing strategies for robot control mode switching in adjustable autonomy. In situations where the environment is reasonably known and/or predictable, pre-planning these control changes could relieve robot operators of the additional task of deciding when and how to switch. Such a strategy provides a clear division of labour between the automation and the human operator(s) before the job even begins, allowing for individual responsibilities to be known ahead of time, limiting confusion and allowing rest breaks to be planned. Assigned Responsibility is a new form of adjustable autonomy-based teleoperation that allows the selective inclusion of automated control elements at key stages of a robot operation plan's execution. Progression through these stages is controlled by automatic goal accomplishment tracking. An implementation is evaluated through engineering tests and a usability study, demonstrating the viability of this approach and offering insight into its potential applications.

Space teleoperation research. American Nuclear Society Executive conference: Remote operations and robotics in the nuclear industry; remote maintenance in other hostile environments

Science.gov (United States)

Meintel, A. J., Jr.; Will, R. W.

1985-01-01

This presentation consists of four sections. The first section is a brief introduction to the NASA Space Program. The second portion summarized the results of a congressionally mandated study of automation and robotics for space station. The third portion presents a number of concepts for space teleoperator systems. The remainder of the presentation describes Langley Research Center's teleoperator/robotic research to support remote space operations.

A Novel Switching-Based Control Framework for Improved Task Performance in Teleoperation System With Asymmetric Time-Varying Delays.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhai, Di-Hua; Xia, Yuanqing

2018-02-01

This paper addresses the adaptive control for task-space teleoperation systems with constrained predefined synchronization error, where a novel switched control framework is investigated. Based on multiple Lyapunov-Krasovskii functionals method, the stability of the resulting closed-loop system is established in the sense of state-independent input-to-output stability. Compared with previous work, the developed method can simultaneously handle the unknown kinematics/dynamics, asymmetric varying time delays, and prescribed performance control in a unified framework. It is shown that the developed controller can guarantee the prescribed transient-state and steady-state synchronization performances between the master and slave robots, which is demonstrated by the simulation study.

Teleoperation of steerable flexible needles by combining kinesthetic and vibratory feedback.

Science.gov (United States)

Pacchierotti, Claudio; Abayazid, Momen; Misra, Sarthak; Prattichizzo, Domenico

2014-01-01

Needle insertion in soft-tissue is a minimally invasive surgical procedure that demands high accuracy. In this respect, robotic systems with autonomous control algorithms have been exploited as the main tool to achieve high accuracy and reliability. However, for reasons of safety and responsibility, autonomous robotic control is often not desirable. Therefore, it is necessary to focus also on techniques enabling clinicians to directly control the motion of the surgical tools. In this work, we address that challenge and present a novel teleoperated robotic system able to steer flexible needles. The proposed system tracks the position of the needle using an ultrasound imaging system and computes needle's ideal position and orientation to reach a given target. The master haptic interface then provides the clinician with mixed kinesthetic-vibratory navigation cues to guide the needle toward the computed ideal position and orientation. Twenty participants carried out an experiment of teleoperated needle insertion into a soft-tissue phantom, considering four different experimental conditions. Participants were provided with either mixed kinesthetic-vibratory feedback or mixed kinesthetic-visual feedback. Moreover, we considered two different ways of computing ideal position and orientation of the needle: with or without set-points. Vibratory feedback was found more effective than visual feedback in conveying navigation cues, with a mean targeting error of 0.72 mm when using set-points, and of 1.10 mm without set-points.

Haptics for Virtual Reality and Teleoperation

CERN Document Server

Mihelj, Matjaž

2012-01-01

This book covers all topics relevant for the design of haptic interfaces and teleoperation systems. The book provides the basic knowledge required for understanding more complex approaches and more importantly it introduces all issues that must be considered for designing efficient and safe haptic interfaces. Topics covered in this book provide insight into all relevant components of a haptic system. The reader is guided from understanding the virtual reality concept to the final goal of being able to design haptic interfaces for specific tasks such as nanomanipulation.  The introduction chapter positions the haptic interfaces within the virtual reality context. In order to design haptic interfaces that will comply with human capabilities at least basic understanding of human sensors-motor system is required. An overview of this topic is provided in the chapter related to human haptics. The book does not try to introduce the state-of-the-art haptic interface solutions because these tend to change quickly. On...

Robotic design analysis based on teleoperated manipulator data collection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stoughton, R.S.; Martin, H.L.

1985-01-01

Extensive data collection was performed on a servomanipulator system (TeleOperator Systems SM-229) to determine the motion range and mechanical power usage of the manipulator under direct human control. More than 50 hours of various manipulation operations were performed while joint positions and motor currents were recorded. Reduction of these data yielded histograms of the manipulator usage patterns revealing areas where future manipulator motion ranges and drive systems could be optimized. This report develops a graphical representation of mechanical power usage that relates torque and velocity to the total usage time. Methods of interpreting this representation are discussed and generalized for use in analyzing robotic systems. The resulting technique will allow designers to reevaluate an operating system and determine how to improve that system's design

Evaluation of teleoperated surgical robots in an enclosed undersea environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Doarn, Charles R; Anvari, Mehran; Low, Thomas; Broderick, Timothy J

2009-05-01

The ability to support surgical care in an extreme environment is a significant issue for both military medicine and space medicine. Telemanipulation systems, those that can be remotely operated from a distant site, have been used extensively by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for a number of years. These systems, often called telerobots, have successfully been applied to surgical interventions. A further extension is to operate these robotic systems over data communication networks where robotic slave and master are separated by a great distance. NASA utilizes the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Aquarius underwater habitat as an analog environment for research and technology evaluation missions, known as NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO). Three NEEMO missions have provided an opportunity to evaluate teleoperated surgical robotics by astronauts and surgeons. Three robotic systems were deployed to the habitat for evaluation during NEEMO 7, 9, and 12. These systems were linked via a telecommunications link to various sites for remote manipulation. Researchers in the habitat conducted a variety of tests to evaluate performance and applicability in extreme environments. Over three different NEEMO missions, components of the Automated Endoscopic System for Optimal Positioning (AESOP), the M7 Surgical System, and the RAVEN were deployed and evaluated. A number of factors were evaluated, including communication latency and semiautonomous functions. The M7 was modified to permit a remote surgeon the ability to insert a needle into simulated tissue with ultrasound guidance, resulting in the world's first semi-autonomous supervisory-controlled medical task. The deployment and operation of teleoperated surgical systems and semi-autonomous, supervisory-controlled tasks were successfully conducted.

Atomic Force Microscopy Based Nanorobotics Modelling, Simulation, Setup Building and Experiments

CERN Document Server

Xie, Hui; Régnier, Stéphane; Sitti, Metin

2012-01-01

The atomic force microscope (AFM) has been successfully used to perform nanorobotic manipulation operations on nanoscale entities such as particles, nanotubes, nanowires, nanocrystals, and DNA since 1990s. There have been many progress on modeling, imaging, teleoperated or automated control, human-machine interfacing, instrumentation, and applications of AFM based nanorobotic manipulation systems in literature. This book aims to include all of such state-of-the-art progress in an organized, structured, and detailed manner as a reference book and also potentially a textbook in nanorobotics and any other nanoscale dynamics, systems and controls related research and education. Clearly written and well-organized, this text introduces designs and prototypes of the nanorobotic systems in detail with innovative principles of three-dimensional manipulation force microscopy and parallel imaging/manipulation force microscopy.

Teleoperation and beyond for assistive humanoid robots

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Goodrich, M.A.; Crandall, J.W.; Barakova, E.I.

2013-01-01

In this review, we explore how teleoperation could potentially be applied to the management of humanoid robots, with an emphasis on humanoid robots that are used in assistive roles, including clinical therapies. Since there are very few examples of the remote operation of a full humanoid, the review

Research issues in implementing remote presence in teleoperator control

Science.gov (United States)

Corker, K.; Mishkin, A. H.; Lyman, J.

1981-01-01

The concept of remote presence in telemanipulation is presented. A conceptual design of a prototype teleoperator system incorporating remote presence is described. The design is presented in functional terms, sensor, display, and control subsystem. An intermediate environment, in which the human operator is made to feel present, is explicated. The intermediate environment differs from the task environment due to the quantity and type of information presented to an operator and due to scaling factors protecting the operator from the hazards of the task environment. Potential benefits of remote presence systems, both for manipulation and for the study of human cognition and preception are discussed.

The Improvement of Telerobotic System Behavior in Contact with Remote Environment by Extension of an Impedance Controller

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nedim Osmic

2008-11-01

Full Text Available The teleoperation (telerobotic systems often face two key challenges: the existence of communication delays between the master and slave site as well as the addition of force feedback to improve the user’s sense of presence. The first goal of this paper is that the slave manipulator should track the position of the master manipulator and the second goal is that the environmental force acting on the slave, when it contacts a remote environment, be accurately transmitted to the master. For solving both problems we proposed the symmetric impedance matched teleoperation systems with a wave filter in feedback loop. Simulations results using a single-degree of freedom master/slave system are presented showing the performance of the resulting system.

Dual Arm Work Platform teleoperated robotics system. Innovative technology summary report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1998-12-01

The US Department of Energy (DOE) and the Federal Energy Technology Center (FETC) has developed a Large Scale Demonstration Project (LSDP) at the Chicago Pile-5 Research Reactor (CP-5) at Argonne National Laboratory-East (ANL). The objective of the LSDP is to demonstrate potentially beneficial Deactivation and Decommissioning (D and D) technologies in comparison with current baseline technologies. The Dual Arm Work Platform (DAWP) demonstration focused on the use of the DAWP to segment and dismantle the CP-5 reactor tank and surrounding bio-shield components (including the graphite block reflector, lead and boral sheeting) and performing some minor tasks best suited for the use of teleoperated robotics that were not evaluated in this demonstration. The DAWP system is not a commercially available product at this time. The CP-5 implementation was its first D and D application. The demonstration of the DAWP was to determine the areas on which improvements must be made to make this technology commercially viable. The results of the demonstration are included in this greenbook. It is the intention of the developers to incorporate lessons learned at this demonstration and current technological advancements in robotics into the next generation of the DAWP

External Force Estimation for Teleoperation Based on Proprioceptive Sensors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Enrique del Sol

2014-03-01

Full Text Available This paper establishes an approach to external force estimation for telerobotic control in radioactive environments by the use of an identified manipulator model and pressure sensors, without employing a force/torque sensor. The advantages of - and need for - force feedback have been well-established in the field of telerobotics, where electrical and back-drivable manipulators have traditionally been used. This research proposes a methodology employing hydraulic robots for telerobotics tasks based on a model identification scheme. Comparative results of a force sensor and the proposed approach using a hydraulic telemanipulator are presented under different conditions. This approach not only presents a cost effective solution but also a methodology for force estimation in radioactive environments, where the dose rates limit the use of electronic devices such as sensing equipment.

Effect of biased feedback on motor imagery learning in BCI-teleoperation system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maryam eAlimardani

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Feedback design is an important issue in motor imagery BCI systems. Regardless, to date it has not been reported how feedback presentation can optimize co-adaptation between a human brain and such systems. This paper assesses the effect of realistic visual feedback on users’ BC performance and motor imagery skills. We previously developed a tele-operation system for a pair of humanlike robotic hands and showed that BCI control of such hands along with first-person perspective visual feedback of movements can arouse a sense of embodiment in the operators. In the first stage of this study, we found that the intensity of this ownership illusion was associated with feedback presentation and subjects’ performance during BCI motion control. In the second stage, we probed the effect of positive and negative feedback bias on subjects’ BCI performance and motor imagery skills. Although the subject specific classifier, which was set up at the beginning of experiment, detected no significant change in the subjects’ online performance, evaluation of brain activity patterns revealed that subjects’ self-regulation of motor imagery features improved due to a positive bias of feedback and a possible occurrence of ownership illusion. Our findings suggest that in general training protocols for BCIs, manipulation of feedback can play an important role in the optimization of subjects’ motor imagery skills.

Advanced Tele-operation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Decreton, M.

1998-01-01

Maintenance, repair, and dismantling operations in nuclear facilities have to be performed remotely when high radiation doses exclude hands-on operation, but also to minimize contamination risks and occupational doses to the operators. Computer-aided and sensor-based tele-operation enhances safety, reliability, and performance by helping the operator in difficult tasks with poor remote environmental perception. The objectives of work in this domain are to increase the scientific knowledge of the studied phenomena, to improve the interpretation of data, to improve the piloting og experimental devices during irradiation, to reveal and to understand possible unexpected phenomena occurring during irradiation. This scientific report describes the achievements for 1997 in the area of radiation tolerance for of remote-sensing, optical fibres and optical fibre sensors

Telerobotics in hazardous environments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bicker, R.; Glennie, D.; Ow, S.M.

1996-01-01

A bilateral force reflecting telerobotic system has been developed that allows the slave robot to be operated either manually, as in a conventional teleoperator system, or autonomously as a sensor driven robot. The implementation of shared control provides additional functionality which permits the operator to manually control the position (and/or velocity) of selected axes, whilst the remaining axes are controlled autonomously, using active force control. The force control scheme utilizes an active compliance algorithm to maintain the slave end-effector in contact with the workpiece at a prescribed force (or torque) along selected axes. The control system architecture is based on a network of parallel processors. A Puma 260 robot has been adapted as a force reflecting generalised manual input device and a Puma 760 robot has been configured to operate using force control as the slave robot. (UK)

Operator-in-the-loop simulation of a redundant manipulator under teleoperation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yae, K.H.; Lin, T.C.; Chern, S.T.

1993-01-01

For an interactive simulation of 7 degree-of-freedom redundant manipulator under teleoperation, this paper describes an iterative form of resolved-motion rate control in which the constraint Jacobian is constructed on-line in real time and used in the pseudoinverse method as the manipulator is teleoperated. The manipulator's tasks may involve trajectory following in free space and frequent contact with the environment through pick-and-put operation. The operator's command is interpreted as a series of increments in Cartesian space, and then the constraint Jacobian is developed between two successive increments by viewing the predecessor as the initial configuration and the successor as the target configuration. The pseudoinverse of the constraint Jacobian then generates necessary changes in joint variables and subsequently joint torque. The Jacobian constructed in this way enables us to treat both free motion and environmental contact in the same way. The simulator is built on a two-processor IRIS workstation, with one processor for graphics and the other for dynamics and control analysis. This simulator has a potential for training the teleoperator, developing operational scenarios through visualization of the simulation, and testing the design of operator-machine interface

Communications options for teleoperations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Springthorpe, R.T.

1991-08-01

TELEMAN is a programme of research work on remote handling in hazardous or disordered nuclear environments, carried out for the European Atomic Agency Community by a number of participants, part funded by the CEC. The objective is to develop advanced tele-operated robots for users in the nuclear industry to contribute to safety and profitability. A study performed by AEA Technology in 1989 for the TELEMAN programme examined communications standards and made recommendations where possible. It was recognised that a control architecture needed to be defined before determining which communications standards are appropriate. Several developing areas were recommended for further study and the results of this study are reported here. (author)

Development of a force-reflecting robotic platform for cardiac catheter navigation.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Jun Woo; Choi, Jaesoon; Pak, Hui-Nam; Song, Seung Joon; Lee, Jung Chan; Park, Yongdoo; Shin, Seung Min; Sun, Kyung

2010-11-01

Electrophysiological catheters are used for both diagnostics and clinical intervention. To facilitate more accurate and precise catheter navigation, robotic cardiac catheter navigation systems have been developed and commercialized. The authors have developed a novel force-reflecting robotic catheter navigation system. The system is a network-based master-slave configuration having a 3-degree of freedom robotic manipulator for operation with a conventional cardiac ablation catheter. The master manipulator implements a haptic user interface device with force feedback using a force or torque signal either measured with a sensor or estimated from the motor current signal in the slave manipulator. The slave manipulator is a robotic motion control platform on which the cardiac ablation catheter is mounted. The catheter motions-forward and backward movements, rolling, and catheter tip bending-are controlled by electromechanical actuators located in the slave manipulator. The control software runs on a real-time operating system-based workstation and implements the master/slave motion synchronization control of the robot system. The master/slave motion synchronization response was assessed with step, sinusoidal, and arbitrarily varying motion commands, and showed satisfactory performance with insignificant steady-state motion error. The current system successfully implemented the motion control function and will undergo safety and performance evaluation by means of animal experiments. Further studies on the force feedback control algorithm and on an active motion catheter with an embedded actuation mechanism are underway. © 2010, Copyright the Authors. Artificial Organs © 2010, International Center for Artificial Organs and Transplantation and Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Design considerations for teleoperation systems operating in gas-tight argon cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seungnam Yu

2017-12-01

Full Text Available In the nuclear industry, mechanical engineers spend a significant portion of their time designing equipment such as manipulators, bogies, mechanical grippers, and so on. Some customized designs can be considered as standard mechanical equipment in this area, although it is not unusual to find that an existing design cannot simply be copied from one project to another. Varied performance requirements can dictate that redesign, often quite extensive redesign, is required. However, if something similar has been done before, engineers could use that as a starting point for the new project. In this regard, this study presents several guidelines inspired by previous design knowledge for similar development cases. Moreover, this study presents more detailed suggestions such as design guidelines for an argon-based hot cell atmosphere and design experience for a large-scale practical hot cell facility. Design considerations and case studies dealt with in this study are dedicated to teleoperation manipulators that are used at a large-scale argon cell facility for pyroprocess integrated inactive demonstration (PRIDE, at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute. In particular, for case studies to support the suggested recommendations, a fabricated telemanipulator system for PRIDE is introduced, and several kinds of experimental results associated with it are presented.

Low-Latency Teleoperations for Human Exploration and Evolvable Mars Campaign

Science.gov (United States)

Lupisella, Mark; Wright, Michael; Arney, Dale; Gershman, Bob; Stillwagen, Fred; Bobskill, Marianne; Johnson, James; Shyface, Hilary; Larman, Kevin; Lewis, Ruthan;

Transparent Higher Order Sliding Mode Control for Nonlinear Master-Slave Systems without Velocity Measurement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luis G. Garcia-Valdovinos

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Transparency has been a major objective in bilateral teleoperation systems, even in the absence of time delay induced by the communication channel, since a high degree of transparency would allow humans to drive the remote teleoperator as if he or she were directly interacting with the remote environment, with the remote teleoperator as a physical and sensorial extension of the operator. When fast convergence of position and force tracking errors are ensured by the control system, then complete transparency is obtained, which would ideally guarantee humans to be tightly kinaesthetically coupled. In this paper a model-free Cartesian second order sliding mode (SOSM PD control scheme for nonlinear master-slave systems is presented. The proposed scheme does not rely on velocity measurements and attains very fast convergence of position trajectories, with bounded tracking of force trajectories, rendering a high degree of transparency with lesser knowledge of the system. The degree of transparency can easily be improved by tuning a feedback gain in the force loop. A unique energy storage function is introduced; such that a similar Cartesian-based controller is implemented in the master and slave sides. The resulting properties of the Cartesian control structure allows the human operator to input directly Cartesian variables, which makes clearer the kinaesthetic coupling, thus the proposed controller becomes a suitable candidate for practical implementation. The performance of the proposed scheme is evaluated in a semi-experimental setup.

Force Control and Nonlinear Master-Slave Force Profile to Manage an Admittance Type Multi-Fingered Haptic User Interface

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Anthony L. Crawford

2012-08-01

Natural movements and force feedback are important elements in using teleoperated equipment if complex and speedy manipulation tasks are to be accomplished in remote and/or hazardous environments, such as hot cells, glove boxes, decommissioning, explosives disarmament, and space to name a few. In order to achieve this end the research presented in this paper has developed an admittance type exoskeleton like multi-fingered haptic hand user interface that secures the user’s palm and provides 3-dimensional force feedback to the user’s fingertips. Atypical to conventional haptic hand user interfaces that limit themselves to integrating the human hand’s characteristics just into the system’s mechanical design this system also perpetuates that inspiration into the designed user interface’s controller. This is achieved by manifesting the property differences of manipulation and grasping activities as they pertain to the human hand into a nonlinear master-slave force relationship. The results presented in this paper show that the admittance-type system has sufficient bandwidth that it appears nearly transparent to the user when the user is in free motion and when the system is subjected to a manipulation task, increased performance is achieved using the nonlinear force relationship compared to the traditional linear scaling techniques implemented in the vast majority of systems.

Six axis force feedback input device

Science.gov (United States)

Ohm, Timothy (Inventor)

1998-01-01

The present invention is a low friction, low inertia, six-axis force feedback input device comprising an arm with double-jointed, tendon-driven revolute joints, a decoupled tendon-driven wrist, and a base with encoders and motors. The input device functions as a master robot manipulator of a microsurgical teleoperated robot system including a slave robot manipulator coupled to an amplifier chassis, which is coupled to a control chassis, which is coupled to a workstation with a graphical user interface. The amplifier chassis is coupled to the motors of the master robot manipulator and the control chassis is coupled to the encoders of the master robot manipulator. A force feedback can be applied to the input device and can be generated from the slave robot to enable a user to operate the slave robot via the input device without physically viewing the slave robot. Also, the force feedback can be generated from the workstation to represent fictitious forces to constrain the input device's control of the slave robot to be within imaginary predetermined boundaries.

Teleoperated Visual Inspection and Surveillance with Unmanned Ground and Aerial Vehicles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Viatcheslav Tretyakov

2008-11-01

Full Text Available This paper introduces our robotic system named UGAV (Unmanned Ground-Air Vehicle consisting of two semi-autonomous robot platforms, an Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV and an Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV. The paper focuses on three topics of the inspection with the combined UGV and UAV: (A teleoperated control by means of cell or smart phones with a new concept of automatic configuration of the smart phone based on a RKI-XML description of the vehicles control capabilities, (B the camera and vision system with the focus to real time feature extraction e.g. for the tracking of the UAV and (C the architecture and hardware of the UAV

Maestro: a tele-robotic system for decommissioning of nuclear plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Desbats, P.; Idasiak, J.M.

2008-01-01

Compared to electric manipulators, hydraulic manipulators can handle higher payloads with respect to their size and mass. However, due to their limited positioning resolution and dexterity, they are usually disqualified for precise tele-manipulation and high quality tele-operation. More over, experience feedback has shown that on-the-shelf hydraulic manipulators are not reliable when performing high demanding tasks in tele-operation for dismantling applications. In order to solve this problem, CEA (Commissariat l'Energie Atomique), in collaboration with Cybernetix company, has developed a computer-aided, high-precision remote handling system with force-feedback featuring the advanced hydraulic tele-robotic arm Maestro. (authors)

Recent advances in remote coal mining machine sensing, guidance, and teleoperation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ralston, J C; Hainsworth, D W; Reid, D C; Anderson, D L; McPhee, R J [CSIRO Exploration & Minerals, Kenmore, Qld. (Australia)

2001-10-01

Some recent applications of sensing, guidance and telerobotic technology in the coal mining industry are presented. Of special interest is the development of semi or fully autonomous systems to provide remote guidance and communications for coal mining equipment. The use of radar and inertial based sensors are considered in an attempt to solve the horizontal and lateral guidance problems associated with mining equipment automation. Also described is a novel teleoperated robot vehicle with unique communications capabilities, called the Numbat, which is used in underground mine safety and reconnaissance missions.

Usability of stereoscopic view in teleoperation

Science.gov (United States)

Boonsuk, Wutthigrai

2015-03-01

Recently, there are tremendous growths in the area of 3D stereoscopic visualization. The 3D stereoscopic visualization technology has been used in a growing number of consumer products such as the 3D televisions and the 3D glasses for gaming systems. This technology refers to the idea that human brain develops depth of perception by retrieving information from the two eyes. Our brain combines the left and right images on the retinas and extracts depth information. Therefore, viewing two video images taken at slightly distance apart as shown in Figure 1 can create illusion of depth [8]. Proponents of this technology argue that the stereo view of 3D visualization increases user immersion and performance as more information is gained through the 3D vision as compare to the 2D view. However, it is still uncertain if additional information gained from the 3D stereoscopic visualization can actually improve user performance in real world situations such as in the case of teleoperation.

Attractive forces study in macromolecules and critical systems; Etude des forces attractives dans les macromolecules et les systemes critiques

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Penninckx-Sans, A.

1995-07-10

The attractive forces effect is particularly interesting at the proximity of a critical point. In a liquid system, there are two kinds of attractive forces in presence : the forces bound to the solution volume and those generated by the presence of the solution surface or by a solution interface. In the first case, the attractive forces are the more important as the system is in a critical field. For this study, the selected example is a polymer solution in a two solvents mixture. A formulation in terms of way integrals as part of statistical physics has lead us to find again some known results on the polymer chain conformation in the presence of two solvents (collapse of the polymer on itself) far from the critical point and to extend these results to the critical field. In the case of attractive forces created by the surface in some critical systems (polymer of infinite size in solution and binary mixture near the de mixture point), the adsorption profile created by the attraction of one specie by the surface, follows a scale law. The optical methods usually used for the study of these systems do not give characteristic sign of concentration profile in power law. In the case where the interaction potential between radiation and matter is attractive, the reflectivity gives a separate mark of the existence of the scale law in the form of a resonance. After some theoretical forecasts, the author has used this method on the binary mixture methanol-cyclohexane in order to reveal experimentally a reflectivity pseudo-discontinuity and then the existence of the power law in the critical adsorption profile. (O.L.). 69 refs., 60 tabs.

The development of advanced robotics for the nuclear industry -The development of robotic system for the nuclear power plants-

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Seung Hoh; Kim, Chang Heui; Kim, Byung Soo; Hwang, Suk Yong; Kim, Kee Hoh; Lee, Jae Kyung; Lee, Yung Kwang; Suh, Yong Chil; Lee, Yong Bum; Kim, Woong Kee; Park, Soon Yong [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

1995-07-01

The Advanced Robotics Department of the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) is developing a Dexterous Manipulation System (DMS) and a teleoperated mobile robot, identified as KAEROT/ml, for use in nuclear power plants. The DMS is being developed for performing tasks such as the opening and closing of nozzle dam inside water chamber of steam generator. The DMS has two major subsystems; a master-slave 6 degrees of freedom (dof) manipulator and a support device. The master-slave arms are designed dissimilar kinematically and dynamically, and their functions are performed by a bilateral force-reflecting force control. The slave is a hydraulically powered arm with a 3 dof end effector, and is mounted on the top of the support device for nozzle dam operation. The support device guides the slave arm into the water chamber and supports it during its operation. The DMS can be operated either in teleoperated or supervisory control modes. The KAEROT/ml is designed to be used in emergency response applications such as monitoring and mapping radiation areas, handling radioactive materials and performing decontamination tasks. The KAEROT/ml equipped with four-omnidirectional planetary wheels has a 6 dof joint-controlled arm and is capable of ascending and descending stairs and navigating flat surface with zero turning radius. This report describes the mechanical design, features, modeling and control system of both the DMS and the KAEROT/ml. 209 figs, 49 pix, 69 tabs, 62 refs. (Author).

The development of advanced robotics for the nuclear industry -The development of robotic system for the nuclear power plants-

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Seung Hoh; Kim, Chang Heui; Kim, Byung Soo; Hwang, Suk Yong; Kim, Kee Hoh; Lee, Jae Kyung; Lee, Yung Kwang; Suh, Yong Chil; Lee, Yong Bum; Kim, Woong Kee; Park, Soon Yong

1995-07-01

The Advanced Robotics Department of the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) is developing a Dexterous Manipulation System (DMS) and a teleoperated mobile robot, identified as KAEROT/ml, for use in nuclear power plants. The DMS is being developed for performing tasks such as the opening and closing of nozzle dam inside water chamber of steam generator. The DMS has two major subsystems; a master-slave 6 degrees of freedom (dof) manipulator and a support device. The master-slave arms are designed dissimilar kinematically and dynamically, and their functions are performed by a bilateral force-reflecting force control. The slave is a hydraulically powered arm with a 3 dof end effector, and is mounted on the top of the support device for nozzle dam operation. The support device guides the slave arm into the water chamber and supports it during its operation. The DMS can be operated either in teleoperated or supervisory control modes. The KAEROT/ml is designed to be used in emergency response applications such as monitoring and mapping radiation areas, handling radioactive materials and performing decontamination tasks. The KAEROT/ml equipped with four-omnidirectional planetary wheels has a 6 dof joint-controlled arm and is capable of ascending and descending stairs and navigating flat surface with zero turning radius. This report describes the mechanical design, features, modeling and control system of both the DMS and the KAEROT/ml. 209 figs, 49 pix, 69 tabs, 62 refs. (Author)

Slave-side devices for micromanipulation in a haptic teleoperation scenario

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Estevez Castillo, P.

2012-01-01

Haptic teleoperation is a promising approach for dealing with the manipulation of micro-objects, fabricated in small series or as prototypes, and in processes which are novel or uncertain. Human operators provide their ability to plan, understand and react when faced with unexpected situations

Kinematics and duty cycles of the SM-229 force-reflecting servomanipulator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stoughton, R.S.

1986-02-01

This report describes the first known experimental study of servomanipulator duty cycles to appear in the literature. The servomanipulator used was TeleOperator Systems Model SM-229. The experimental approach used was to record the joint positions and motor currents of the right slave arm at a rate of 10 Hz over about 50 h of typical remote manipulation operations. The results are presented as position usage patterns in joint and real-world coordinates, time-use histograms of joint velocities and motor currents, and three-dimensional mechanical power histograms for each joint. All results are presented in dimensionless form, scaled to the design ranges of the manipulator and the total operation time recorded. Applications of this study include improvements in kinematic ranges, gear reductions, motor sizings, drive configurations, and stress relief. Included in appendices are an uncertainty analysis, calibration procedures, and analysis of the kinematics of the manipulator. 12 refs., 42 figs., 15 tabs

Experience in the use of teleoperated robotic equipment in the Spanish Nuclear Power Plants (S.R.T. Project)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bielza, M.; Gomez, J.; Izquierdo, J.A.; Bercedo, A.; Espallardo, J.A.; Martinez, A.; Carmena, P.; Pascual, J.L.

1998-01-01

The main objective of the Teleoperated Robotic Systems project (SRT) is the development of teleoperated robotic systems for use in the inspection, surveillance and maintenance operations in nuclear and radioactive installations. These systems make possible the reduction of the individual and collective doses of the workers that undertake these operations, as well as an increase of plant availability as it is possible to carry out specific tasks of inspection and surveillance in high radiation dose areas without to reduce the power of the installation. This project started in 1995 deciding to priorize the inspection equipment in a first phase. As a result of this work currently several semi-industrial products are available: ROBCAR, ROBICEN y ANAES. These have been installed for testing and commercial operation in Spanish nuclear installations. In this paper the experience of using these prototypes in the S.M. de Garona and Cofrentes nuclear power plants is described, as well as the improvements in the design of these systems derived from these experiences that have been incorporated to the industrial prototypes that are currently in the last phase of development. (Author)

Switching robust control synthesis for teleoperation via dwell time conditions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

López Martínez, C.A.; van de Molengraft, M.J.G.; Steinbuch, M.; Auvray, M.; Duriez, C.

2014-01-01

Control design for bilateral teleoperation is still an open problem, given that it is desirable to meet a proper balance in the inherent trade-off between transparency and stability. We propose the use of switching robust control, in which smooth switching among controllers is achieved by the

A Classification of Human-to-Human Communication during the Use of Immersive Teleoperation Interfaces

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kraus, Martin; Kibsgaard, Martin

2015-01-01

We propose a new classification of the human-to-human communication during the use of immersive teleoperation interfaces based on real-life examples. While a large body of research is concerned with communication in collaborative virtual environments (CVEs), less research focuses on cases where...... of the proposed classification to real environments can offer useful reference cases. Using this extended classification not only allows us to discuss and understand differences and similarities of various forms of communication in a more systematic way, but it also provides guidelines and reference cases...... for the design of immersive teleoperation interfaces that support human-to-human communication....

Design of a smart haptic system for repulsive force control under irregular manipulation environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Sang-Rock; Choi, Seung-Hyun; Choi, Seung-Bok; Cho, Myeong-Woo

2014-01-01

This paper describes how to make an operator feel the desired repulsive force in a haptic system. When an operator manipulates a haptic system, the repulsive force of the operator varies significantly, depending on many factors such as position, velocity and force. In order to reflect the desired repulsive force to the operator, it is commonly known that a haptic system must compensate for irregularly changing forces. The irregularity of the forces, however, has discouraged many researchers from establishing a clear principle on how to make the operator feel the desired repulsive force. To resolve this problem, we introduce a smart haptic framework that can reflect the desired repulsive force to the operator, regardless of the operator’s movement. A dummy governing equation technique is introduced and used to calculate the proper actuating force in real time. The actuating force is generated by a PID controller. To verify the proposed method, a mathematical proof is offered to show that the repulsive force converges to the desired repulsive force. Additionally, to demonstrate the performance of the proposed method, simulational and experimental tests are implemented. (paper)

Switching-based Mapping and Control for Haptic Teleoperation of Aerial Robots

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mersha, A.Y.; Stramigioli, Stefano; Carloni, Raffaella

2012-01-01

This paper deals with the bilateral teleoperation of underactuated aerial robots by means of a haptic interface. In particular, we propose a switching-based state mapping and control algorithm between a rate-based passive controller, which addresses the workspace incompatibility between the master

Bilateral teleoperation of underactuated unmanned aerial vehicles: The virtual slave concept

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mersha, A.Y.; Stramigioli, Stefano; Carloni, Raffaella

In this paper, we present haptic teleoperation of underactuated unmanned aerial vehicles by providing a multidimensional generalization of the virtual slave concept. The proposed control architecture is composed of high-level and low-level controllers. The high-level controller commands the vehicle

Conversion of a servomanipulator from analog to digital control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Killough, S.M.; Martin, H.L.; Hamel, W.R.

1986-01-01

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has developed expertise in computer control of force-reflecting master/slave servomanipulators as a result of research for the Consolidated Fuel Reprocessing Program. These computer control capabilities have been applied to a commercially available servomanipulator, the TeleOperator Systems SM-229. All of the servo drive and control circuitry has been replaced with commercially available digital controls and amplifiers, and a customer software - package has been developed at ORNL. This conversion to digital computer control resulted in significant improvements in force-reflection characteristics, ease of operation, diagnostic capabilities, indexing features, and potential increased reliability. The system will be used at the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) for maintenance demonstrations

Robotic 4D ultrasound solution for real-time visualization and teleoperation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Al-Badri Mohammed

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Automation of the image acquisition process via robotic solutions offer a large leap towards resolving ultrasound’s user-dependency. This paper, as part of a larger project aimed to develop a multipurpose 4d-ultrasonic force-sensitive robot for medical applications, focuses on achieving real-time remote visualisation for 4d ultrasound image transfer. This was possible through implementing our software modification on a GE Vivid 7 Dimension workstation, which operates a matrix array probe controlled by a KUKA LBR iiwa 7 7-DOF robotic arm. With the help of robotic positioning and the matrix array probe, fast volumetric imaging of target regions was feasible. By testing ultrasound volumes, which were roughly 880 kB in size, while using gigabit Ethernet connection, a latency of ∼57 ms was achievable for volume transfer between the ultrasound station and a remote client application, which as a result allows a frame count of 17.4 fps. Our modification thus offers for the first time real-time remote visualization, recording and control of 4d ultrasound data, which can be implemented in teleoperation.

The application of advanced remote systems technology to future waste handling facilities: Waste Systems Data and Development Program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kring, C.T.; Herndon, J.N.; Meacham, S.A.

1987-01-01

The Consolidated Fuel Reprocessing Program (CFRP) at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has been advancing the technology in remote handling and remote maintenance of in-cell systems planned for future US nuclear fuel reprocessing plants. Much of the experience and technology developed over the past decade in this endeavor are directly applicable to the in-cell systems being considered for the facilities of the Federal Waste Management System (FWMS). The ORNL developments are based on the application of teleoperated force-reflecting servomanipulators controlled by an operator completely removed from the hazardous environment. These developments address the nonrepetitive nature of remote maintenance in the unstructured environments encountered in a waste handling facility. Employing technological advancements in dexterous manipulators, as well as basic design guidelines that have been developed for remotely maintained equipment and processes, can increase operation and maintenance system capabilities, thereby allowing the attainment of two FWMS major objectives: decreasing plant personnel radiation exposure and increasing plant availability by decreasing the mean-time-to-repair in-cell maintenance and process equipment. 5 refs., 7 figs

Developments of STR project in the scope of teleoperation handling robotic for the operation in Spanish nuclear facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bielza, M.; Gomez Santamaria, J.; Izquierdo, J.A.; Martinez, S.; Linares, F.; Avello, A.; Gago, M.J.

1998-01-01

The main objective of the Teleoperated Robotic Systems project (SRT) is the development of teleoperated robotic systems for use in the inspection, surveillance and maintenance operations in nuclear and radioactive installations. These systems make possible the reduction of the individual and collective doses of the workers that undertake these operations, as well as an increase of plant availability as it is possible to carry out specific tasks of inspection and surveillance in high radiation dose areas without having to reduce the power of the installation. This project started in 1995, deciding to priorize the inspection equipment in a first phase. When this work were advanced, the development of the manipulation activities was carried out to being consider the nuclear installations needs. As a result of this work, the manipulation requirements were elaborated in order to prepare the beginning technical specifications to design the equipment s. These developments are based on a fixed manipulator which is located closed to the equipment that we want to repair, and an arm manipulator which moves by caterpillars, it is easier to control than others; and the navigation system which allows the robot self-locating in the complex area. In this paper the conclusions about the manipulation requirements are described, as well as the state of the manipulation prototype. (Author)

A novel approach to haptic tele-operation of aerial robot vehicles

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Stramigioli, Stefano; Mahony, Robert; Corke, Peter

2010-01-01

We present a novel, simple and effective approach for tele-operation of aerial robotic vehicles with haptic feedback. Such feedback provides the remote pilot with an intuitive feel of the robot's state and perceived local environment that will ensure simple and safe operation in cluttered 3D

Elementary school science teachers' reflection for nature of science: Workshop of NOS explicit and reflective on force and motion learning activity

Science.gov (United States)

Patho, Khanittha; Yuenyong, Chokchai; Chamrat, Suthida

2018-01-01

The nature of science has been part of Thailand's science education curriculum since 2008. However, teachers lack of understanding about the nature of science (NOS) and its teaching, particularly element school science teachers. In 2012, the Science Institute of Thailand MOE, started a project of Elementary Science Teacher Professional Development to enhance their thinking about the Nature of Science. The project aimed to enhance teachers' understanding of NOS, science teaching for explicit and reflective NOS, with the aim of extending their understanding of NOS to other teachers. This project selected 366 educational persons. The group was made up of a teacher and a teacher supervisor from 183 educational areas in 74 provinces all Thailand. The project provided a one week workshop and a year's follow up. The week-long workshop consisted of 11 activities of science teaching for explicit reflection on 8 aspects of NOS. Workshop of NOS explicit and reflective on force and motion learning activity is one of eight activities. This activity provided participants to learn force and motion and NOS from the traditional toy "Bang-Poh". The activity tried to enhance participants to explicit NOS for 5 aspects including empirical basis, subjectivity, creativity, observation and inference, and sociocultural embeddedness. The explicit NOS worksheet provided questions to ask participants to reflect their existing ideas about NOS. The paper examines elementary school science teachers' understanding of NOS from the force and motion learning activity which provided explicit reflection on 5 NOS aspects. An interpretive paradigm was used to analyse the teachers' reflections in a NOS worksheet. The findings indicated that majority of them could reflect about the empirical basis of science and creativity but few reflected on observation and inference, or sociocultural embeddedness. The paper will explain the teachers' NOS thinking and discuss the further enhancing of their understanding

Field analysis: approach to the design of teleoperator workstation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saint-Jean, T.; Lescoat, D.A.

1986-04-01

Following a brief review of theoretical scope this paper will characterize a methodology to the design of teleoperation workstations. This methodology is illustrated by an example - field analysis of a telemanipulation task in a hot cell. Practical informations are given: operating strategy different from the written procedure, team work organization, different skills. Recommendations are suggested as regards the writing of procedures, the training of personnel and the work organisation

Robot Teleoperation and Perception Assistance with a Virtual Holographic Display

Science.gov (United States)

Goddard, Charles O.

2012-01-01

Teleoperation of robots in space from Earth has historically been dfficult. Speed of light delays make direct joystick-type control infeasible, so it is desirable to command a robot in a very high-level fashion. However, in order to provide such an interface, knowledge of what objects are in the robot's environment and how they can be interacted with is required. In addition, many tasks that would be desirable to perform are highly spatial, requiring some form of six degree of freedom input. These two issues can be combined, allowing the user to assist the robot's perception by identifying the locations of objects in the scene. The zSpace system, a virtual holographic environment, provides a virtual three-dimensional space superimposed over real space and a stylus tracking position and rotation inside of it. Using this system, a possible interface for this sort of robot control is proposed.

System modelling of a lateral force microscope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Michal, Guillaume; Lu, Cheng; Kiet Tieu, A

2008-01-01

To quantitatively analyse lateral force microscope measurements one needs to develop a model able to relate the photodiode signal to the force acting on the tip apex. In this paper we focus on the modelling of the interaction between the cantilever and the optical chain. The laser beam is discretized by a set of rays which propagates in the system. The analytical equation of a single ray's position on the optical sensor is presented as a function of the reflection's state on top of the cantilever. We use a finite element analysis on the cantilever to connect the optical model with the force acting on the tip apex. A first-order approximation of the constitutive equations are derived along with a definition of the system's crosstalk. Finally, the model is used to analytically simulate the 'wedge method' in the presence of crosstalk in 2D. The analysis shows how the torsion loop and torsion offset signals are affected by the crosstalk.

Grip Force Adjustments Reflect Prediction of Dynamic Consequences in Varying Gravitoinertial Fields

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olivier White

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Humans have a remarkable ability to adjust the way they manipulate tools through a genuine regulation of grip force according to the task. However, rapid changes in the dynamical context may challenge this skill, as shown in many experimental approaches. Most experiments adopt perturbation paradigms that affect only one sensory modality. We hypothesize that very fast adaptation can occur if coherent information from multiple sensory modalities is provided to the central nervous system. Here, we test whether participants can switch between different and never experienced dynamical environments induced by centrifugation of the body. Seven participants lifted an object four times in a row successively in 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 2, 1.5, and 1 g. We continuously measured grip force, load force and the gravitoinertial acceleration that was aligned with body axis (perceived gravity. Participants adopted stereotyped grasping movements immediately upon entry in a new environment and needed only one trial to adapt grip forces to a stable performance in each new gravity environment. This result was underlined by good correlations between grip and load forces in the first trial. Participants predictively applied larger grip forces when they expected increasing gravity steps. They also decreased grip force when they expected decreasing gravity steps, but not as much as they could, indicating imperfect anticipation in that condition. The participants' performance could rather be explained by a combination of successful scaling of grip force according to gravity changes and a separate safety factor. The data suggest that in highly unfamiliar dynamic environments, grip force regulation is characterized by a combination of a successful anticipation of the experienced environmental condition, a safety factor reflecting strategic response to uncertainties about the environment and rapid feedback mechanisms to optimize performance under constant conditions.

Design and operation of remote maintenance systems in JET

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Raimondi, T.

1987-01-01

The JET tokamak is a joint European project aimed at proving the viability of nuclear fusion as a source of energy. A remote handling system is being developed for this large experimental facility. Force feedback servomanipulators and TV cameras are positioned at work locations by large transporters. Positioning and tele-operation are computer-assisted. Special tools are being devised to facilitate difficult tasks

Air Force construction automation/robotics

Science.gov (United States)

Nease, AL; Dusseault, Christopher

1994-01-01

The Air Force has several unique requirements that are being met through the development of construction robotic technology. The missions associated with these requirements place construction/repair equipment operators in potentially harmful situations. Additionally, force reductions require that human resources be leveraged to the maximum extent possible and that more stringent construction repair requirements push for increased automation. To solve these problems, the U.S. Air Force is undertaking a research and development effort at Tyndall AFB, FL to develop robotic teleoperation, telerobotics, robotic vehicle communications, automated damage assessment, vehicle navigation, mission/vehicle task control architecture, and associated computing environment. The ultimate goal is the fielding of robotic repair capability operating at the level of supervised autonomy. The authors of this paper will discuss current and planned efforts in construction/repair, explosive ordnance disposal, hazardous waste cleanup, fire fighting, and space construction.

Towards a Location-based Service for Early Mental Health Interventions in Disaster Response Using Minimalistic Tele-operated Android Robots Technology

Science.gov (United States)

Vahidi, H.; Mobasheri, A.; Alimardani, M.; Guan, Q.; Bakillah, M.

2014-04-01

Providing early mental health services during disaster is a great challenge in the disaster response phase. Lack of access to adequate mental-health professionals in the early stages of large-scale disasters dramatically influences the trend of a successful mental health aid. In this paper, a conceptual framework has been suggested for adopting cellphone-type tele-operated android robots in the early stages of disasters for providing the early mental health services for disaster survivors by developing a locationbased and participatory approach. The techniques of enabling GI-services in a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) environment were studied to overcome the limitations of current centralized services. Therefore, the aim of this research study is to add more flexibility and autonomy to GI web services (WMS, WFS, WPS, etc.) and alleviate to some degree the inherent limitations of these centralized systems. A P2P system Architecture is presented for the location-based service using minimalistic tele-operated android robots, and some key techniques of implementing this service using BestPeer were studied for developing this framework.

Development of a hybrid haptic master system without using a force sensor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bae, Byung Hoon; Park, Kyi Hwan

2001-01-01

A hybrid type master system is proposed to take the advantage of the link mechanism and magnetic levitation mechanism without using a force sensor. Two different types of electromagnetic actuators, moving coil type and moving magnet types are used to drive the master system which is capable of 4-DOF actuation. It is designed that the rotation motions about x-y axis are decoupled and the whole system is represented by simple dynamic equations. The force reflection is achieved by using the simple relation between the force and applied current and position. The simulation and experimental results are presented to show its performance

Development of a hybrid haptic master system without using a force sensor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bae, Byung Hoon; Park, Kyi Hwan [Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Gwangju (Korea, Republic of)

2001-08-01

A hybrid type master system is proposed to take the advantage of the link mechanism and magnetic levitation mechanism without using a force sensor. Two different types of electromagnetic actuators, moving coil type and moving magnet types are used to drive the master system which is capable of 4-DOF actuation. It is designed that the rotation motions about x-y axis are decoupled and the whole system is represented by simple dynamic equations. The force reflection is achieved by using the simple relation between the force and applied current and position. The simulation and experimental results are presented to show its performance.

Expanding to teleoperation of a tight modular workshop for dismantling radioactive components

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gasc, B.

1990-01-01

The CEA (French Nuclear Energy Commission) in connection with TECHNICATOME developed a tight modular workshop for the dismantling of AT1 plant facilities in LA HAGUE. This workshop constructed of reusable stainless steel panels assembled by bolting provides a tight and decontaminable working zone compatible with any building configuration. This being the case, the operators bearing ventilated suits may work under the best safety conditions on alpha-contaminated materials. For the purpose of expanding the working capacities of this workshop it was decided to develop special components for teleoperation from the outside as in a conventional cell. To meet this objective which is within the scope of the contract signed with the CEC, the following components were developed and constructed: - manipulator holder panel, - swivelling hatch panel, - wall equipment sealed transfer device and, - modular biological protection. The design, construction and tests of these new components led to their qualification and further incorporation in the list of components of the modular workshop liable to be used for teleoperation procedures

Robot-assisted ultrasound imaging: overview and development of a parallel telerobotic system.

Science.gov (United States)

Monfaredi, Reza; Wilson, Emmanuel; Azizi Koutenaei, Bamshad; Labrecque, Brendan; Leroy, Kristen; Goldie, James; Louis, Eric; Swerdlow, Daniel; Cleary, Kevin

2015-02-01

Ultrasound imaging is frequently used in medicine. The quality of ultrasound images is often dependent on the skill of the sonographer. Several researchers have proposed robotic systems to aid in ultrasound image acquisition. In this paper we first provide a short overview of robot-assisted ultrasound imaging (US). We categorize robot-assisted US imaging systems into three approaches: autonomous US imaging, teleoperated US imaging, and human-robot cooperation. For each approach several systems are introduced and briefly discussed. We then describe a compact six degree of freedom parallel mechanism telerobotic system for ultrasound imaging developed by our research team. The long-term goal of this work is to enable remote ultrasound scanning through teleoperation. This parallel mechanism allows for both translation and rotation of an ultrasound probe mounted on the top plate along with force control. Our experimental results confirmed good mechanical system performance with a positioning error of < 1 mm. Phantom experiments by a radiologist showed promising results with good image quality.

Acquisition of Basic Behaviors through Teleoperation using Robonaut

Science.gov (United States)

Campbell, Christina

2004-01-01

My area of research is in artificial intelligence and robotics. The major platform of this research is NASA's Robonaut. This humanoid robot is located at the Johnson Space Center. Prior to receiving this grant, I was able to spend two summers in Houston working with the Robonaut team, which is headed by Rob Ambrose. My work centered on teaching Robonaut to grasp a wrench based on data gathered as a human teleoperated the robot. I tried to make the procedure as general as possible so that many different motions could be taught using this method.

Anticipatory synergy adjustments reflect individual performance of feedforward force control.

Science.gov (United States)

Togo, Shunta; Imamizu, Hiroshi

2016-10-06

We grasp and dexterously manipulate an object through multi-digit synergy. In the framework of the uncontrolled manifold (UCM) hypothesis, multi-digit synergy is defined as the coordinated control mechanism of fingers to stabilize variable important for task success, e.g., total force. Previous studies reported anticipatory synergy adjustments (ASAs) that correspond to a drop of the synergy index before a quick change of the total force. The present study compared ASA's properties with individual performances of feedforward force control to investigate a relationship of those. Subjects performed a total finger force production task that consisted of a phase in which subjects tracked target line with visual information and a phase in which subjects produced total force pulse without visual information. We quantified their multi-digit synergy through UCM analysis and observed significant ASAs before producing total force pulse. The time of the ASA initiation and the magnitude of the drop of the synergy index were significantly correlated with the error of force pulse, but not with the tracking error. Almost all subjects showed a significant increase of the variance that affected the total force. Our study directly showed that ASA reflects the individual performance of feedforward force control independently of target-tracking performance and suggests that the multi-digit synergy was weakened to adjust the multi-digit movements based on a prediction error so as to reduce the future error. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Expert operator preferences in remote manipulator control systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sundstrom, E.; Draper, J.V.; Fausz, A.; Woods, H.

1995-06-01

This report describes a survey of expert remote manipulator operators designed to identify features of control systems related to operator efficiency and comfort. It provides information for designing the control center for the Single-Shell Tank Waste Retrieval Manipulator System (TWRMS) Test Bed, described in a separate report. Research questions concerned preferred modes of control, optimum work sessions, sources of operator fatigue, importance of control system design features, and desired changes in control rooms. Participants comprised four expert remote manipulator operators at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, who individually have from 9 to 20 years of experience using teleoperators. The operators had all used rate and position control, and all preferred bilateral (force-reflecting) position control. They reported spending an average of 2.75 h in control of a teleoperator system during a typical shift. All were accustomed to working in a crew of two and alternating control and support roles in 2-h rotations in an 8-h shift. Operators reported that fatigue in using remote manipulator systems came mainly from watching TV monitors and making repetitive motions. Three of four experienced symptoms, including headaches and sore eyes, wrists, and back. Of 17 features of control rooms rated on importance, highest ratings went to comfort and support provided by the operator chair, location of controls, location of video monitors, video image clarity, types of controls, and control modes. When asked what they wanted to change, operators said work stations designed for comfort; simpler, lighter hand-controls; separate controls for each camera; better placement of remote camera; color monitors; and control room layouts that support crew interaction. Results of this small survey reinforced the importance of ergonomic factors in remote manipulation

A Fabry-Perot Interferometry Based MRI-Compatible Miniature Uniaxial Force Sensor for Percutaneous Needle Placement

Science.gov (United States)

Shang, Weijian; Su, Hao; Li, Gang; Furlong, Cosme; Fischer, Gregory S.

2014-01-01

Robot-assisted surgical procedures, taking advantage of the high soft tissue contrast and real-time imaging of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), are developing rapidly. However, it is crucial to maintain tactile force feedback in MRI-guided needle-based procedures. This paper presents a Fabry-Perot interference (FPI) based system of an MRI-compatible fiber optic sensor which has been integrated into a piezoelectrically actuated robot for prostate cancer biopsy and brachytherapy in 3T MRI scanner. The opto-electronic sensing system design was minimized to fit inside an MRI-compatible robot controller enclosure. A flexure mechanism was designed that integrates the FPI sensor fiber for measuring needle insertion force, and finite element analysis was performed for optimizing the correct force-deformation relationship. The compact, low-cost FPI sensing system was integrated into the robot and calibration was conducted. The root mean square (RMS) error of the calibration among the range of 0–10 Newton was 0.318 Newton comparing to the theoretical model which has been proven sufficient for robot control and teleoperation. PMID:25126153

A novel control framework for nonlinear time-delayed dual-master/single-slave teleoperation.

Science.gov (United States)

Ghorbanian, A; Rezaei, S M; Khoogar, A R; Zareinejad, M; Baghestan, K

2013-03-01

A novel trilateral control architecture for the Dual-master/Single-slave teleoperation is proposed in this paper. This framework has been used in surgical training and rehabilitation applications. In this structure, the slave motion has been controlled by weighted summation of signals transmitted by the operator referring to task control authority through the dominance factors. The nonlinear dynamics for telemanipulators are considered which were considered as disregarded issues in previous studies of this field. Bounded variable time-delay has been considered which affects the transmitted signals in the communication channels. Two types of controllers have been offered and an appropriate stability analysis for each controller has been demonstrated. The first controller includes Proportional with dissipative gains (P+d). The second one contains Proportional and Derivative with dissipative gains (PD+d). In both cases, the stability of the trilateral control framework is preserved by choosing appropriate controller's gains. It is shown that these controllers attempt to coordinate the positions of telemanipulators in the free motion condition. The stability of the Dual-master/Single-slave teleoperation has been proved by an appropriate Lyapunov like function and the stability conditions have been studied. In addition the proposed PD+d control architecture is modified for trilateral teleoperation with internet communication between telemanipulators that caused such communication complications as packet loss, data duplication and swapping. A number of experiments have been conducted with various levels of dominance factor to validate the effectiveness of the new control architecture. Copyright © 2012 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Markerless Kinect-Based Hand Tracking for Robot Teleoperation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guanglong Du

2012-07-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a real-time remote robot teleoperation method using markerless Kinect-based hand tracking. Using this tracking algorithm, the positions of index finger and thumb in 3D can be estimated by processing depth images from Kinect. The hand pose is used as a model to specify the pose of a real-time remote robot's end-effector. This method provides a way to send a whole task to a remote robot instead of sending limited motion commands like gesture-based approaches and this method has been tested in pick-and-place tasks.

Modeling and Design of an Electro-Rheological Fluid Based Haptic System for Tele-Operation of Space Robots

Science.gov (United States)

Mavroidis, Constantinos; Pfeiffer, Charles; Paljic, Alex; Celestino, James; Lennon, Jamie; Bar-Cohen, Yoseph

2000-01-01

For many years, the robotic community sought to develop robots that can eventually operate autonomously and eliminate the need for human operators. However, there is an increasing realization that there are some tasks that human can perform significantly better but, due to associated hazards, distance, physical limitations and other causes, only robot can be employed to perform these tasks. Remotely performing these types of tasks requires operating robots as human surrogates. While current "hand master" haptic systems are able to reproduce the feeling of rigid objects, they present great difficulties in emulating the feeling of remote/virtual stiffness. In addition, they tend to be heavy, cumbersome and usually they only allow limited operator workspace. In this paper a novel haptic interface is presented to enable human-operators to "feel" and intuitively mirror the stiffness/forces at remote/virtual sites enabling control of robots as human-surrogates. This haptic interface is intended to provide human operators intuitive feeling of the stiffness and forces at remote or virtual sites in support of space robots performing dexterous manipulation tasks (such as operating a wrench or a drill). Remote applications are referred to the control of actual robots whereas virtual applications are referred to simulated operations. The developed haptic interface will be applicable to IVA operated robotic EVA tasks to enhance human performance, extend crew capability and assure crew safety. The electrically controlled stiffness is obtained using constrained ElectroRheological Fluids (ERF), which changes its viscosity under electrical stimulation. Forces applied at the robot end-effector due to a compliant environment will be reflected to the user using this ERF device where a change in the system viscosity will occur proportionally to the force to be transmitted. In this paper, we will present the results of our modeling, simulation, and initial testing of such an

Use of accident experience in developing criteria for teleoperator equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vallario, E.J.; Selby, J.M.

1985-10-01

The 1961 SL-1 reactor accident in Idaho and the Recuplex accident at Hanford are reviewed to identify problems common to emergency situations, lessons learned from accidents, criteria for emergency equipment, and recommendations for using robotics to solve problems during emergencies. Teleoperator equipment could be used to assess the extent of the damage and the condition of the reactor, retrieve dosimeters, evacuate and treat accident victims, clean up debris and decontaminate accident areas. 2 refs., 9 figs

An experimental program on advanced robotics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yuan, J.S.C.; Stovman, J.; MacDonald, R.; Norgate, G.

1987-01-01

Remote handling in hostile environments, including space, nuclear facilities, and mines, requires hybrid systems which permit close cooperation between state of the art teleoperation and advanced robotics. Teleoperation using hand controller commands and television feedback can be enhanced by providing force-feel feedback and simulation graphics enhancement of the display. By integrating robotics features such as computer vision and force/tactile feedback with advanced local control systems, the overall effectiveness of the system can be improved and the operator workload reduced. This has been demonstrated in the laboratory. Applications such as a grappling drifting satellite or transferring material at sea are envisaged

Tele-operated search robot for human detection using histogram of oriented objects

Science.gov (United States)

Cruz, Febus Reidj G.; Avendaño, Glenn O.; Manlises, Cyrel O.; Avellanosa, James Jason G.; Abina, Jyacinth Camille F.; Masaquel, Albert M.; Siapno, Michael Lance O.; Chung, Wen-Yaw

2017-02-01

Disasters such as typhoons, tornadoes, and earthquakes are inevitable. Aftermaths of these disasters include the missing people. Using robots with human detection capabilities to locate the missing people, can dramatically reduce the harm and risk to those who work in such circumstances. This study aims to: design and build a tele-operated robot; implement in MATLAB an algorithm for the detection of humans; and create a database of human identification based on various positions, angles, light intensity, as well as distances from which humans will be identified. Different light intensities were made by using Photoshop to simulate smoke, dust and water drops conditions. After processing the image, the system can indicate either a human is detected or not detected. Testing with bodies covered was also conducted to test the algorithm's robustness. Based on the results, the algorithm can detect humans with full body shown. For upright and lying positions, detection can happen from 8 feet to 20 feet. For sitting position, detection can happen from 2 feet to 20 feet with slight variances in results because of different lighting conditions. The distances greater than 20 feet, no humans can be processed or false negatives can occur. For bodies covered, the algorithm can detect humans in cases made under given circumstances. On three positions, humans can be detected from 0 degrees to 180 degrees under normal, with smoke, with dust, and with water droplet conditions. This study was able to design and build a tele-operated robot with MATLAB algorithm that can detect humans with an overall precision of 88.30%, from which a database was created for human identification based on various conditions, where humans will be identified.

Advanced Robotics for Air Force Operations

Science.gov (United States)

1989-06-01

active, Teleoperated Mobile Anti-armor Platform potentially lethal defensive agents. ( TMAP ) projects at Martin Marietta and There are valid concerns...regarding Grumman. The TMAP is particularly whether a perimeter defense system interesting as a potential basis for a should be lethal when triggered

Advanced remote handling developments for high radiation applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Herndon, J.N.; Kring, C.T.; Feldman, M.J.; Kuban, D.P.; Martin, H.L.; Rowe, J.C.; Hamel, W.R.

1985-01-01

The Remote Control Engineering Task of the Consolidated Fuel Reprocessing Program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory has been developing advanced techniques for remote maintenance of future US fuel reprocessing plants. These efforts are based on the application of teleoperated, force-reflecting servomanipulators for dexterous remote handling with television viewing for large-volume hazardous applications. These developments fully address the nonrepetitive nature of remote maintenance in the unstructured environments encountered in fuel reprocessing. This paper covers the primary emphasis in the present program; the design, fabrication, and installation of a prototype remote handling system for reprocessing applications, the Advanced Integrated Maintenance System

Teleoperación de un vehículo remoto en un medio de acceso inalámbrico mediante el uso de una interfaz háptica Remote vehicle teleoperation through a haptic interface

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arys Carrasquilla Batista

2012-11-01

Full Text Available La teleoperación permite que el ser humano pueda llevar a cabo ciertas tareas en lugares muy lejanos, de difícil acceso o de condiciones hostiles para la presencia de un operador. Con este proyecto se logró teleoperar un vehículo remoto por medio del protocolo de comunicación Bluetooth, para lo cual se adaptó una interfaz háptica (Novint Falcon. Desde la interfaz, el operador puede enviar la consigna de movimiento y, además, obtener sensaciones conforme a la información de los sensores incluidos al sistema. Como vehículo remoto se utilizó un Lego Mindstorms con capacidad de comunicación Bluetooth, al cual se incorporó un sensor de contacto y otro de ultrasonido con el fin de percibir en la interfaz háptica la retroalimentación de fuerzas. A una computadora estándar se le dio capacidad de comunicación Bluetooth por medio de un adaptador USB, desde la cual se ejecuta un programa creado en C++ para controlar las acciones de la interfaz háptica, enviar los comandos de movimiento al vehículo y recibir la información de los sensores, la cual reproduce sensaciones al operador.Teleoperation allows human beings to carry out certain tasks in places far away, inaccessible or with hostile conditions for the presence of an operator. In this project a remote vehicle is teleoperated using a bluetooth wireless connection, to accomplish this an haptic interface (Novint Falcon was used. The operator can give movement instructions to the vehicle and obtain sensations, according to the information received from the sensors connected to the system. The remote vehicle was a Lego Mindstorms with bluetooth communication capabilities, a touch sensor and ultrasonic sensor were included in order to perceive reflection of forces through the haptic interface. A USB adapter for bluetooth communication was added to a standard computer; a program in C++ is executed over this computer to control the haptic interface, send movement commands to the vehicle and

Robot-assisted microsurgical forceps with haptic feedback for transoral laser microsurgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Deshpande, Nikhil; Chauhan, Manish; Pacchierotti, Claudio; Prattichizzo, Domenico; Caldwell, Darwin G; Mattos, Leonardo S

2016-08-01

In this paper, a novel, motorized, multi-degrees-of-freedom (DoF), microsurgical forceps tool is presented, which is based on a master-slave teleoperation architecture. The slave device is a 7-DoF manipulator with: (i) 6-DoF positioning and orientation, (ii) 1 open/close gripper DoF; and (iii) an integrated force/torque sensor for tissue grip-force measurement. The master device is a 7-DoF haptic interface which teleoperates the slave device, and provides haptic feedback in its gripper interface. The combination of the device and the surgeon interface replaces the manual, hand-held device providing easy-to-use and ergonomic tissue control, simplifying the surgical tasks. This makes the system suitable to real surgical scenarios in the operating room (OR). The performance of the system was analysed through the evaluation of teleoperation control and characterization of gripping force. The new system offers an overall positioning error of less than 400 μm demonstrating its safety and accuracy. Improved system precision, usability, and ergonomics point to the potential suitability of the device for the OR and its ability to advance haptic-feedback-enhanced transoral laser microsurgeries.

Two-Channel Transparency-Optimized Control Architectures in Bilateral Teleoperation With Time Delay.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Jonghyun; Chang, Pyung Hun; Park, Hyung-Soon

2013-01-01

This paper introduces transparency-optimized control architectures (TOCAs) using two communication channels. Two classes of two-channel TOCAs are found, thereby showing that two channels are sufficient to achieve transparency. These TOCAs achieve a greater level of transparency but poorer stability than three-channel TOCAs and four-channel TOCAs. Stability of the two-channel TOCAs has been enhanced while minimizing transparency degradation by adding a filter; and a combined use of the two classes of two-channel TOCAs is proposed for both free space and constrained motion, which involve switching between two TOCAs for transition between free space and constrained motions. The stability condition of the switched teleoperation system is derived for practical applications. Through the one degree-of-freedom (DOF) experiment, the proposed two-channel TOCAs were shown to operate stably, while achieving better transparency under time delay than the other TOCAs.

A laboratory based x-ray reflectivity system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holt, S.A.; Creagh, D.C.; Jamie, I.M.; Dowling, T.L.; Brown, A.S.

1996-01-01

Full text: X-ray Reflectivity (XRR) over the last decade has proved to be a versatile and powerful technique by which the thickness of thin films, surface roughness and interface roughness can be determined. The systems amenable to study range from organic monolayers (liquid or solid substrates) to layered metal or semiconductor systems. Access to XRR has been limited by the requirement for synchrotron radiation sources. The development of XRR systems for the laboratory environment was pioneered by Weiss. An X-ray Reflectometer has been constructed by the Department of Physics (Australian Defence Force Academy) and the Research School of Chemistry (Australian National University). The general principles of the design were similar to those described by Weiss. The reflectometer is currently in the early stages of commissioning, with encouraging results thus far. The diffraction pattern of Mobil Catalytic Material (MCM), consisting primarily of SiO 2 . The poster will describe the reflectometer, its operation and present a summary of the most important results obtained to date

The development of graphic simulation technology for tele-operated robot

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Chang Hoi; Kim, Seung Ho; Kim, Ki Ho; Jung, Seung Ho; Hwang, Suk Yeoung; Kim, Byung Soo; Seo, Yong Chil; Lee, Young Kwang

1998-02-01

In hostile environments like a nuclear power plant, human access is limited to the strict minimum due to the high-level of radiation. The design of tele-robotic system requires careful preparation because of the nature of its safety. Also, the human operator should have a capability of supervising the robot system and responding promptly to the unexpected events. In this study, the graphic simulation technology has been developed to construct tele-robotic system which can effectively perform the specified tasks in nuclear facilities. The developed graphic simulator utilizes the Indigo 2 workstation of Silicon Graphics as a main computer and its software is written in the OpenGL graphic library in X windows environments. The developed simulator, interfaced with the control system of the real robot through the ethernet, acts as a supervisory controller. Since clear and concise visual information on real robot posture and task environments can be processed in real time, the efficiency of tele-operation can be remarkably enhanced with this simulator. This simulator using advanced 3 dimensional graphics has many advantages of modeling complicated shapes of robot and constructing the virtual work environments similar to the real ones. With the use of this developed simulator, the operator can evaluate the performance of the tele-robot before it is put into real operation. This system can prevents the possible disaster of the robot resulting from the collision with its work environments. (author). 9 refs., 23 tabs., 13 figs

Force Modulator System

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Redmond Clark

2009-04-30

Many metal parts manufacturers use large metal presses to shape sheet metal into finished products like car body parts, jet wing and fuselage surfaces, etc. These metal presses take sheet metal and - with enormous force - reshape the metal into a fully formed part in a manner of seconds. Although highly efficient, the forces involved in forming metal parts also damage the press itself, limit the metals used in part production, slow press operations and, when not properly controlled, cause the manufacture of large volumes of defective metal parts. To date, the metal-forming industry has not been able to develop a metal-holding technology that allows full control of press forces during the part forming process. This is of particular importance in the automotive lightweighting efforts under way in the US automotive manufacturing marketplace. Metalforming Controls Technology Inc. (MC2) has developed a patented press control system called the Force Modulator that has the ability to control these press forces, allowing a breakthrough in stamping process control. The technology includes a series of hydraulic cylinders that provide controlled tonnage at all points in the forming process. At the same time, the unique cylinder design allows for the generation of very high levels of clamping forces (very high tonnages) in very small spaces; a requirement for forming medium and large panels out of HSS and AHSS. Successful production application of these systems testing at multiple stamping operations - including Ford and Chrysler - has validated the capabilities and economic benefits of the system. Although this technology has been adopted in a number of stamping operations, one of the primary barriers to faster adoption and application of this technology in HSS projects is system cost. The cost issue has surfaced because the systems currently in use are built for each individual die as a custom application, thus driving higher tooling costs. This project proposed to better

Personality Perception of Robot Avatar Teleoperators in Solo and Dyadic Tasks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul Adam Bremner

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Humanoid robot avatars are a potential new telecommunication tool, whereby a user is remotely represented by a robot that replicates their arm, head, and possible face movements. They have been shown to have a number of benefits over more traditional media such as phones or video calls. However, using a teleoperated humanoid as a communication medium inherently changes the appearance of the operator, and appearance-based stereotypes are used in interpersonal judgments (whether consciously or unconsciously. One such judgment that plays a key role in how people interact is personality. Hence, we have been motivated to investigate if and how using a robot avatar alters the perceived personality of teleoperators. To do so, we carried out two studies where participants performed 3 communication tasks, solo in study one and dyadic in study two, and were recorded on video both with and without robot mediation. Judges recruited using online crowdsourcing services then made personality judgments of the participants in the video clips. We observed that judges were able to make internally consistent trait judgments in both communication conditions. However, judge agreement was affected by robot mediation, although which traits were affected was highly task dependent. Our most important finding was that in dyadic tasks personality trait perception was shifted to incorporate cues relating to the robot’s appearance when it was used to communicate. Our findings have important implications for telepresence robot design and personality expression in autonomous robots.

Two-Channel Transparency-Optimized Control Architectures in Bilateral Teleoperation With Time Delay

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Jonghyun; Chang, Pyung Hun; Park, Hyung-Soon

2013-01-01

This paper introduces transparency-optimized control architectures (TOCAs) using two communication channels. Two classes of two-channel TOCAs are found, thereby showing that two channels are sufficient to achieve transparency. These TOCAs achieve a greater level of transparency but poorer stability than three-channel TOCAs and four-channel TOCAs. Stability of the two-channel TOCAs has been enhanced while minimizing transparency degradation by adding a filter; and a combined use of the two classes of two-channel TOCAs is proposed for both free space and constrained motion, which involve switching between two TOCAs for transition between free space and constrained motions. The stability condition of the switched teleoperation system is derived for practical applications. Through the one degree-of-freedom (DOF) experiment, the proposed two-channel TOCAs were shown to operate stably, while achieving better transparency under time delay than the other TOCAs. PMID:23833548

Command and Control Architectures for Autonomous Micro-Robotic Forces - FY-2000 Project Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dudenhoeffer, Donald Dean

2001-04-01

Advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and micro-technologies will soon give rise to production of large-scale forces of autonomous micro-robots with systems of innate behaviors and with capabilities of self-organization and real world tasking. Such organizations have been compared to schools of fish, flocks of birds, herds of animals, swarms of insects, and military squadrons. While these systems are envisioned as maintaining a high degree of autonomy, it is important to understand the relationship of man with such machines. In moving from research studies to the practical deployment of large-scale numbers of robots, one of critical pieces that must be explored is the command and control architecture for humans to re-task and also inject global knowledge, experience, and intuition into the force. Tele-operation should not be the goal, but rather a level of adjustable autonomy and high-level control. If a herd of sheep is comparable to the collective of robots, then the human element is comparable to the shepherd pulling in strays and guiding the herd in the direction of greener pastures. This report addresses the issues and development of command and control for largescale numbers of autonomous robots deployed as a collective force.

A tele-operated mobile ultrasound scanner using a light-weight robot.

Science.gov (United States)

Delgorge, Cécile; Courrèges, Fabien; Al Bassit, Lama; Novales, Cyril; Rosenberger, Christophe; Smith-Guerin, Natalie; Brù, Concepció; Gilabert, Rosa; Vannoni, Maurizio; Poisson, Gérard; Vieyres, Pierre

2005-03-01

This paper presents a new tele-operated robotic chain for real-time ultrasound image acquisition and medical diagnosis. This system has been developed in the frame of the Mobile Tele-Echography Using an Ultralight Robot European Project. A light-weight six degrees-of-freedom serial robot, with a remote center of motion, has been specially designed for this application. It holds and moves a real probe on a distant patient according to the expert gesture and permits an image acquisition using a standard ultrasound device. The combination of mechanical structure choice for the robot and dedicated control law, particularly nearby the singular configuration allows a good path following and a robotized gesture accuracy. The choice of compression techniques for image transmission enables a compromise between flow and quality. These combined approaches, for robotics and image processing, enable the medical specialist to better control the remote ultrasound probe holder system and to receive stable and good quality ultrasound images to make a diagnosis via any type of communication link from terrestrial to satellite. Clinical tests have been performed since April 2003. They used both satellite or Integrated Services Digital Network lines with a theoretical bandwidth of 384 Kb/s. They showed the tele-echography system helped to identify 66% of lesions and 83% of symptomatic pathologies.

Mechatronic systems and materials III

CERN Document Server

Gosiewski, Zdzislaw

2009-01-01

This very interesting volume is divided into 24 sections; each of which covers, in detail, one aspect of the subject-matter: I. Industrial robots; II. Microrobotics; III. Mobile robots; IV. Teleoperation, telerobotics, teleoperated semi-autonomous systems; V. Sensors and actuators in mechatronics; VI. Control of mechatronic systems; VII. Analysis of vibration and deformation; VIII. Optimization, optimal design; IX. Integrated diagnostics; X. Failure analysis; XI. Tribology in mechatronic systems; XII. Analysis of signals; XIII. Measurement techniques; XIV. Multifunctional and smart materials;

A Surgical Robot Teleoperation Framework for Providing Haptic Feedback Incorporating Virtual Envrioment-Based Guidance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adnan Munawar

2016-08-01

Full Text Available In robot-assisted tele-operated laparoscopic surgeries, the patient side manipulators are controlled via the master manipulators that are controlled by the surgeon. The current generation of robots approved for laparoscopic surgery lack haptic feedback. In theory, haptic feedback would enhance the surgical procedures by enabling better coordination between the hand movements that are improved by the tactile sense of the operating environment. This research presents an overall control framework for a haptic feedback on existing robot platforms, and demonstrated on the daVinci Research Kit (dVRK system. The paper discusses the implementation of a flexible framework that incorporates a stiffness control with gravity compensation for the surgeons manipulator and a sensing and collision detection algorithm for calculating the interaction between the patients manipulators and the surgical area.

Low-cost teleoperator-controlled vehicle for damage assessment and radiation dose measurement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tyree, W.H.

1991-01-01

A low-cost, disposable, radio-controlled, remote-reading, ionizing radiation and surveillance teleoperator re-entry vehicle has been built. The vehicle carries equipment, measures radiation levels, and evaluates building conditions. The basic vehicle, radio control with amplifiers, telemetry, elevator, and video camera with monitor cost less than $2500. Velcro-mounted alpha, beta-gamma, and neutron sensing equipment is used in the present system. Many types of health physics radiation measuring equipment may be substituted on the vehicle. The system includes a black-and-white video camera to observe the environment surrounding the vehicle. The camera is mounted on a vertical elevator extendible to 11 feet above the floor. The present vehicle uses a video camera with an umbilical cord between the vehicle and the operators. Preferred operation would eliminate the umbilical. Video monitoring equipment is part of the operator control system. Power for the vehicle equipment is carried on board and supplied by sealed lead-acid batteries. Radios are powered by 9-V alkaline batteries. The radio control receiver, servo drivers, high-power amplifier and 49-MHz FM transceivers were irradiated at moderate rates with neutron and gamma doses to 3000 Rem and 300 Rem, respectively, to ensure system operation

Structure of ordered polyelectrolyte films from atomic-force microscopy and X-ray reflectivity data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Belyaev, V.V.; Tolstikhina, A.L.; Stepina, N.D.; Kayushina, R.L.

1998-01-01

The possible application of atomic-force microscopy and X-ray reflectometry methods to structural studies of polyelectrolyte films obtained due to alternating adsorption of oppositely charged polyanion [sodium polysterenesulfonate (PSS)] and polycation [poly(allylamine) hydrochloride (PAA)] layers on solid substrates has been considered. The atomic-force microscopy study has revealed the characteristic features of the surface topography of samples consisting of different numbers of polyelectrolyte layers deposited from solutions characterized by different ionic strength values. It is shown that the shape of the reflectivity curves obtained from thin polyelectrolyte films depends on their surface structure

Development and demonstration of a teleoperated modular open-quotes snakeclose quotes robot system. Final report, September 30, 1986--December 31, 1993

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tesar, D.; Hooper, R.

1995-01-01

The U.S. Department of Energy has provided support to four universities and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in order to pursue research leading to the development and deployment of advanced robotic systems capable of performing tasks that generate significant occupational radiation exposure and/or whose execution times can be reduced if performed by an automated system. The goal was to develop advanced robotic systems capable of performing surveillance, maintenance, and repair tasks in nuclear facilities and other hazardous environments. The approach to achieving the program objective was a transition from teleoperation to the capability of autonomous operation within three successive generations of robotic systems. The robotic system will always have the capability to request human assistance. The development of general purpose robots to perform skilled labor tasks in restricted environments was shown to have extensive payback in areas of energy systems (nuclear and fossil units), chemical plants, fire fighting, space operations, underwater activities, defense, and other hazardous activities. The strategy that was used to achieve the program goals in an efficient and timely manner consisted in utilizing, and advancing where required, state-of-the-art robotics technology through close interaction between the universities and the manufacturers and operators of nuclear power plants. The research effort showed that a broad range of applications for the robotic systems existed for the improved operation of nuclear reactors and in other hazardous tasks. As a consequence, each institution was able to obtain additional support from other agencies, e.g., DoD and NASA. Areas of cooperation with other nations (e.g., Japan, France, Germany) were utilized

Clinical Application of Insertion Force Sensor System for Coil Embolization of Intracranial Aneurysms.

Science.gov (United States)

Matsubara, Noriaki; Miyachi, Shigeru; Izumi, Takashi; Yamada, Hiroyuki; Marui, Naoki; Ota, Keisuke; Tajima, Hayato; Shintai, Kazunori; Ito, Masashi; Imai, Tasuku; Nishihori, Masahiro; Wakabayashi, Toshihiko

2017-09-01

In endovascular embolization for intracranial aneurysms, it is important to properly control the coil insertion force. However, the force can only be subjectively detected by the subtle feedback experienced by neurointerventionists at their fingertips. The authors envisioned a system that would objectively sense and quantify that force. In this article, coil insertion force was measured in cases of intracranial aneurysm using this sensor, and its actual clinical application was investigated. The sensor consists of a hemostatic valve (Y-connector). A little flexure was intentionally added in the device, and it creates a bend in the delivery wire. The sensor measures the change in the position of the bent wire depending on the insertion force and translates it into a force value. Using this, embolization was performed for 10 unruptured intracranial aneurysms. The sensor adequately recorded the force, and it reflected the operators' usual clinical experience. The presence of the sensor did not affect the procedures. The sensor enabled the operators to objectively note and evaluate the insertion force and better cooperative handling was possible. Additionally, other members of the intervention team shared the information. Force records demonstrated the characteristic patterns according to every stage of coiling (framing, filling, and finishing). The force sensor system adequately measured coil insertion force in intracranial aneurysm coil embolization procedures. The safety of this sensor was demonstrated in clinical application for the limited number of patients. This system is useful adjunct for assisting during coil embolization for an intracranial aneurysm. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Right to Inhabit. Reflection on Forced Displacement and Social Movements.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Reyna Sánchez Estévez

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This paper exposes initial data from an investigation into the protests and social struggles against forced displacement of people from Mexico, it is given to know the places where protests are developed, the reasons which originate them and the characteristics of the participant subjects, a first analysis of the resistance objectives is also done and some elements of their repertoires of protest are offered. A reflection on the damage caused by these displacements in human beings and on the notions of risk and vulnerability is made.Keywords: Social movements, evictions, vulnerability

Piezoresistive cantilever force-clamp system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, Sung-Jin; Petzold, Bryan C.; Pruitt, Beth L. [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305 (United States); Goodman, Miriam B. [Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305 (United States)

2011-04-15

We present a microelectromechanical device-based tool, namely, a force-clamp system that sets or ''clamps'' the scaled force and can apply designed loading profiles (e.g., constant, sinusoidal) of a desired magnitude. The system implements a piezoresistive cantilever as a force sensor and the built-in capacitive sensor of a piezoelectric actuator as a displacement sensor, such that sample indentation depth can be directly calculated from the force and displacement signals. A programmable real-time controller operating at 100 kHz feedback calculates the driving voltage of the actuator. The system has two distinct modes: a force-clamp mode that controls the force applied to a sample and a displacement-clamp mode that controls the moving distance of the actuator. We demonstrate that the system has a large dynamic range (sub-nN up to tens of {mu}N force and nm up to tens of {mu}m displacement) in both air and water, and excellent dynamic response (fast response time, <2 ms and large bandwidth, 1 Hz up to 1 kHz). In addition, the system has been specifically designed to be integrated with other instruments such as a microscope with patch-clamp electronics. We demonstrate the capabilities of the system by using it to calibrate the stiffness and sensitivity of an electrostatic actuator and to measure the mechanics of a living, freely moving Caenorhabditis elegans nematode.

Historical Text Comprehension Reflective Tutorial Dialogue System

Science.gov (United States)

Grigoriadou, Maria; Tsaganou, Grammatiki; Cavoura, Theodora

2005-01-01

The Reflective Tutorial Dialogue System (ReTuDiS) is a system for learner modelling historical text comprehension through reflective dialogue. The system infers learners' cognitive profiles and constructs their learner models. Based on the learner model the system plans the appropriate--personalized for learners--reflective tutorial dialogue in…

Engaging Military Fathers in a Reflective Parenting Program: Lessons from Strong Families Strong Forces

Science.gov (United States)

DeVoe, Ellen R.; Paris, Ruth

2015-01-01

Through Strong Families Strong Forces, a reflective parenting program for military families with young children, we were privileged to work with contemporary military fathers who served in the post-9/11 conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. Due to this work, the authors gained valuable insight into the complexity of fathering during wartime, the…

The inspection of a radiologically contaminated pipeline using a teleoperated pipe crawler

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fogle, R.F.; Kuelske, K.; Kellner, R.A.

1995-01-01

In the 1950s, the Savannah River Site built an open, unlined retention basin to temporarily store potentially radionuclide contaminated cooling water from a chemical separations process and storm water drainage from a nearby waste management facility that stored large quantities of nuclear fission byproducts in carbon steel tanks. The retention basin was retired from service in 1972 when a new, lined basin was completed. In 1978, the old retention basin was excavated, backfilled with uncontaminated dirt, and covered with grass. At the same time, much of the underground process pipeline leading to the basin was abandoned. Since the closure of the retention basin, new environmental regulations require that the basin undergo further assessment to determine whether additional remediation is required. A visual and radiological inspection of the pipeline was necessary to aid in the remediation decision making process for the retention basin system. A teleoperated pipe crawler inspection system was developed to survey the abandoned sections of underground pipelines leading to the retired retention basin. This paper will describe the background to this project, the scope of the investigation, the equipment requirements, and the results of the pipeline inspection

A Modular Telerobot Control System for Accident Response

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anderson, Robert J.; Shirey, David L.

1999-01-01

The Accident Response Mobile Manipulator System (ARMMS) is a teleoperated emergency response vehicle that deploys two hydraulic manipulators, five cameras, and an array of sensors to the scene of an incident. It is operated from a remote base station that can be situated up to four kilometers away from the site. Recently, a modular telerobot control architecture called SMART (Sandia's Modular Architecture for Robotic and Teleoperation) was applied to ARMMS to improve the precision, safety, and operability of the manipulators on board. Using SMART, a prototype manipulator control system was developed in a couple of days, and an integrated working system was demonstrated within a couple of months. New capabilities such as camera teleoperation, autonomous tool changeout and dual manipulator control have been incorporated. The final system incorporates twenty-two separate modules and implements eight different behavior modes. This paper describes the integration of SMART into the ARMMS system

Supervised Remote Robot with Guided Autonomy and Teleoperation (SURROGATE): A Framework for Whole-Body Manipulation

Science.gov (United States)

Hebert, Paul; Ma, Jeremy; Borders, James; Aydemir, Alper; Bajracharya, Max; Hudson, Nicolas; Shankar, Krishna; Karumanchi, Sisir; Douillard, Bertrand; Burdick, Joel

2015-01-01

The use of the cognitive capabilties of humans to help guide the autonomy of robotics platforms in what is typically called "supervised-autonomy" is becoming more commonplace in robotics research. The work discussed in this paper presents an approach to a human-in-the-loop mode of robot operation that integrates high level human cognition and commanding with the intelligence and processing power of autonomous systems. Our framework for a "Supervised Remote Robot with Guided Autonomy and Teleoperation" (SURROGATE) is demonstrated on a robotic platform consisting of a pan-tilt perception head, two 7-DOF arms connected by a single 7-DOF torso, mounted on a tracked-wheel base. We present an architecture that allows high-level supervisory commands and intents to be specified by a user that are then interpreted by the robotic system to perform whole body manipulation tasks autonomously. We use a concept of "behaviors" to chain together sequences of "actions" for the robot to perform which is then executed real time.

Development and demonstration of a teleoperated modular {open_quotes}snake{close_quotes} robot system. Final report, September 30, 1986--December 31, 1993

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tesar, D.; Hooper, R.

1995-04-12

The U.S. Department of Energy has provided support to four universities and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in order to pursue research leading to the development and deployment of advanced robotic systems capable of performing tasks that generate significant occupational radiation exposure and/or whose execution times can be reduced if performed by an automated system. The goal was to develop advanced robotic systems capable of performing surveillance, maintenance, and repair tasks in nuclear facilities and other hazardous environments. The approach to achieving the program objective was a transition from teleoperation to the capability of autonomous operation within three successive generations of robotic systems. The robotic system will always have the capability to request human assistance. The development of general purpose robots to perform skilled labor tasks in restricted environments was shown to have extensive payback in areas of energy systems (nuclear and fossil units), chemical plants, fire fighting, space operations, underwater activities, defense, and other hazardous activities. The strategy that was used to achieve the program goals in an efficient and timely manner consisted in utilizing, and advancing where required, state-of-the-art robotics technology through close interaction between the universities and the manufacturers and operators of nuclear power plants. The research effort showed that a broad range of applications for the robotic systems existed for the improved operation of nuclear reactors and in other hazardous tasks. As a consequence, each institution was able to obtain additional support from other agencies, e.g., DoD and NASA. Areas of cooperation with other nations (e.g., Japan, France, Germany) were utilized.

Development of a commercially viable piezoelectric force sensor system for static force measurement

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Jun; Luo, Xinwei; Liu, Jingcheng; Li, Min; Qin, Lan

2017-09-01

A compensation method for measuring static force with a commercial piezoelectric force sensor is proposed to disprove the theory that piezoelectric sensors and generators can only operate under dynamic force. After studying the model of the piezoelectric force sensor measurement system, the principle of static force measurement using a piezoelectric material or piezoelectric force sensor is analyzed. Then, the distribution law of the decay time constant of the measurement system and the variation law of the measurement system’s output are studied, and a compensation method based on the time interval threshold Δ t and attenuation threshold Δ {{u}th} is proposed. By calibrating the system and considering the influences of the environment and the hardware, a suitable Δ {{u}th} value is determined, and the system’s output attenuation is compensated based on the Δ {{u}th} value to realize the measurement. Finally, a static force measurement system with a piezoelectric force sensor is developed based on the compensation method. The experimental results confirm the successful development of a simple compensation method for static force measurement with a commercial piezoelectric force sensor. In addition, it is established that, contrary to the current perception, a piezoelectric force sensor system can be used to measure static force through further calibration.

Detection of Nuclear Sources by UAV Teleoperation Using a Visuo-Haptic Augmented Reality Interface

OpenAIRE

Jacopo Aleotti; Giorgio Micconi; Stefano Caselli; Giacomo Benassi; Nicola Zambelli; Manuele Bettelli; Andrea Zappettini

2017-01-01

A visuo-haptic augmented reality (VHAR) interface is presented enabling an operator to teleoperate an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) equipped with a custom CdZnTe-based spectroscopic gamma-ray detector in outdoor environments. The task is to localize nuclear radiation sources, whose location is unknown to the user, without the close exposure of the operator. The developed detector also enables identification of the localized nuclear sources. The aim of the VHAR interface is to increase the sit...

Reflections on the role of open source in health information system interoperability.

Science.gov (United States)

Sfakianakis, S; Chronaki, C E; Chiarugi, F; Conforti, F; Katehakis, D G

2007-01-01

This paper reflects on the role of open source in health information system interoperability. Open source is a driving force in computer science research and the development of information systems. It facilitates the sharing of information and ideas, enables evolutionary development and open collaborative testing of code, and broadens the adoption of interoperability standards. In health care, information systems have been developed largely ad hoc following proprietary specifications and customized design. However, the wide deployment of integrated services such as Electronic Health Records (EHRs) over regional health information networks (RHINs) relies on interoperability of the underlying information systems and medical devices. This reflection is built on the experiences of the PICNIC project that developed shared software infrastructure components in open source for RHINs and the OpenECG network that offers open source components to lower the implementation cost of interoperability standards such as SCP-ECG, in electrocardiography. Open source components implementing standards and a community providing feedback from real-world use are key enablers of health care information system interoperability. Investing in open source is investing in interoperability and a vital aspect of a long term strategy towards comprehensive health services and clinical research.

The development of robotic system for inspecting and repairing NPP primary coolant system of high-level radioactive environment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Seung Ho; Kim, Ki Ho; Jung, Seung Ho; Kim, Byung Soo; Hwang, Suk Yeoung; Kim, Chang Hoi; Seo, Yong Chil; Lee, Young Kwang; Lee, Yong Bum; Cho, Jai Wan; Lee, Jae Kyung; Lee, Yong Deok

1997-07-01

This project aims at developing a robotic system to automatically handle inspection and maintenance of NPP safety-related facilities in high-level radioactive environment. This robotic system under development comprises two robots depending on application fields - a mobile robot and multi-functional robot. The mobile robot is designed to be used in the area of primary coolant system during the operation of NPP. This robot enables to overcome obstacles and perform specified tasks in unstructured environment. The multi-functional robot is designed for performing inspection and maintenance tasks of steam generator and nuclear reactor vessel during the overhaul periods of NPP. Nuclear facilities can be inspected and repaired all the time by use of both the mobile robot and the multi-functional robot. Human operator, by teleoperation, monitors the movements of such robots located at remote task environment via video cameras and controls those remotely generating desired commands via master manipulator. We summarize the technology relating to the application of the mobile robot to primary coolant system environment, the applicability of the mobile robot through 3D graphic simulation, the design of the mobile robot, the design of its radiation-hardened controller. We also describe the mechanical design, modeling, and control system of the multi-functional robot. Finally, we present the design of the force-reflecting master and the modeling of virtual task environment for a training simulator. (author). 47 refs., 16 tabs., 43 figs.

The development of robotic system for inspecting and repairing NPP primary coolant system of high-level radioactive environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Seung Ho; Kim, Ki Ho; Jung, Seung Ho; Kim, Byung Soo; Hwang, Suk Yeoung; Kim, Chang Hoi; Seo, Yong Chil; Lee, Young Kwang; Lee, Yong Bum; Cho, Jai Wan; Lee, Jae Kyung; Lee, Yong Deok.

1997-07-01

This project aims at developing a robotic system to automatically handle inspection and maintenance of NPP safety-related facilities in high-level radioactive environment. This robotic system under development comprises two robots depending on application fields - a mobile robot and multi-functional robot. The mobile robot is designed to be used in the area of primary coolant system during the operation of NPP. This robot enables to overcome obstacles and perform specified tasks in unstructured environment. The multi-functional robot is designed for performing inspection and maintenance tasks of steam generator and nuclear reactor vessel during the overhaul periods of NPP. Nuclear facilities can be inspected and repaired all the time by use of both the mobile robot and the multi-functional robot. Human operator, by teleoperation, monitors the movements of such robots located at remote task environment via video cameras and controls those remotely generating desired commands via master manipulator. We summarize the technology relating to the application of the mobile robot to primary coolant system environment, the applicability of the mobile robot through 3D graphic simulation, the design of the mobile robot, the design of its radiation-hardened controller. We also describe the mechanical design, modeling, and control system of the multi-functional robot. Finally, we present the design of the force-reflecting master and the modeling of virtual task environment for a training simulator. (author). 47 refs., 16 tabs., 43 figs

A Discrete-Time Algorithm for Stiffness Extraction from sEMG and Its Application in Antidisturbance Teleoperation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peidong Liang

2016-01-01

Full Text Available We have developed a new discrete-time algorithm of stiffness extraction from muscle surface electromyography (sEMG collected from human operator’s arms and have applied it for antidisturbance control in robot teleoperation. The variation of arm stiffness is estimated from sEMG signals and transferred to a telerobot under variable impedance control to imitate human motor control behaviours, particularly for disturbance attenuation. In comparison to the estimation of stiffness from sEMG, the proposed algorithm is able to reduce the nonlinear residual error effect and to enhance robustness and to simplify stiffness calibration. In order to extract a smoothing stiffness enveloping from sEMG signals, two enveloping methods are employed in this paper, namely, fast linear enveloping based on low pass filtering and moving average and amplitude monocomponent and frequency modulating (AM-FM method. Both methods have been incorporated into the proposed stiffness variance estimation algorithm and are extensively tested. The test results show that stiffness variation extraction based on the two methods is sensitive and robust to attenuation disturbance. It could potentially be applied for teleoperation in the presence of hazardous surroundings or human robot physical cooperation scenarios.

Tele-Operated Echography and Remote Guidance for Performing Tele-Echography on Geographically Isolated Patients

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Philippe Arbeille

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Objective: To evaluate the performance of three tele-echography systems for routine use in isolated medical centers. Methods: Three systems were used for deep (abdomen, pelvis, fetal and superficial (muscle, thyroid, carotid artery examinations: (a a robotic arm (RA holding an echographic probe; (b an echograph with a motorized probe (MP; and (c remote guidance (RG where the patient site operator performed the examination assisted by an expert via videoconference. All systems were tested in the same medical center located 60 km away from the university hospital. Results: A total of 340 remote echography examinations were performed (41% RA and MP, 59% RG. MP and RA allowed full control of the probe orientation by the expert, and provided diagnoses in 97% of cases. The use of RG was sufficient for superficial vessel examinations and provided diagnoses in 98% of cases but was not suited for deep or superficial organs. Assessment of superficial organs was best accomplished using the MP. Discussion: Both teleoperated systems provided control of the probe orientation by the expert necessary for obtaining appropriate views of deep organs but the MP was much more ergonomic and easier to use than the RA. RG was appropriate for superficial vessels while the MP was better for superficial volumic organs.

Usability testing of a mobile robotic system for in-home telerehabilitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Boissy, Patrick; Brière, Simon; Corriveau, Hélène; Grant, Andrew; Lauria, Michel; Michaud, François

2011-01-01

Mobile robots designed to enhance telepresence in the support of telehealth services are being considered for numerous applications. TELEROBOT is a teleoperated mobile robotic platform equipped with videoconferencingcapabilities and designed to be used in a home environment to. In this study, learnability of the system's teleoperation interface and controls was evaluated with ten rehabilitation professionals during four training sessions in a laboratory environment and in an unknown home environment while performing the execution of a standardized evaluation protocol typically used in home care. Results show that the novice teleoperators' performances on two of the four metrics used (number of command and total time) improved significantly across training sessions (ANOVAS, phome environment during navigation tasks (r=0,77 and 0,60). With only 4 hours of training, rehabilitation professionals were able learn to teleoperate successfully TELEROBOT. However teleoperation performances remained significantly less efficient then those of an expert. Under the home task condition (navigating the home environment from one point to the other as fast as possible) this translated to completion time between 350 seconds (best performance) and 850 seconds (worse performance). Improvements in other usability aspects of the system will be needed to meet the requirements of in-home telerehabilitation.

Towards robot-assisted anchor deployment in beating-heart mitral valve surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Lingbo; Sharifi, Mojtaba; Tavakoli, Mahdi

2018-06-01

Beating-heart intracardiac surgery promises significant benefits for patients compared with cardiopulmonary bypass based procedures. However, the fast motions of the heart introduce serious challenges for surgeons. In this work, a new impedance-controlled master-slave telerobotic system is developed to help perform anchor deployment for mitral valve annuloplasty under the guidance of live ultrasound images of the heart. The proposed bilateral teleoperation system can both reflect the non-oscillatory portion of slave-heart tissue interaction force on the surgeon's hand as haptic feedback and implement rapid compensation for the beating heart's motion. The surgical task involves performing anchor deployment on a simulated moving heart tissue to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed strategy for safely interacting with a moving organ. The results obtained show that the telerobotic system increases the success rate of anchor deployment by 100% and reduces the excess force application rate by 70% compared with manual attempts. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Teleoperated mobile robot (KAEROT) for inspection in nuclear facilities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Byung-Soo; Kim, Chang-Hoi; Hwang, Suk-Young; Kim, Seung-Ho; Lee, Jong-Min [Korea Atomic Energy Research Inst., Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

1994-12-31

A teleoperated mobile robot, named as KAEROT, has been developed for inspection and maintenance in nuclear facilities. It is composed of the planetary wheel-type mobile unit and 5 DOF manipulator one. The mobile unit is able to climb up and down stairs with high stability. This paper presents the kinematic analysis of KAEROT and the stair climbing algorithm. The proposed algorithm consists of two parts; one is to generate the moving path, and the other is to calculate the angular velocity of each wheel to follow up the generated reference path. Simulations and experiments on the irregular stairs have been carried out with the developed mobile robot. The proposed algorithm is proved to be very effective for inspection in nuclear facilities. The inclination angle of robot is maintained below 30.8deg while it is climbing up the stairs of a slope of 25deg. (author).

Teleoperated mobile robot (KAEROT) for inspection in nuclear facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Byung-Soo; Kim, Chang-Hoi; Hwang, Suk-Young; Kim, Seung-Ho; Lee, Jong-Min

1994-01-01

A teleoperated mobile robot, named as KAEROT, has been developed for inspection and maintenance in nuclear facilities. It is composed of the planetary wheel-type mobile unit and 5 DOF manipulator one. The mobile unit is able to climb up and down stairs with high stability. This paper presents the kinematic analysis of KAEROT and the stair climbing algorithm. The proposed algorithm consists of two parts; one is to generate the moving path, and the other is to calculate the angular velocity of each wheel to follow up the generated reference path. Simulations and experiments on the irregular stairs have been carried out with the developed mobile robot. The proposed algorithm is proved to be very effective for inspection in nuclear facilities. The inclination angle of robot is maintained below 30.8deg while it is climbing up the stairs of a slope of 25deg. (author)

Laboratory versus industrial cutting force sensor in tool condition monitoring system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Szwajka, K

2005-01-01

Research works concerning the utilisation of cutting force measures in tool condition monitoring usually present results and deliberations based on laboratory sensors. These sensors are too fragile to be used in industrial practice. Industrial sensors employed on the factory floor are less accurate, and this must be taken into account when creating a tool condition monitoring strategy. Another drawback of most of these works is that constant cutting parameters are used for the entire tool life. This does not reflect industrial practice where the same tool is used at different feeds and depths of cut in sequential passes. This paper presents a comparison of signals originating from laboratory and industrial cutting force sensors. The usability of the sensor output was studied during a laboratory simulation of industrial cutting conditions. Instead of building mathematical models for the correlation between tool wear and cutting force, an FFBP artificial neural network was used to find which combination of input data would provide an acceptable estimation of tool wear. The results obtained proved that cross talk between channels has an important influence on cutting force measurements, however this input configuration can be used for a tool condition monitoring system

Operation of a scanning near field optical microscope in reflection in combination with a scanning force microscope

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Hulst, N.F.; Moers, M.H.P.; Moers, M.H.P.; Noordman, O.F.J.; Noordman, O.F.J.; Faulkner, T.; Segerink, Franciscus B.; van der Werf, Kees; de Grooth, B.G.; Bölger, B.; Bölger, B.

1992-01-01

Images obtained with a scanning near field optical microscope (SNOM) operating in reflection are presented. We have obtained the first results with a SiN tip as optical probe. The instrument is simultaneously operated as a scanning force microscope (SFM). Moreover, the instrument incorporates an

Seasonal forcing in a host-macroparasite system.

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Rachel A; White, Andrew; Sherratt, Jonathan A

2015-01-21

Seasonal forcing represents a pervasive source of environmental variability in natural systems. Whilst it is reasonably well understood in interacting populations and host-microparasite systems, it has not been studied in detail for host-macroparasite systems. In this paper we analyse the effect of seasonal forcing in a general host-macroparasite system with explicit inclusion of the parasite larval stage and seasonal forcing applied to the birth rate of the host. We emphasise the importance of the period of the limit cycles in the unforced system on the resulting dynamics in the forced system. In particular, when subject to seasonal forcing host-macroparasite systems are capable of multi-year cycles, multiple solution behaviour, quasi-periodicity and chaos. The host-macroparasite systems show a larger potential for multiple solution behaviour and a wider range of periodic solutions compared to similar interacting population and microparasite systems. By examining the system for parameters that represent red grouse and the macroparasite nematode Trichostrongylus tenuis we highlight how seasonality could be an important factor in explaining the wide range of seemingly uncorrelated cycle periods observed in grouse abundance in England and Scotland. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An application of oscillation-damped motion for suspended payloads to the advanced integrated maintenance system in fuel cycle facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Noakes, M.W.; Petterson, B.J.; Werner, J.C.

1990-01-01

The transportation of objects using overhead cranes can induce pendular motion of the object, which usually must be damped or allowed to decay before the next process can take place. Recent work at Sandia National Laboratories has shown that oscillation-damped transport and swing-free stops are possible by properly programming the acceleration of the transporting crane. Initial studies have been completed using a CIMCORP XR6100 gantry robot. The Advanced Integrated Maintenance System (AIMS) is an engineering and operations test bed developed for remote maintenance and handling studies within the Consolidated Fuel Reprocessing Program (CFRP) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The goal of CFRP has been to advanced the technology of in-cell systems planned for future nuclear fuel cycle facilities. The AIMS provides the capabilities to examine the needs and constraints necessary for hot-cell remote maintenance and includes a force-reflecting master/slave teleoperator and overhead transporter system. The associated control system provides a flexible programming environment conducive to controls experimentation. This paper reviews the theory associated with oscillation-damped trajectories for simply suspended objects and describes a specific implementation of the oscillation damping methods for the AIMS transporter. Hardware and software requirements and constraints for proper operation are discussed

Contact force structure and force chains in 3D sheared granular systems

Science.gov (United States)

Mair, Karen; Jettestuen, Espen; Abe, Steffen

2010-05-01

Faults often exhibit accumulations of granular debris, ground up to create a layer of rock flour or fault gouge separating the rigid fault walls. Numerical simulations and laboratory experiments of sheared granular materials, suggest that applied loads are preferentially transmitted across such systems by transient force networks that carry enhanced forces. The characterisation of such features is important since their nature and persistence almost certainly influence the macroscopic mechanical stability of these systems and potentially that of natural faults. 3D numerical simulations of granular shear are a valuable investigation tool since they allow us to track individual particle motions, contact forces and their evolution during applied shear, that are difficult to view directly in laboratory experiments or natural fault zones. In characterising contact force distributions, it is important to use global structure measures that allow meaningful comparisons of granular systems having e.g. different grain size distributions, as may be expected at different stages of a fault's evolution. We therefore use a series of simple measures to characterise the structure, such as distributions and correlations of contact forces that can be mapped onto a force network percolation problem as recently proposed by Ostojic and coworkers for 2D granular systems. This allows the use of measures from percolation theory to both define and characterise the force networks. We demonstrate the application of this method to 3D simulations of a sheared granular material. Importantly, we then compare our measure of the contact force structure with macroscopic frictional behaviour measured at the boundaries of our model to determine the influence of the force networks on macroscopic mechanical stability.

Laser radiation forces in laser-produced plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stamper, J.A.

1975-01-01

There are two contributions to laser radiation forces acting on the electrons. Transfer of momentum from the fields to the electrons results in a field pressure contribution and occurs whenever there is absorption or reflection. The quiver pressure contribution, associated with electron quiver motion, is due to inhomogeneous fields inducing momentum transfer within the electron system. It is shown that the ponderomotive force with force density, (epsilon-1)/8πdel 2 >, does not include the field contribution and does not lead to a general description of macroscopic processes. A theory is discussed which does give a general macroscopic description (absorption, reflection, refraction, and magnetic field generation) and which reduces to the ponderomotive force for purely sinusoidal fields in a neutral, homogeneous, nonabsorbing plasma

Experimental Evaluation of Novel Master-Slave Configurations for Position Control under Random Network Delay and Variable Load for Teleoperation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmet Kuzu

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes two novel master-slave configurations that provide improvements in both control and communication aspects of teleoperation systems to achieve an overall improved performance in position control. The proposed novel master-slave configurations integrate modular control and communication approaches, consisting of a delay regulator to address problems related to variable network delay common to such systems, and a model tracking control that runs on the slave side for the compensation of uncertainties and model mismatch on the slave side. One of the configurations uses a sliding mode observer and the other one uses a modified Smith predictor scheme on the master side to ensure position transparency between the master and slave, while reference tracking of the slave is ensured by a proportional-differentiator type controller in both configurations. Experiments conducted for the networked position control of a single-link arm under system uncertainties and randomly varying network delays demonstrate significant performance improvements with both configurations over the past literature.

Force Reflection Control for Master/Slave Tele-manipulators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kang, Min Sig; Kim, Doo Ho; Choi, Sun Il; Kim, Nam Hyung; Lee, Jong Bee

2009-04-01

This report concerns on a master/slave tele-manipulator which is used in highly hazardous hot cell. To design a force reflection and fine tracking control for the master-slave telemanipulator, the following has been carried out. (1) Variation of the moment of inertia of each link in the operating angle range, (2) Variation of the gratitational torque of each link in the operating angle range, (3) Dynamic characteristic analysis of the master-slave manipulator controlled by an output PD-control through a modal analysis, (4) Optimal static output feedback PD-control design by using modal analysis, (5) Controller design for each joint, (6) Adams-MatLab Simulink simulation model development. The results this project are as follows: (1) Program for analysis of the moment of inertia of each link in the operating angle range and simulation results, (2) Program for analysis of the gratitational torque of each link in the operating angle range and simulation results, (3) Dynamic characteristic of the master-slave manipulator controlled by an output PD-control through a modal analysis, (4) Program for designing optimal output PD-control by using modal analysis, (5) Controller designed for each joint, (6) Adams-MatLab Simulink simulation model, (7) Simulation results form output PD-control, etc

A Survey on Forced Oscillations in Power System

OpenAIRE

Ghorbaniparvar, Mohammadreza

2016-01-01

Oscillations in a power system can be categorized into free oscillations and forced oscillations. Many algorithms have been developed to estimate the modes of free oscillations in a power system. Recently, forced oscillations caught many attentions. Techniques are proposed to detect forced oscillations and locate their sources. In addition, forced oscillations may have negative impact on the estimation of mode and mode-shape if they are not properly accounted for. To improve the power system ...

Analysis of remote operating systems for space-based servicing operations. Volume 2: Study results

Science.gov (United States)

1985-01-01

The developments in automation and robotics have increased the importance of applications for space based servicing using remotely operated systems. A study on three basic remote operating systems (teleoperation, telepresence and robotics) was performed in two phases. In phase one, requirements development, which consisted of one three-month task, a group of ten missions were selected. These included the servicing of user equipment on the station and the servicing of the station itself. In phase two, concepts development, which consisted of three tasks, overall system concepts were developed for the selected missions. These concepts, which include worksite servicing equipment, a carrier system, and payload handling equipment, were evaluated relative to the configurations of the overall worksite. It is found that the robotic/teleoperator concepts are appropriate for relatively simple structured tasks, while the telepresence/teleoperator concepts are applicable for missions that are complex, unstructured tasks.

Force feedback in a piezoelectric linear actuator for neurosurgery.

Science.gov (United States)

De Lorenzo, Danilo; De Momi, Elena; Dyagilev, Ilya; Manganelli, Rudy; Formaglio, Alessandro; Prattichizzo, Domenico; Shoham, Moshe; Ferrigno, Giancarlo

2011-09-01

Force feedback in robotic minimally invasive surgery allows the human operator to manipulate tissues as if his/her hands were in contact with the patient organs. A force sensor mounted on the probe raises problems with sterilization of the overall surgical tool. Also, the use of off-axis gauges introduces a moment that increases the friction force on the bearing, which can easily mask off the signal, given the small force to be measured. This work aims at designing and testing two methods for estimating the resistance to the advancement (force) experienced by a standard probe for brain biopsies within a brain-like material. The further goal is to provide a neurosurgeon using a master-slave tele-operated driver with direct feedback on the tissue mechanical characteristics. Two possible sensing methods, in-axis strain gauge force sensor and position-position error (control-based method), were implemented and tested, both aimed at device miniaturization. The analysis carried out was aimed at fulfilment of the psychophysics requirements for force detection and delay tolerance, also taking into account safety, which is directly related to the last two issues. Controller parameters definition is addressed and consideration is given to development of the device with integration of a haptic interface. Results show better performance of the control-based method (RMSE sensors. Force feedback in minimally invasive surgery allows the human operator to manipulate tissues as if his/her hands were in contact with the patient organs. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Forced draft wet cooling systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Daubert, A.; Caudron, L.; Viollet, P.L.

1975-01-01

The disposal of the heat released from a 1000MW power plant needs a natural draft tower of about 130m of diameter at the base, and 170m height, or a cooling system with a draft forced by about forty vans, a hundred meters in diameter, and thirty meters height. The plumes from atmospheric cooling systems form, in terms of fluid mechanics, hot jets in a cross current. They consist in complex flows that must be finely investigated with experimental and computer means. The study, currently being performed at the National Hydraulics Laboratory, shows that as far as the length and height of visible plumes are concerned, the comparison is favorable to some types of forced draft cooling system, for low and medium velocities, (below 5 or 6m/s at 10m height. Beyond these velocities, the forced draft sends the plume up to smaller heights, but the plume is generally more dilute [fr

Decontamination and concrete core sampling by teleoperated robot at Fukushima Daiichi reactor buildings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Watanabe, Masaru; Onitsuka, Hironori; Shimonabe, Noriaki; Fujita, Jun; Matsumura, Takumi; Okumura, Atsushi

2015-01-01

For decommissioning of Fukushima daiichi nuclear power station, reduction of the dose equivalent rates inside the reactor buildings is an important issue. Concrete core sampling from the buildings to investigate the contamination is necessary for study about effective decontamination. However, dose rate inside the reactor buildings is very high. For example, dose rate of 1st floor on the Unit 1 is 1.2 - 1820 [mSv / h], the Unit 2 is 2.5 - 220 [mSv / h] and Unit 3 is 2.2 - 4780 [mSv / h]. So it is difficult for workers to work long hours. Therefore, a teleoperated robot, named 'MHI-MEISTeR (Mitsubishi Heavy Industries - Maintenance Equipment Integrated System of Telecontrol Robot)', has been developed to conduct operations like concrete core samples from the reactor buildings. Actually, some concrete core samples from Fukushima daiichi were taken by MHI-MEISTeR. In addition, MHI-MEISTeR is designed as a versatile robot, and so it can conduct suction / blast decontamination works as well as concrete core sampling. The above operations were performed by MHI-MEISTeR in Fukushima daiichi nuclear power station. (author)

Classical description of dynamical many-body systems with central forces, spin-orbit forces and spin-spin forces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goepfert, A.

1994-01-01

This thesis develops a new model, and related numerical methods, to describe classical time-dependent many-body systems interacting through central forces, spin-orbit forces and spin-spin forces. The model is based on two-particle interactions. The two-body forces consist of attractive and repulsive parts. In this model the investigated multi-particle systems are self-bound. Also the total potential of the whole ensemble is derived from the two-particle potential and is not imposed 'from outside'. Each particle has the three degrees of freedom of its centre-of-mass motion and the spin degree of freedom. The model allows for the particles to be either charged or uncharged. Furthermore, each particle has an angular momentum, an intrinsic spin, and a magnetic dipole moment. Through the electromagnetic forces between these charges and moments there arise dynamical couplings between them. The internal interactions between the charges and moments are well described by electromagnetic coupling mechanisms. In fact, compared to conventional classical molecular dynamics calculations in van der Waals clusters, which have no spin degrees of freedom, or for Heisenberg spin Systems, which have no orbital degrees of freedom, the model presented here contains both types of degrees of freedom with a highly non-trivial coupling. The model allows to study the fundamental effects resulting from the dynamical coupling of the spin and the orbital-motion sub-systems. In particular, the dynamics of the particle mass points show a behaviour basically different from the one of particles in a potential with only central forces. Furthermore, a special type of quenching procedure was invented, which tends to drive the multi-particle Systems into states with highly periodic, non-ergodic behaviour. Application of the model to cluster simulations has provided evidence that the model can also be used to investigate items like solid-to-liquid phase transitions (melting), isomerism and specific heat

Remote handling facility and equipment used for space truss assembly

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burgess, T.W.

1987-01-01

The ACCESS truss remote handling experiments were performed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory's (ORNL's) Remote Operation and Maintenance Demonstration (ROMD) facility. The ROMD facility has been developed by the US Department of Energy's (DOE's) Consolidated Fuel Reprocessing Program to develop and demonstrate remote maintenance techniques for advanced nuclear fuel reprocessing equipment and other programs of national interest. The facility is a large-volume, high-bay area that encloses a complete, technologically advanced remote maintenance system that first began operation in FY 1982. The maintenance system consists of a full complement of teleoperated manipulators, manipulator transport systems, and overhead hoists that provide the capability of performing a large variety of remote handling tasks. This system has been used to demonstrate remote manipulation techniques for the DOE, the Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation (PNC) of Japan, and the US Navy in addition to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. ACCESS truss remote assembly was performed in the ROMD facility using the Central Research Laboratory's (CRL) model M-2 servomanipulator. The model M-2 is a dual-arm, bilateral force-reflecting, master/slave servomanipulator which was jointly developed by CRL and ORNL and represents the state of the art in teleoperated manipulators commercially available in the United States today. The model M-2 servomanipulator incorporates a distributed, microprocessor-based digital control system and was the first successful implementation of an entirely digitally controlled servomanipulator. The system has been in operation since FY 1983. 3 refs., 2 figs

Reflection of neutrons from a helicoidal system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aksenov, V.L.; Ignatovich, V.K.; Nikitenko, Yu.V.

2006-01-01

Analytical solution for neutron reflection and transmission of magnetic mirrors with helicoidal magnetization is found. The dependence of neutron speed of reflection and transmission curves is shown. Resonant properties of helicoidal systems are found

Use of Item Response Curves of the Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation to Compare Japanese and American Students' Views on Force and Motion

Science.gov (United States)

Ishimoto, Michi; Davenport, Glen; Wittmann, Michael C.

2017-01-01

Student views of force and motion reflect the personal experiences and physics education of the student. With a different language, culture, and educational system, we expect that Japanese students' views on force and motion might be different from those of American students. The Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation (FMCE) is an instrument used…

Influence of Force and Torque Feedback on Operator Performance in a VR-Based Suturing Task

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. Santos-Carreras

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The introduction of Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS has revolutionised surgical care, considerably improving the quality of many surgical procedures. Technological advances, particularly in robotic surgery systems, have reduced the complexity of such an approach, paving the way for even less invasive surgical trends. However, the fact that haptic feedback has been progressively lost through this transition is an issue that to date has not been solved. Whereas traditional open surgery provides full haptic feedback, the introduction of MIS has eliminated the possibility of direct palpation and tactile exploration. Nevertheless, these procedures still provide a certain amount of force feedback through the rigid laparoscopic tool. Many of the current telemanipulated robotic surgical systems in return do not provide full haptic feedback, which to a certain extent can be explained by the requirement of force sensors integrated into the tools of the slave robot and actuators in the surgeon’s master console. In view of the increased complexity and cost, the benefit of haptic feedback is open to dispute. Nevertheless, studies have shown the importance of haptic feedback, especially when visual feedback is unreliable or absent. In order to explore the importance of haptic feedback for the surgeon’s master console of a novel teleoperated robotic surgical system, we have identified a typical surgical task where performance could potentially be improved by haptic feedback, and investigate performance with and without this feedback. Two rounds of experiments are performed with 10 subjects, six of them with a medical background. Results show that feedback conditions, including force feedback, significantly improve task performance independently of the operator’s suturing experience. There is, however, no further significant improvement when torque feedback is added. Consequently, it is deduced that force feedback in translations improves subject�

Developments of STR project in the scope of teleoperation handling robotic for the operation in Spanish nuclear facilities; Desarrollos del proyecto SRT en el area de manipulacion robotica teleoperada para la operacion de las instalaciones nucleares espanolas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bielza, M [ENDESA (Spain); Gomez Santamaria, J [IBERDROLA (Spain); Izquierdo, J A [C.N. COFRENTES (Spain); Martinez, S [C.N. ASCO (Spain); Linares, F [ENSA (Spain); Avello, A [CEIT (Spain); Gago, M J [IBRINCO (Spain)

1998-12-01

The main objective of the Teleoperated Robotic Systems project (SRT) is the development of teleoperated robotic systems for use in the inspection, surveillance and maintenance operations in nuclear and radioactive installations. These systems make possible the reduction of the individual and collective doses of the workers that undertake these operations, as well as an increase of plant availability as it is possible to carry out specific tasks of inspection and surveillance in high radiation dose areas without having to reduce the power of the installation. This project started in 1995, deciding to priorize the inspection equipment in a first phase. When this work were advanced, the development of the manipulation activities was carried out to being consider the nuclear installations needs. As a result of this work, the manipulation requirements were elaborated in order to prepare the beginning technical specifications to design the equipment s. These developments are based on a fixed manipulator which is located closed to the equipment that we want to repair, and an arm manipulator which moves by caterpillars, it is easier to control than others; and the navigation system which allows the robot self-locating in the complex area. In this paper the conclusions about the manipulation requirements are described, as well as the state of the manipulation prototype. (Author)

Stable dynamics in forced systems with sufficiently high/low forcing frequency.

Science.gov (United States)

Bartuccelli, M; Gentile, G; Wright, J A

2016-08-01

We consider parametrically forced Hamiltonian systems with one-and-a-half degrees of freedom and study the stability of the dynamics when the frequency of the forcing is relatively high or low. We show that, provided the frequency is sufficiently high, Kolmogorov-Arnold-Moser (KAM) theorem may be applied even when the forcing amplitude is far away from the perturbation regime. A similar result is obtained for sufficiently low frequency, but in that case we need the amplitude of the forcing to be not too large; however, we are still able to consider amplitudes which are outside of the perturbation regime. In addition, we find numerically that the dynamics may be stable even when the forcing amplitude is very large, well beyond the range of validity of the analytical results, provided the frequency of the forcing is taken correspondingly low.

Chaos as an intermittently forced linear system.

Science.gov (United States)

Brunton, Steven L; Brunton, Bingni W; Proctor, Joshua L; Kaiser, Eurika; Kutz, J Nathan

2017-05-30

Understanding the interplay of order and disorder in chaos is a central challenge in modern quantitative science. Approximate linear representations of nonlinear dynamics have long been sought, driving considerable interest in Koopman theory. We present a universal, data-driven decomposition of chaos as an intermittently forced linear system. This work combines delay embedding and Koopman theory to decompose chaotic dynamics into a linear model in the leading delay coordinates with forcing by low-energy delay coordinates; this is called the Hankel alternative view of Koopman (HAVOK) analysis. This analysis is applied to the Lorenz system and real-world examples including Earth's magnetic field reversal and measles outbreaks. In each case, forcing statistics are non-Gaussian, with long tails corresponding to rare intermittent forcing that precedes switching and bursting phenomena. The forcing activity demarcates coherent phase space regions where the dynamics are approximately linear from those that are strongly nonlinear.The huge amount of data generated in fields like neuroscience or finance calls for effective strategies that mine data to reveal underlying dynamics. Here Brunton et al.develop a data-driven technique to analyze chaotic systems and predict their dynamics in terms of a forced linear model.

Experimental evaluation of magnified haptic feedback for robot-assisted needle insertion and palpation.

Science.gov (United States)

Meli, Leonardo; Pacchierotti, Claudio; Prattichizzo, Domenico

2017-12-01

Haptic feedback has been proven to play a key role in enhancing the performance of teleoperated medical procedures. However, due to safety issues, commercially-available medical robots do not currently provide the clinician with haptic feedback. This work presents the experimental evaluation of a teleoperation system for robot-assisted medical procedures able to provide magnified haptic feedback to the clinician. Forces registered at the operating table are magnified and provided to the clinician through a 7-DoF haptic interface. The same interface is also used to control the motion of a 6-DoF slave robotic manipulator. The safety of the system is guaranteed by a time-domain passivity-based control algorithm. Two experiments were carried out on stiffness discrimination (during palpation and needle insertion) and one experiment on needle guidance. Our haptic-enabled teleoperation system improved the performance with respect to direct hand interaction of 80%, 306%, and 27% in stiffness discrimination through palpation, stiffness discrimination during needle insertion, and guidance, respectively. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Human-machine interfaces for teleoperators: an overview of research and development at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Consolidated Fuel Reprocessing Program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Draper, J.V.; Feldman, M.J.

1985-01-01

This paper surveys the contributions of human factors to the mission of the Remote Control Engineering (RCE) task over the last six years. These contributions can be divided into two areas, research efforts and design efforts. Some of the topics covered in human factors research are manipulator comparisons, investigation of viewing system characteristics, research into the effects of force reflection, and studies of crew size and task allocation. In the area of component design the human factors group was primarily responsible for the conceptual design of the Advanced Integrated Maintenance System (AIMS) control room, including all operator work stations and overall control room architecture. The human factors group also contributed to the design of the AIMS master controller handle. Recent research at the RCE task has centered on comparison of manipulator systems. This research was planned and conducted by the human factors group and other ORNL personnel. The research is aimed at evaluating three important characteristics of manipulator systems: system dynamics, force feedback, and human-machine interface

Automation and robotics and related technology issues for Space Station customer servicing

Science.gov (United States)

Cline, Helmut P.

1987-01-01

Several flight servicing support elements are discussed within the context of the Space Station. Particular attention is given to the servicing facility, the mobile servicing center, and the flight telerobotic servicer (FTS). The role that automation and robotics can play in the design and operation of each of these elements is discussed. It is noted that the FTS, which is currently being developed by NASA, will evolve to increasing levels of autonomy to allow for the virtual elimination of routine EVA. Some of the features of the FTS will probably be: dual manipulator arms having reach and dexterity roughly equivalent to that of an EVA-suited astronaut, force reflection capability allowing efficient teleoperation, and capability of operating from a variety of support systems.

Compact Hip-Force Sensor for a Gait-Assistance Exoskeleton System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hyundo Choi

2018-02-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we propose a compact force sensor system for a hip-mounted exoskeleton for seniors with difficulties in walking due to muscle weakness. It senses and monitors the delivered force and power of the exoskeleton for motion control and taking urgent safety action. Two FSR (force-sensitive resistors sensors are used to measure the assistance force when the user is walking. The sensor system directly measures the interaction force between the exoskeleton and the lower limb of the user instead of a previously reported force-sensing method, which estimated the hip assistance force from the current of the motor and lookup tables. Furthermore, the sensor system has the advantage of generating torque in the walking-assistant actuator based on directly measuring the hip-assistance force. Thus, the gait-assistance exoskeleton system can control the delivered power and torque to the user. The force sensing structure is designed to decouple the force caused by hip motion from other directional forces to the sensor so as to only measure that force. We confirmed that the hip-assistance force could be measured with the proposed prototype compact force sensor attached to a thigh frame through an experiment with a real system.

Compact Hip-Force Sensor for a Gait-Assistance Exoskeleton System.

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Hyundo; Seo, Keehong; Hyung, Seungyong; Shim, Youngbo; Lim, Soo-Chul

2018-02-13

In this paper, we propose a compact force sensor system for a hip-mounted exoskeleton for seniors with difficulties in walking due to muscle weakness. It senses and monitors the delivered force and power of the exoskeleton for motion control and taking urgent safety action. Two FSR (force-sensitive resistors) sensors are used to measure the assistance force when the user is walking. The sensor system directly measures the interaction force between the exoskeleton and the lower limb of the user instead of a previously reported force-sensing method, which estimated the hip assistance force from the current of the motor and lookup tables. Furthermore, the sensor system has the advantage of generating torque in the walking-assistant actuator based on directly measuring the hip-assistance force. Thus, the gait-assistance exoskeleton system can control the delivered power and torque to the user. The force sensing structure is designed to decouple the force caused by hip motion from other directional forces to the sensor so as to only measure that force. We confirmed that the hip-assistance force could be measured with the proposed prototype compact force sensor attached to a thigh frame through an experiment with a real system.

TAO2000 V2 computer-assisted force feedback tele-manipulators used as maintenance and production tools at the AREVA NC-La Hague fuel recycling plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Geffard, Franck; Garrec, Philippe; Piolain, Gerard; Brudieu, Marie-Anne; Thro, Jean-Francois; Coudray, Alain; Lelann, Eric

2012-01-01

During a 15-year joint research program, French Atomic Energy Agency Interactive Robotics Laboratory (CEA LIST) and AREVA have developed several remote operation devices, also called tele-robots. Some of them are now commonly used for maintenance operations at the AREVA NC (Nuclear Cycle) La Hague reprocessing plant. Since the first maintenance operation in 2005, several other successful interventions have been realized using the industrial MA23/RX170 tele-manipulation system. Moreover, since 2010, the through-the-wall tele-robot named MT200 TAO based on the slave arm of the MSM MT200 (La Calhene TM ), has been evaluated in an active production cell at the AREVA NC La Hague fuel recycling plant. Although these evaluations are ongoing, the positive results obtained have led to an update and industrialization program. All these developments are based on the same generic control platform, called TAO2000 V2. TAO2000 V2 is the second release of the CEA LIST core software platform dedicated to computer aided force-feedback tele-operation (TAO is the French acronym for computer aided tele-operation). This paper presents all these developments resulting from the joint research program CEA LIST/AREVA. The TAO2000 V2 controller is first detailed, and then two maintenance operations using the industrial robot RX170 are presented: the removal of the nuclear fuel dissolver wheel rollers and the cleanup of the dissolver wheel inter-bucket spaces. Finally, the new MT200 TAO system and its evaluations at the AREVA NC La Hague facilities are discussed. (authors)

Key Insights into Hand Biomechanics: Human Grip Stiffness Can Be Decoupled from Force by Cocontraction and Predicted from Electromyography

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hannes Höppner

2017-05-01

Full Text Available We investigate the relation between grip force and grip stiffness for the human hand with and without voluntary cocontraction. Apart from gaining biomechanical insight, this issue is particularly relevant for variable-stiffness robotic systems, which can independently control the two parameters, but for which no clear methods exist to design or efficiently exploit them. Subjects were asked in one task to produce different levels of force, and stiffness was measured. As expected, this task reveals a linear coupling between force and stiffness. In a second task, subjects were then asked to additionally decouple stiffness from force at these force levels by using cocontraction. We measured the electromyogram from relevant groups of muscles and analyzed the possibility to predict stiffness and force. Optical tracking was used for avoiding wrist movements. We found that subjects were able to decouple grip stiffness from force when using cocontraction on average by about 20% of the maximum measured stiffness over all force levels, while this ability increased with the applied force. This result contradicts the force–stiffness behavior of most variable-stiffness actuators. Moreover, we found the thumb to be on average twice as stiff as the index finger and discovered that intrinsic hand muscles predominate our prediction of stiffness, but not of force. EMG activity and grip force allowed to explain 72 ± 12% of the measured variance in stiffness by simple linear regression, while only 33 ± 18% variance in force. Conclusively the high signal-to-noise ratio and the high correlation to stiffness of these muscles allow for a robust and reliable regression of stiffness, which can be used to continuously teleoperate compliance of modern robotic hands.

Wavenumber locking and pattern formation in spatially forced systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Manor, Rotem; Meron, Ehud; Hagberg, Aric

2009-01-01

We study wavenumber locking and pattern formation resulting from weak spatially periodic one-dimensional forcing of two-dimensional systems. We consider systems that produce stationary or traveling stripe patterns when unforced and apply forcing aligned with the stripes. Forcing at close to twice the pattern wavenumber selects, stabilizes, or creates resonant stripes locked at half the forcing wavenumber. If the mismatch between the forcing and pattern wavenumber is high we find that the pattern still locks but develops a wave vector component perpendicular to the forcing direction and forms rectangular and oblique patterns. When the unforced system supports traveling waves, resonant rectangular patterns remain stationary but oblique patterns travel in a direction orthogonal to the traveling waves.

Development of optical FBG force measurement system for the medical application

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Hoseok; Kim, Kiyoung; Suh, Jungwook; Lee, Jungju

2010-03-01

Haptic feedback plays a very important role in medical surgery. In minimally invasive surgery (MIS), however, very long and stiff bar of instruments take haptic feeling away from the surgeon. In minimally invasive robotic surgery (MIRS), moreover, haptic feelings are totally eliminated. Previous researchers have reported that the absence of force feedback increased the average force magnitude applied to the tissue by at least 50%, and increased the peakforce magnitude by at least a factor of two. Therefore, it is very important to provide haptic information in MIRS. Recently, many sensors are being developed for MIS or MIRS, but they have some obstacles in their application to real situations of medical surgery. The most critical problems are size limit and sterilizability. Optical fiber sensors are one of the most suitable sensors for this environment. Especially, optical fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor has one additional advantage than the other optical fiber sensors. FBG sensor is not influenced by intensity of light source. In this paper, we would like to present the initial results of study on the application of the FBG sensor to measure reflected forces in MIRS environments and then suggest the possibility of successful application to the MIRS systems.

Joint Force Quarterly. Number 33, Winter 2002-03

Science.gov (United States)

2003-04-01

Follow-on ( UFO ) System, Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) Position, Velocity, Time, Semi-synchronous Orbit Global Positioning System (GPS), GPS II/IIA...in 1945, Austria had been integral to the Nazi war machine. Occu- pation policy in the early postwar years reflected this ambiguity. U.S. forces alien

Modular telerobot control system for accident response

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Richard J. M.; Shirey, David L.

1999-08-01

The Accident Response Mobile Manipulator System (ARMMS) is a teleoperated emergency response vehicle that deploys two hydraulic manipulators, five cameras, and an array of sensors to the scene of an incident. It is operated from a remote base station that can be situated up to four kilometers away from the site. Recently, a modular telerobot control architecture called SMART was applied to ARMMS to improve the precision, safety, and operability of the manipulators on board. Using SMART, a prototype manipulator control system was developed in a couple of days, and an integrated working system was demonstrated within a couple of months. New capabilities such as camera-frame teleoperation, autonomous tool changeout and dual manipulator control have been incorporated. The final system incorporates twenty-two separate modules and implements seven different behavior modes. This paper describes the integration of SMART into the ARMMS system.

Magnetic Resonance Force Microscopy System

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Laboratory Consortium — The Magnetic Resonance Force Microscopy (MRFM) system, developed by ARL, is the world's most sensitive nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopic analysis tool,...

System analysis of force feedback microscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rodrigues, Mario S.; Costa, Luca; Chevrier, Joël; Comin, Fabio

2014-01-01

It was shown recently that the Force Feedback Microscope (FFM) can avoid the jump-to-contact in Atomic force Microscopy even when the cantilevers used are very soft, thus increasing force resolution. In this letter, we explore theoretical aspects of the associated real time control of the tip position. We take into account lever parameters such as the lever characteristics in its environment, spring constant, mass, dissipation coefficient, and the operating conditions such as controller gains and interaction force. We show how the controller parameters are determined so that the FFM functions at its best and estimate the bandwidth of the system under these conditions

System analysis of force feedback microscopy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rodrigues, Mario S. [CFMC/Dep. de Física, Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisboa (Portugal); Costa, Luca [European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, 6 rue Jules Horowitz BP 220, 38043 Grenoble Cedex (France); Université Joseph Fourier BP 53, 38041 Grenoble Cedex 9 (France); Chevrier, Joël [European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, 6 rue Jules Horowitz BP 220, 38043 Grenoble Cedex (France); Université Grenoble Alpes, Inst NEEL, F-38042 Grenoble (France); CNRS, Inst NEEL, F-38042 Grenoble (France); Comin, Fabio [European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, 6 rue Jules Horowitz BP 220, 38043 Grenoble Cedex (France)

2014-02-07

It was shown recently that the Force Feedback Microscope (FFM) can avoid the jump-to-contact in Atomic force Microscopy even when the cantilevers used are very soft, thus increasing force resolution. In this letter, we explore theoretical aspects of the associated real time control of the tip position. We take into account lever parameters such as the lever characteristics in its environment, spring constant, mass, dissipation coefficient, and the operating conditions such as controller gains and interaction force. We show how the controller parameters are determined so that the FFM functions at its best and estimate the bandwidth of the system under these conditions.

Four-Mirror Freeform Reflective Imaging Systems

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Central Objectives: The research involves a revelation of the solution space for revolutionary families of four-mirror freeform reflective imaging systems. A...

Reflective Self-Regenerative Systems Architecture Study

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Pu, Carlton; Blough, Douglas

2006-01-01

In this study, we develop the Reflective Self-Regenerative Systems (RSRS) architecture in detail, describing the internal structure of each component and the mutual invocations among the components...

SRT project: tele-robotics maintenance of nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gomez-Santamaria, J.; Calleja, J.M.; Carmena, P.; Avello, A.; Rubio, Y.A.

2001-01-01

The main aim of the SRT project was to develop a family of robots to help in the operation of nuclear power plants. Four robotic systems were developed and this paper focuses on three of them: ANAES -a steam leak detector through noise analysis-, MALIBA -a master-slave tele-operation system with force feedback- and ROBICEN -a compact pneumatic wall climbing robot-. ANAES (the Spanish acronym of spectrum analysis) consists of a set of sensor heads attached to a computer. Each head has two microphones and a video camera installed on it, and a DC motor that rotates the head. The heads are shielded with lead and boron steel, especially near the video camera. The noise generated by the plant is recorded every day at the same time and the software compares the recorded noise with the mean values of past records. The system can discern whether the noise has remarkably changed and, through phase analysis of the sound recorded by both microphones, identifies the direction of arrival (DOA) of the new noise, probably a steam leak. Using several heads, the new noise source can be identified. The video camera can be used to ease the location of the steam leaks. The stationariness of the measured noise has been tested in C.N. Cofrentes -a Spanish BWR-6 reactor-. A finished system with six heads has recently been installed in the MSR (moisture separator reheater) of the same plant. MALIBA is a master-slave tele-operated system with force feedback. It consists of two robots: a Stewart platform used as master robot and an open chain robot used as slave. The slave robot follows faithfully the movements of the master, and the master robot can reflect a force proportional to the force exerted by the slave on the environment. Three tools have been developed for the slave robot: a robot hand that includes a small video camera, a pneumatic drill and a rectifier. The results obtained have shown its effectiveness for the designed operations. ROBICEN is a lightweight pneumatic robot

SRT project: tele-robotics maintenance of nuclear power plants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gomez-Santamaria, J. [Iberdrola SA, Madrid (Spain); Calleja, J.M.; Carmena, P. [Endesa, Madrid (Spain); Avello, A.; Rubio, Y.A. [CEIT-Centro de Estudias e Investigaciones Tecnicas de Guipuzcoa, San Sebastian (Spain)

2001-07-01

The main aim of the SRT project was to develop a family of robots to help in the operation of nuclear power plants. Four robotic systems were developed and this paper focuses on three of them: ANAES -a steam leak detector through noise analysis-, MALIBA -a master-slave tele-operation system with force feedback- and ROBICEN -a compact pneumatic wall climbing robot-. ANAES (the Spanish acronym of spectrum analysis) consists of a set of sensor heads attached to a computer. Each head has two microphones and a video camera installed on it, and a DC motor that rotates the head. The heads are shielded with lead and boron steel, especially near the video camera. The noise generated by the plant is recorded every day at the same time and the software compares the recorded noise with the mean values of past records. The system can discern whether the noise has remarkably changed and, through phase analysis of the sound recorded by both microphones, identifies the direction of arrival (DOA) of the new noise, probably a steam leak. Using several heads, the new noise source can be identified. The video camera can be used to ease the location of the steam leaks. The stationariness of the measured noise has been tested in C.N. Cofrentes -a Spanish BWR-6 reactor-. A finished system with six heads has recently been installed in the MSR (moisture separator reheater) of the same plant. MALIBA is a master-slave tele-operated system with force feedback. It consists of two robots: a Stewart platform used as master robot and an open chain robot used as slave. The slave robot follows faithfully the movements of the master, and the master robot can reflect a force proportional to the force exerted by the slave on the environment. Three tools have been developed for the slave robot: a robot hand that includes a small video camera, a pneumatic drill and a rectifier. The results obtained have shown its effectiveness for the designed operations. ROBICEN is a lightweight pneumatic robot

Large amplitude forced vibration analysis of cross-beam system ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Large amplitude forced vibration behaviour of cross-beam system under harmonic excitation is studied, incorporating the effect of geometric non-linearity. The forced vibration analysis is carried out in an indirect way, in which the dynamic system is assumed to satisfy the force equilibrium condition at peak load value, thus ...

Multiphase patterns in periodically forced oscillatory systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elphick, C.; Hagberg, A.; Meron, E.

1999-01-01

Periodic forcing of an oscillatory system produces frequency locking bands within which the system frequency is rationally related to the forcing frequency. We study extended oscillatory systems that respond to uniform periodic forcing at one quarter of the forcing frequency (the 4:1 resonance). These systems possess four coexisting stable states, corresponding to uniform oscillations with successive phase shifts of π/2. Using an amplitude equation approach near a Hopf bifurcation to uniform oscillations, we study front solutions connecting different phase states. These solutions divide into two groups: π fronts separating states with a phase shift of π and π/2 fronts separating states with a phase shift of π/2. We find a type of front instability where a stationary π front 'decomposes' into a pair of traveling π/2 fronts as the forcing strength is decreased. The instability is degenerate for an amplitude equation with cubic nonlinearities. At the instability point a continuous family of pair solutions exists, consisting of π/2 fronts separated by distances ranging from zero to infinity. Quintic nonlinearities lift the degeneracy at the instability point but do not change the basic nature of the instability. We conjecture the existence of similar instabilities in higher 2n:1 resonances (n=3,4,hor-ellipsis) where stationary π fronts decompose into n traveling π/n fronts. The instabilities designate transitions from stationary two-phase patterns to traveling 2n-phase patterns. As an example, we demonstrate with a numerical solution the collapse of a four-phase spiral wave into a stationary two-phase pattern as the forcing strength within the 4:1 resonance is increased. copyright 1999 The American Physical Society

Variable Acceleration Force Calibration System (VACS)

Science.gov (United States)

Rhew, Ray D.; Parker, Peter A.; Johnson, Thomas H.; Landman, Drew

2014-01-01

Conventionally, force balances have been calibrated manually, using a complex system of free hanging precision weights, bell cranks, and/or other mechanical components. Conventional methods may provide sufficient accuracy in some instances, but are often quite complex and labor-intensive, requiring three to four man-weeks to complete each full calibration. To ensure accuracy, gravity-based loading is typically utilized. However, this often causes difficulty when applying loads in three simultaneous, orthogonal axes. A complex system of levers, cranks, and cables must be used, introducing increased sources of systematic error, and significantly increasing the time and labor intensity required to complete the calibration. One aspect of the VACS is a method wherein the mass utilized for calibration is held constant, and the acceleration is changed to thereby generate relatively large forces with relatively small test masses. Multiple forces can be applied to a force balance without changing the test mass, and dynamic forces can be applied by rotation or oscillating acceleration. If rotational motion is utilized, a mass is rigidly attached to a force balance, and the mass is exposed to a rotational field. A large force can be applied by utilizing a large rotational velocity. A centrifuge or rotating table can be used to create the rotational field, and fixtures can be utilized to position the force balance. The acceleration may also be linear. For example, a table that moves linearly and accelerates in a sinusoidal manner may also be utilized. The test mass does not have to move in a path that is parallel to the ground, and no re-leveling is therefore required. Balance deflection corrections may be applied passively by monitoring the orientation of the force balance with a three-axis accelerometer package. Deflections are measured during each test run, and adjustments with respect to the true applied load can be made during the post-processing stage. This paper will

Chromosome structure investigated with the atomic force microscope

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Grooth, B.G.; Putman, C.A.J.; Putman, Constant A.; van der Werf, Kees; van Hulst, N.F.; van Oort, G.; van Oort, Geeske; Greve, Jan; Manne, Srinivas

1992-01-01

We have developed an atomic force microscope (AFM) with an integrated optical microscope. The optical microscope consists of an inverted epi-illumination system that yields images in reflection or fluorescence of the sample. With this system it is possible to quickly locate an object of interest. A

A system-level approach to automation research

Science.gov (United States)

Harrison, F. W.; Orlando, N. E.

1984-01-01

Automation is the application of self-regulating mechanical and electronic devices to processes that can be accomplished with the human organs of perception, decision, and actuation. The successful application of automation to a system process should reduce man/system interaction and the perceived complexity of the system, or should increase affordability, productivity, quality control, and safety. The expense, time constraints, and risk factors associated with extravehicular activities have led the Automation Technology Branch (ATB), as part of the NASA Automation Research and Technology Program, to investigate the use of robots and teleoperators as automation aids in the context of space operations. The ATB program addresses three major areas: (1) basic research in autonomous operations, (2) human factors research on man-machine interfaces with remote systems, and (3) the integration and analysis of automated systems. This paper reviews the current ATB research in the area of robotics and teleoperators.

Attachment patterns and Reflective Functioning in Traumatized Refugees

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Riber, Karin

, attachment systems, emotion-regulation, and personality. Attachment research on the consequences of organized violence and forced migration is sparse and research in PTSD-treatment for refugees is lacking behind. Cumulative pre-migration traumatic experiences and ongoing post-migration stressors might lead...... Psychiatry, Denmark. June 2011-March 2012 patients fulfilling inclusion criteria entered the trial. The present sample consisted of those of the 135 patients who were Arabic-speaking (N=67). Measures involved the Adult Attachment Interview, The Reflective Functioning Scale, Revised Adult Attachment Scale...... and reflective functioning will be described and implications for psychotherapy discussed. Keywords: Adult attachment, reflective functioning, refugee traumatisation....

Receptor-mediated endocytosis generates nanomechanical force reflective of ligand identity and cellular property.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xiao; Ren, Juan; Wang, Jingren; Li, Shixie; Zou, Qingze; Gao, Nan

2018-08-01

Whether environmental (thermal, chemical, and nutrient) signals generate quantifiable, nanoscale, mechanophysical changes in the cellular plasma membrane has not been well elucidated. Assessment of such mechanophysical properties of plasma membrane may shed lights on fundamental cellular process. Atomic force microscopic (AFM) measurement of the mechanical properties of live cells was hampered by the difficulty in accounting for the effects of the cantilever motion and the associated hydrodynamic force on the mechanical measurement. These challenges have been addressed in our recently developed control-based AFM nanomechanical measurement protocol, which enables a fast, noninvasive, broadband measurement of the real-time changes in plasma membrane elasticity in live cells. Here we show using this newly developed AFM platform that the plasma membrane of live mammalian cells exhibits a constant and quantifiable nanomechanical property, the membrane elasticity. This mechanical property sensitively changes in response to environmental factors, such as the thermal, chemical, and growth factor stimuli. We demonstrate that different chemical inhibitors of endocytosis elicit distinct changes in plasma membrane elastic modulus reflecting their specific molecular actions on the lipid configuration or the endocytic machinery. Interestingly, two different growth factors, EGF and Wnt3a, elicited distinct elastic force profiles revealed by AFM at the plasma membrane during receptor-mediated endocytosis. By applying this platform to genetically modified cells, we uncovered a previously unknown contribution of Cdc42, a key component of the cellular trafficking network, to EGF-stimulated endocytosis at plasma membrane. Together, this nanomechanical AFM study establishes an important foundation that is expandable and adaptable for investigation of cellular membrane evolution in response to various key extracellular signals. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Prototyping a Hybrid Cooperative and Tele-robotic Surgical System for Retinal Microsurgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Balicki, Marcin; Xia, Tian; Jung, Min Yang; Deguet, Anton; Vagvolgyi, Balazs; Kazanzides, Peter; Taylor, Russell

2011-06-01

This paper presents the design of a tele-robotic microsurgical platform designed for development of cooperative and tele-operative control schemes, sensor based smart instruments, user interfaces and new surgical techniques with eye surgery as the driving application. The system is built using the distributed component-based cisst libraries and the Surgical Assistant Workstation framework. It includes a cooperatively controlled EyeRobot2, a da Vinci Master manipulator, and a remote stereo visualization system. We use constrained optimization based virtual fixture control to provide Virtual Remote-Center-of-Motion (vRCM) and haptic feedback. Such system can be used in a hybrid setup, combining local cooperative control with remote tele-operation, where an experienced surgeon can provide hand-over-hand tutoring to a novice user. In another scheme, the system can provide haptic feedback based on virtual fixtures constructed from real-time force and proximity sensor information.

On nonlinear changes of the reflection coefficient of the fast wave at LH frequencies due to ponderomotive forces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Petrzilka, V.

1991-09-01

The nonlinear changes of the reflection coefficient R of fast waves launched by waveguide arrays may be significant even for power densities S in the range of 3 or 4 kW/cm 2 . For the input parameters chosen in the computations, the effects of ponderomotive forces lead to an increase in plasma density in front of the grill , whereas for the slow wave the plasma density always decreases with growing S. For small plasma density in front of the grill, ponderomotive forces thus lead to the decrease of R, whereas for high plasma densities R grows with growing power density S. The heating of the edge plasma by the wave tends to weaken these changes. (Z.S.) 6 figs., 17 refs

Force Limit System

Science.gov (United States)

Pawlik, Ralph; Krause, David; Bremenour, Frank

2011-01-01

The Force Limit System (FLS) was developed to protect test specimens from inadvertent overload. The load limit value is fully adjustable by the operator and works independently of the test system control as a mechanical (non-electrical) device. When a test specimen is loaded via an electromechanical or hydraulic test system, a chance of an overload condition exists. An overload applied to a specimen could result in irreparable damage to the specimen and/or fixturing. The FLS restricts the maximum load that an actuator can apply to a test specimen. When testing limited-run test articles or using very expensive fixtures, the use of such a device is highly recommended. Test setups typically use electronic peak protection, which can be the source of overload due to malfunctioning components or the inability to react quickly enough to load spikes. The FLS works independently of the electronic overload protection.

Force balanced magnetic energy storage system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mawardi, O.K.; Nara, H.; Grabnic, M.

1979-01-01

A novel scheme of constructing coils suited for inductive storage system is described. By means of a force-compensating method, the reinforcement structure can be made considerably smaller than that needed for conventional coils. The economics of this system is shown to be capable of achieving savings of upwards of 40% when compared to a conventional system

A simple levitation system using wireless power supply system and Lorentz force

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oka, Koichi; Tanaka, Masako

2016-01-01

A new type of magnetic levitation mechanism has been proposed. The feature of this mechanism is using wireless power supply system and Lorentz forces for levitation. The stability of levitation is performed by passive control by magnetic flux configuration between permanent magnets and active control of electromagnets. In this paper, the concept of levitation mechanism is introduced, FEM analyses for levitation force and wireless power supply performance is examined. In concept two types of levitation systems which are different on the point of active control directions are introduced. In FEM analyses, the required current for levitation and the directions of generating forces are calculated. In the study of wireless power supply system, the required voltage for the levitation is expected. Finally the feasibility of the proposed levitation system will be verified. (paper)

Study of high-definition and stereoscopic head-aimed vision for improved teleoperation of an unmanned ground vehicle

Science.gov (United States)

Tyczka, Dale R.; Wright, Robert; Janiszewski, Brian; Chatten, Martha Jane; Bowen, Thomas A.; Skibba, Brian

2012-06-01

Nearly all explosive ordnance disposal robots in use today employ monoscopic standard-definition video cameras to relay live imagery from the robot to the operator. With this approach, operators must rely on shadows and other monoscopic depth cues in order to judge distances and object depths. Alternatively, they can contact an object with the robot's manipulator to determine its position, but that approach carries with it the risk of detonation from unintentionally disturbing the target or nearby objects. We recently completed a study in which high-definition (HD) and stereoscopic video cameras were used in addition to conventional standard-definition (SD) cameras in order to determine if higher resolutions and/or stereoscopic depth cues improve operators' overall performance of various unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) tasks. We also studied the effect that the different vision modes had on operator comfort. A total of six different head-aimed vision modes were used including normal-separation HD stereo, SD stereo, "micro" (reduced separation) SD stereo, HD mono, and SD mono (two types). In general, the study results support the expectation that higher resolution and stereoscopic vision aid UGV teleoperation, but the degree of improvement was found to depend on the specific task being performed; certain tasks derived notably more benefit from improved depth perception than others. This effort was sponsored by the Joint Ground Robotics Enterprise under Robotics Technology Consortium Agreement #69-200902 T01. Technical management was provided by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory's Robotics Research and Development Group at Tyndall AFB, Florida.

Mobile Tracking Systems Using Meter Class Reflective Telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Sturzenbecher, K.; Ehrhorn, B.

This paper is a discussion on the use of large reflective telescopes on mobile tracking systems with modern instrument control systems. Large optics can be defined as reflective telescopes with an aperture of at least 20 inches in diameter. New carbon composite construction techniques allow for larger, stronger, and lighter telescopes ranging from 240 pounds for a 20 inch, to 800 pounds for a 32 inch, making them ideal for mobile tracking systems. These telescopes have better light gathering capability and produce larger images with greater detail at a longer range than conventional refractive lenses. In a mobile configuration these systems provide the ability to move the observation platform to the optimal location anywhere in the world. Mounting and systems integration - We will discuss how large telescopes can be physically fit to the mobile tracking system and the integration with the tracking systems' digital control system. We will highlight the remote control capabilities. We will discuss special calibration techniques available in a modern instrument control system such as star calibration, calibration of sensors. Tracking Performance - We will discuss the impact of using large telescopes on the performance of the mobile tracking system. We will highlight the capabilities for auto-tracking and sidereal rate tracking in a mobile mount. Large optics performance - We will discuss the advantages of two-mirror Ritchey-Chrétien reflective optics which offer in-focus imaging across the spectrum, from visible to Long Wave Infrared. These zero expansion optics won't lose figure or focus during temperature changes. And the carbon composite telescope tube is thermally inert. The primary mirror is a modern lightweight "dish" mirror for low thermal mass and is center supported/self balancing. Applications - We will discuss Visible - IR Imaging requirements, Optical Rangefinders, and capabilities for special filters to increase resolution in difficult conditions such as

The effect of a robot-assisted surgical system on the kinematics of user movements.

Science.gov (United States)

Nisky, Ilana; Hsieh, Michael H; Okamura, Allison M

2013-01-01

Teleoperated robot-assisted surgery (RAS) offers many advantages over traditional minimally invasive surgery. However, RAS has not yet realized its full potential, and it is not clear how to optimally train surgeons to use these systems. We hypothesize that the dynamics of the master manipulator impact the ability of users to make desired movements with the robot. We compared freehand and teleoperated movements of novices and experienced surgeons. To isolate the effects of dynamics from procedural knowledge, we chose simple movements rather than surgical tasks. We found statistically significant effects of teleoperation and user expertise in several aspects of motion, including target acquisition error, movement speed, and movement smoothness. Such quantitative assessment of human motor performance in RAS can impact the design of surgical robots, their control, and surgeon training methods, and eventually, improve patient outcomes.

The Optical Bichromatic Force in Molecular Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Aldridge, Leland; Galica, Scott; Eyler, E. E.

2015-05-01

The optical bichromatic force has been demonstrated to be useful for slowing atomic beams much more rapidly than radiative forces. Through numerical simulations, we examine several aspects of applying the bichromatic force to molecular beams. One is the unavoidable existence of out-of-system radiative decay, requiring one or more repumping beams. We find that the average deceleration varies strongly with the repumping intensity, but when using optimal parameters, the force approaches the limiting value allowed by population statistics. Another consideration is the effect of fine and hyperfine structure. We examine a simplified multlevel model based on the B X transition in calcium monofluoride. To circumvent optical pumping into coherent dark states, we include two possible schemes: (1) a skewed dc magnetic field, and (2) rapid optical polarization switching. Our results indicate that the bichromatic force remains a viable option for creating large forces in molecular beams, with a reduction in the peak force by approximately an order of magnitude compared to a two-level atom, but little effect on the velocity range over which the force is effective. We also describe our progress towards experimental tests of the bichromatic force on a molecular beam of CaF. Supported by the National Science Foundation.

Patterning in systems driven by nonlocal external forces.

Science.gov (United States)

Luneville, L; Mallick, K; Pontikis, V; Simeone, D

2016-11-01

This work focuses on systems displaying domain patterns resulting from competing external and internal dynamics. To this end, we introduce a Lyapunov functional capable of describing the steady states of systems subject to external forces, by adding nonlocal terms to the Landau Ginzburg free energy of the system. Thereby, we extend the existing methodology treating long-range order interactions, to the case of external nonlocal forces. By studying the quadratic term of this Lyapunov functional, we compute the phase diagram in the temperature versus external field and we determine all possible modulated phases (domain patterns) as a function of the external forces and the temperature. Finally, we investigate patterning in chemical reactive mixtures and binary mixtures under irradiation, and we show that the last case opens the path toward micro-structural engineering of materials.

T-Rex system for operation in TRU, LLW, and hazardous zones

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kline, H.M.; Andreychek, T.P.; Beeson, B.K.

1993-01-01

There are a large number of sites around the world containing TRU (transuranic) waste, low level waste (LLW), and hazardous areas that require teleoperated, heavy lift manipulators with long reach and high precision to handle the materials stored there. Teleoperation of the equipment is required to reduce the risk to operating personnel to as-low-as-reasonably-achievable (ALARA) levels. The Transuranic Storage Area Remote Excavator system (T-Rex) is designed to fill this requirement at low cost through the integration of a production front shovel excavator with a control system, local and remote operator control stations, a closed-circuit television system (CCTV), multiple end effectors and a quick-change system. This paper describes the conversion of an off-the-shelf excavator with a hydraulic control system, the integration of an onboard remote control system, vision system, and the design of a remote control station

Environmental forcing, invasion and control of ecological and epidemiological systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Greenman, J V; Norman, R A

2007-08-07

Destabilising a biological system through periodic or stochastic forcing can lead to significant changes in system behaviour. Forcing can bring about coexistence when previously there was exclusion; it can excite massive system response through resonance, it can offset the negative effect of apparent competition and it can change the conditions under which the system can be invaded. Our main focus is on the invasion properties of continuous time models under periodic forcing. We show that invasion is highly sensitive to the strength, period, phase, shape and configuration of the forcing components. This complexity can be of great advantage if some of the forcing components are anthropogenic in origin. They can be turned into instruments of control to achieve specific objectives in ecology and disease management, for example. Culling, vaccination and resource regulation are considered. A general analysis is presented, based on the leading Lyapunov exponent criterion for invasion. For unstructured invaders, a formula for this exponent can typically be written down from the model equations. Whether forcing hinders or encourages invasion depends on two factors: the covariances between invader parameters and resident populations and the shifts in average resident population levels brought about by the forcing. The invasion dynamics of a structured invader are much more complicated but an analytic solution can be obtained in quadratic approximation for moderate forcing strength. The general theory is illustrated by a range of models drawn from ecology and epidemiology. The relationship between periodic and stochastic forcing is also considered.

Reflective optical imaging system for extreme ultraviolet wavelengths

Science.gov (United States)

Viswanathan, V.K.; Newnam, B.E.

1993-05-18

A projection reflection optical system has two mirrors in a coaxial, four reflection configuration to reproduce the image of an object. The mirrors have spherical reflection surfaces to provide a very high resolution of object feature wavelengths less than 200 [mu]m, and preferably less than 100 [mu]m. An image resolution of features less than 0.05-0.1 [mu]m, is obtained over a large area field; i.e., 25.4 mm [times] 25.4 mm, with a distortion less than 0.1 of the resolution over the image field.

Conceptual Design of an Enlisted Force Management System for the Air Force.

Science.gov (United States)

1983-08-01

system will be ected toward qrade restructurisq, personne planniuq, and personnel proqrammiaq. Accossion Por NT1 - rPAS:T LBy- Distribhition/ Availability...used as loss predictors are stable enough that one can assign mean values to a cell in the inventory (for medium-term prediction), and which...characteristics require expansion of the number of cells ? We expect that the first- term force will be divided into more cells than the career force. 5.5. DATA TO

Adaptive infrared-reflecting systems inspired by cephalopods

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Chengyi; Stiubianu, George T.; Gorodetsky, Alon A.

2018-03-01

Materials and systems that statically reflect radiation in the infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum underpin the performance of many entrenched technologies, including building insulation, energy-conserving windows, spacecraft components, electronics shielding, container packaging, protective clothing, and camouflage platforms. The development of their adaptive variants, in which the infrared-reflecting properties dynamically change in response to external stimuli, has emerged as an important unmet scientific challenge. By drawing inspiration from cephalopod skin, we developed adaptive infrared-reflecting platforms that feature a simple actuation mechanism, low working temperature, tunable spectral range, weak angular dependence, fast response, stability to repeated cycling, amenability to patterning and multiplexing, autonomous operation, robust mechanical properties, and straightforward manufacturability. Our findings may open opportunities for infrared camouflage and other technologies that regulate infrared radiation.

Design and Calibration of a New 6 DOF Haptic Device

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Huanhuan Qin

2015-12-01

Full Text Available For many applications such as tele-operational robots and interactions with virtual environments, it is better to have performance with force feedback than without. Haptic devices are force reflecting interfaces. They can also track human hand positions simultaneously. A new 6 DOF (degree-of-freedom haptic device was designed and calibrated in this study. It mainly contains a double parallel linkage, a rhombus linkage, a rotating mechanical structure and a grasping interface. Benefited from the unique design, it is a hybrid structure device with a large workspace and high output capability. Therefore, it is capable of multi-finger interactions. Moreover, with an adjustable base, operators can change different postures without interrupting haptic tasks. To investigate the performance regarding position tracking accuracy and static output forces, we conducted experiments on a three-dimensional electric sliding platform and a digital force gauge, respectively. Displacement errors and force errors are calculated and analyzed. To identify the capability and potential of the device, four application examples were programmed.

Design and Calibration of a New 6 DOF Haptic Device

Science.gov (United States)

Qin, Huanhuan; Song, Aiguo; Liu, Yuqing; Jiang, Guohua; Zhou, Bohe

2015-01-01

For many applications such as tele-operational robots and interactions with virtual environments, it is better to have performance with force feedback than without. Haptic devices are force reflecting interfaces. They can also track human hand positions simultaneously. A new 6 DOF (degree-of-freedom) haptic device was designed and calibrated in this study. It mainly contains a double parallel linkage, a rhombus linkage, a rotating mechanical structure and a grasping interface. Benefited from the unique design, it is a hybrid structure device with a large workspace and high output capability. Therefore, it is capable of multi-finger interactions. Moreover, with an adjustable base, operators can change different postures without interrupting haptic tasks. To investigate the performance regarding position tracking accuracy and static output forces, we conducted experiments on a three-dimensional electric sliding platform and a digital force gauge, respectively. Displacement errors and force errors are calculated and analyzed. To identify the capability and potential of the device, four application examples were programmed. PMID:26690449

Satellite services system overview

Science.gov (United States)

Rysavy, G.

1982-01-01

The benefits of a satellite services system and the basic needs of the Space Transportation System to have improved satellite service capability are identified. Specific required servicing equipment are discussed in terms of their technology development status and their operative functions. Concepts include maneuverable television systems, extravehicular maneuvering unit, orbiter exterior lighting, satellite holding and positioning aid, fluid transfer equipment, end effectors for the remote manipulator system, teleoperator maneuvering system, and hand and power tools.

A wearable force plate system for the continuous measurement of triaxial ground reaction force in biomechanical applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Tao; Inoue, Yoshio; Shibata, Kyoko

2010-01-01

The ambulatory measurement of ground reaction force (GRF) and human motion under free-living conditions is convenient, inexpensive and never restricted to gait analysis in a laboratory environment and is therefore much desired by researchers and clinical doctors in biomedical applications. A wearable force plate system was developed by integrating small triaxial force sensors and three-dimensional (3D) inertial sensors for estimating dynamic triaxial GRF in biomechanical applications. The system, in comparison to existent systems, is characterized by being lightweight, thin and easy-to-wear. A six-axial force sensor (Nitta Co., Japan) was used as a verification measurement device to validate the static accuracy of the developed force plate. To evaluate the precision during dynamic gait measurements, we compared the measurements of the triaxial GRF and the center of pressure (CoP) by using the developed system with the reference measurements made using a stationary force plate and an optical motion analysis system. The root mean square (RMS) differences of the two transverse components (x- and y-axes) and the vertical component (z-axis) of the GRF were 4.3 ± 0.9 N, 6.0 ± 1.3 N and 12.1 ± 1.1 N, respectively, corresponding to 5.1 ± 1.1% and 6.5 ± 1% of the maximum of each transverse component and 1.3 ± 0.2% of the maximum vertical component of GRF. The RMS distance between the two systems' CoP traces was 3.2 ± 0.8 mm, corresponding to 1.2 ± 0.3% of the length of the shoe. Moreover, based on the results of the assessment of the influence of the system on natural gait, we found that gait was almost never affected. Therefore, the wearable system as an alternative device can be a potential solution for measuring CoP and triaxial GRF in non-laboratory environments

Transferring human impedance regulation skills to robots

CERN Document Server

Ajoudani, Arash

2016-01-01

This book introduces novel thinking and techniques to the control of robotic manipulation. In particular, the concept of teleimpedance control as an alternative method to bilateral force-reflecting teleoperation control for robotic manipulation is introduced. In teleimpedance control, a compound reference command is sent to the slave robot including both the desired motion trajectory and impedance profile, which are then realized by the remote controller. This concept forms a basis for the development of the controllers for a robotic arm, a dual-arm setup, a synergy-driven robotic hand, and a compliant exoskeleton for improved interaction performance.

The development of advanced robotic technology. A study on the tele-existence and intelligent control of a robot system for nuclear power plants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chung, Myung Jin; Byun, Jueng Nam; Kim, Jong Hwan; Lee, Ju Jang; Bang, Seok Won; Chu, Gil Hwan; Park, Jong Cheol; Choi, Jong Seok; Yang, Jung Min; Hong, Sun Ki [Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

1995-07-01

To increase the efficiency of human intelligence it is required to develop an intelligent monitoring and system. In this research, we develop intelligent control methods related with tele-operation, tele-existence, real-time control technique, and intelligent control technique. Those are key techniques in tele-operation, especially for the repair and maintenance of nuclear power plants. The objective of this project is to develop of the tele-existence and intelligent control system for a robot used in the nuclear power plants. (author). 20 refs.

Research on Retro-reflecting Modulation in Space Optical Communication System

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Yifeng; Wang, Guannan

2018-01-01

Retro-reflecting modulation space optical communication is a new type of free space optical communication technology. Unlike traditional free space optical communication system, it applys asymmetric optical systems to reduce the size, weight and power consumption of the system and can effectively solve the limits of traditional free space optical communication system application, so it can achieve the information transmission. This paper introduces the composition and working principle of retro-reflecting modulation optical communication system, analyzes the link budget of this system, reviews the types of optical system and optical modulator, summarizes this technology future research direction and application prospects.

Adjustment of gripping force by optical systems

Science.gov (United States)

Jalba, C. K.; Barz, C.

2018-01-01

With increasing automation, robotics also requires ever more intelligent solutions in the handling of various tasks. In this context, many grippers must also be re-designed. For this, they must always be adapted for different requirements. The equipment of the gripper systems with sensors should help to make the gripping process more intelligent. In order to achieve such objectives, optical systems can also be used. This work analyzes how the gripping force can be adjusted by means of an optical recognition. The result of this work is the creation of a connection between optical recognition, tolerances, gripping force and real-time control. In this way, algorithms can be created, with the aid of which robot grippers as well as other gripping systems become more intelligent.

Design issues for block-oriented reflective memory system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jovanovic, M; Tomasevic, M; Milutinovic, V

1996-12-31

The block-oriented reflective memory (BORM) system represents a modular bus-based system architecture that belongs to the class of distributed shared memory systems. The results of the evaluation study of the BORM implementation strategies and design decisions in regard to the different values of input parameters are presented. 5 refs.

Potential applications of advanced remote handling and maintenance technology to future waste handling facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kring, C.T.; Herndon, J.N.; Meacham, S.A.

1987-01-01

The Consolidated Fuel Reprocessing Program (CFRP) at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has been advancing the technology in remote handling and remote maintenance of in-cell systems planned for future US nuclear fuel reprocessing plants. Much of the experience and technology developed over the past decade in this endeavor are directly applicable to the in-cell systems being considered for the facilities of the Federal Waste Management System (FWMS). The ORNL developments are based on the application of teleoperated force-reflecting servomanipulators controlled by an operator completely removed from the hazardous environment. These developments address the nonrepetitive nature of remote maintenance in the unstructured environments encountered in a waste handling facility. Employing technological advancements in dexterous manipulators, as well as basic design guidelines that have been developed for remotely maintained equipment and processes, can increase operation and maintenance system capabilities, thereby allowing the attainment of two Federal Waste Management System major objectives: decreasing plant personnel radiation exposure and increasing plant availability by decreasing the mean-time-to-repair in-cell maintenance and process equipment

Potential applications of advanced remote handling and maintenance technology to future waste handling facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kring, C.T.; Herndon, J.N.; Meacham, S.A.

1987-01-01

The Consolidated Fuel Reprocessing Program (CFRP) at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has been advancing the technology in remote handling and remote maintenance of in-cell systems planned for future U.S. nuclear fuel reprocessing plants. Much of the experience and technology developed over the past decade in this endeavor are directly applicable to the in-cell systems being considered for the facilities of the Federal Waste Management System (FWMS). The ORNL developments are based on the application of teleoperated force-reflecting servomanipulators controlled by an operator completely removed from the hazardous environment. These developments address the nonrepetitive nature of remote maintenance in the unstructured environments encountered in a waste handling facility. Employing technological advancements in dexterous manipulators, as well as basic design guidelines that have been developed for remotely maintained equipment and processes, can increase operation and maintenance system capabilities, thereby allowing the attainment of two Federal Waste Management System major objectives: decreasing plant personnel radiation exposure and increasing plant availability by decreasing the mean-time-to-repair in-cell maintenance and process equipment

Geometry and controls on the development of igneous sill-related forced folds: 2D seismic reflection case study from offshore Southern Australia

Science.gov (United States)

Jackson, Christopher; Schofield, Nick; Magee, Craig; Golenkov, Bogdan

2017-04-01

Emplacement of magma in the shallow subsurface can result in the development of dome-shaped folds at the Earth's surface. These so-called 'forced folds' have been described in the field and in subsurface datasets, although the exact geometry of the folds and the nature of their relationship to underlying sills remains unclear and, in some cases, controversial. As a result, the utility of these features in tracking the subsurface movement of magma, and predicting the potential size and location of potentially hazardous volcanic eruptions, is uncertain. Here we use high-quality, 2D seismic reflection and borehole data from the Ceduna sub-basin, offshore southern Australia to describe the structure and infer the evolution of igneous sill-related forced folds in the Bight Basin Igneous Complex (BBIC). We mapped 33 igneous sills, which were emplaced 200-1500 m below the palaeo-seabed in an Upper Cretaceous, coal-bearing, predominantly coastal-plain succession. The intrusions, which are expressed as packages of high-amplitude reflections, are 32-250 m thick and 7-19 km in diameter. They are overlain by dome-shaped folds, which are up to 17 km wide and display up to 210 m of relief. The edges of these folds coincide with the margins of the underlying sills and the folds display the greatest relief where the underlying sills are thickest; the folds are therefore interpreted as forced folds that formed in response to emplacement of magma in the shallow subsurface. The folds are onlapped by Lutetian (middle Eocene) strata, indicating they formed and the intrusions were emplaced during the latest Ypresian (c. 48 Ma). We demonstrate that fold amplitude is typically less than sill thickness even for sills with very large diameter-to-depth ratios, suggesting that pure elastic bending (forced folding) of the overburden is not the only process accommodating magma emplacement, and that supra-sill compaction may be important even at relatively shallow depths. Based on the

Identification and Modeling of Electrohydraulic Force Control of the Material Test System (MTS)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ruan, J; Pei, X; Zhu, F M

2006-01-01

In the heavy-duty material test device, an electrohydraulic force servo system is usually utilized to load the tested samples. The signal from the pressure sensor is compared with the instruction and the difference between them is then fed to a digital servo valve to form a closed loop control to the target force. The performance of the electrohydraulic force servo system is not only closely related to how accurate to feed the flow rate to the hydraulic cylinder, but also the stiffness of the system which is dominated by the compressibility of oil. Thus the clarification of the characteristic parameters becomes the key of the solution to optimal force control. To identify the electrohydraulic force servo system various step signals are input to excite the dynamic response of the system. From the relationship between the step magnitude and the force response, the system model and the key control parameters are determined. The electrohydraulic force servo system is identified as a first order system with time constant varied with the pressure. Based on the identification of the system optimal control parameters are finally obtained and force rate error is reduced to 0.2% from original 3%

Development of master slave system for interventional radiology with force-rate control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ide, Masaru; Zobel, P.B.; Claudio, P.D.; Mohri, Makoto; Komeda, Takashi

2010-01-01

The objective of this study is to develop a master-slave system for a catheter-guided operation, which is performed by using radiology, through the vascular system. When the master-slave system is used, the surgeon is not exposed to x-rays during the operation. The master tool is managed by an operator away from the slave tool, which is near the patient. The system must provide a realistic picture to the surgeon, particularly in term of force information because this operation is performed by observing three-dimensional fields on a two-dimensional monitor. In this paper, we describe the development of a master slave system that involves the use of force-rate control for guiding the catheter without using force sensors. The master tool has a force-display function. This system can be controlled by force and velocity controlling; hence, this system realized an innovative mechanism and algorism. Finally, the preliminary experiment indicated that the new control method was effective. Further, the force display was stable and achieved fast response. (author)

Reflections on the nature of non-linear responses of the climate to forcing

Science.gov (United States)

Ditlevsen, Peter

2017-04-01

On centennial to multi-millennial time scales the paleoclimatic record shows that climate responds in a very non-linear way to the external forcing. Perhaps most puzzling is the change in glacial period duration at the Middle Pleistocene Transition. From a dynamical systems perspective, this could be a change in frequency locking between the orbital forcing and the climatic response or it could be a non-linear resonance phenomenon. In both cases the climate system shows a non-trivial oscillatory behaviour. From the records it seems that this behaviour can be described by an effective dynamics on a low-dimensional slow manifold. These different possible dynamical behaviours will be discussed. References: Arianna Marchionne, Peter Ditlevsen, and Sebastian Wieczorek, "Three types of nonlinear resonances", arXiv:1605.00858 Peter Ashwin and Peter Ditlevsen, "The middle Pleistocene transition as a generic bifurcation on a slow manifold", Climate Dynamics, 45, 2683, 2015. Peter D. Ditlevsen, "The bifurcation structure and noise assisted transitions in the Pleistocene glacial cycles", Paleoceanography, 24, PA3204, 2009

Screw-in forces during instrumentation by various file systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Ha, Jung-Hong; Kwak, Sang Won; Kim, Sung-Kyo; Kim, Hyeon-Cheol

2016-11-01

The purpose of this study was to compare the maximum screw-in forces generated during the movement of various Nickel-Titanium (NiTi) file systems. Forty simulated canals in resin blocks were randomly divided into 4 groups for the following instruments: Mtwo size 25/0.07 (MTW, VDW GmbH), Reciproc R25 (RPR, VDW GmbH), ProTaper Universal F2 (PTU, Dentsply Maillefer), and ProTaper Next X2 (PTN, Dentsply Maillefer, n = 10). All the artificial canals were prepared to obtain a standardized lumen by using ProTaper Universal F1. Screw-in forces were measured using a custom-made experimental device (AEndoS- k , DMJ system) during instrumentation with each NiTi file system using the designated movement. The rotation speed was set at 350 rpm with an automatic 4 mm pecking motion at a speed of 1 mm/sec. The pecking depth was increased by 1 mm for each pecking motion until the file reach the working length. Forces were recorded during file movement, and the maximum force was extracted from the data. Maximum screw-in forces were analyzed by one-way ANOVA and Tukey's post hoc comparison at a significance level of 95%. Reciproc and ProTaper Universal files generated the highest maximum screw-in forces among all the instruments while M-two and ProTaper Next showed the lowest ( p files with smaller cross-sectional area for higher flexibility is recommended.

Reaction Force/Torque Sensing in a Master-Slave Robot System without Mechanical Sensors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kyoko Shibata

2010-07-01

Full Text Available In human-robot cooperative control systems, force feedback is often necessary in order to achieve high precision and high stability. Usually, traditional robot assistant systems implement force feedback using force/torque sensors. However, it is difficult to directly mount a mechanical force sensor on some working terminals, such as in applications of minimally invasive robotic surgery, micromanipulation, or in working environments exposed to radiation or high temperature. We propose a novel force sensing mechanism for implementing force feedback in a master-slave robot system with no mechanical sensors. The system consists of two identical electro-motors with the master motor powering the slave motor to interact with the environment. A bimanual coordinated training platform using the new force sensing mechanism was developed and the system was verified in experiments. Results confirm that the proposed mechanism is capable of achieving bilateral force sensing and mirror-image movements of two terminals in two reverse control directions.

Compensation of Wave-Induced Motion and Force Phenomena for Ship-Based High Performance Robotic and Human Amplifying Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Love, LJL

2003-09-24

The decrease in manpower and increase in material handling needs on many Naval vessels provides the motivation to explore the modeling and control of Naval robotic and robotic assistive devices. This report addresses the design, modeling, control and analysis of position and force controlled robotic systems operating on the deck of a moving ship. First we provide background information that quantifies the motion of the ship, both in terms of frequency and amplitude. We then formulate the motion of the ship in terms of homogeneous transforms. This transformation provides a link between the motion of the ship and the base of a manipulator. We model the kinematics of a manipulator as a serial extension of the ship motion. We then show how to use these transforms to formulate the kinetic and potential energy of a general, multi-degree of freedom manipulator moving on a ship. As a demonstration, we consider two examples: a one degree-of-freedom system experiencing three sea states operating in a plane to verify the methodology and a 3 degree of freedom system experiencing all six degrees of ship motion to illustrate the ease of computation and complexity of the solution. The first series of simulations explore the impact wave motion has on tracking performance of a position controlled robot. We provide a preliminary comparison between conventional linear control and Repetitive Learning Control (RLC) and show how fixed time delay RLC breaks down due to the varying nature wave disturbance frequency. Next, we explore the impact wave motion disturbances have on Human Amplification Technology (HAT). We begin with a description of the traditional HAT control methodology. Simulations show that the motion of the base of the robot, due to ship motion, generates disturbances forces reflected to the operator that significantly degrade the positioning accuracy and resolution at higher sea states. As with position-controlled manipulators, augmenting the control with a Repetitive

Robotic dismantlement systems at the CP-5 reactor D and D project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seifert, L. S.

1998-01-01

The Chicago Pile 5 (CP-5) Research Reactor Facility is currently undergoing decontamination and decommissioning (D and D) at the Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) Illinois site. CP-5 was the principle nuclear reactor used to produce neutrons for scientific research at Argonne from 1954 to 1979. The CP-5 reactor was a heavy-water cooled and moderated, enriched uranium-fueled reactor with a graphite reflector. The CP-5 D and D project includes the disassembly, segmentation and removal of all the radioactive components, equipment and structures associated with the CP-5 facility. The Department of Energy's Robotics Technology Development Program and the Federal Energy Technology Center, Morgantown Office provided teleoperated, remote systems for use in the dismantlement of the CP-5 reactor assembly for tasks requiring remote dismantlement as part of the EM-50 Large-Scale Demonstration Program (LSDP). The teleoperated systems provided were the Dual Arm Work Platform (DAWP), the Rosie Mobile Teleoperated Robot Work System (ROSIE), and a remotely-operated crane control system with installed swing-reduction control system. Another remotely operated apparatus, a Brokk BM250, was loaned to ANL by the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL). This machine is not teleoperated and was not part of the LSDP, but deserves some mention in this discussion. The DAWP is a robotic dismantlement system that includes a pair of Schilling Robotic Systems Titan III hydraulic manipulator arms mounted to a specially designed support platform: a hydraulic power unit (HPU) and a remote operator console. The DAWP is designed to be crane-suspended for remote positioning. ROSIE, developed by RedZone Robotics, Inc. is a mobile, electro-hydraulic, omnidirectional platform with a heavy-duty telescoping boom mounted to the platform's deck. The work system includes the mobile platform (locomotor), a power distribution unit (PDU) and a remote operator console. ROSIE moves about the reactor building

A teleoperated system for remote site characterization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sandness, G.A.; Richardson, B.S.; Pence, J.

1993-08-01

The detection and characterization of buried objects and materials is an important first step in the restoration of burial sites containing chemical and radioactive waste materials at Department of Energy (DOE) and Department of Defense (DOD) facilities. To address the need to minimize the exposure of on-site personnel to the hazards associated with such sites, the DOE Office of Technology Development and the US Army Environmental Center have jointly supported the development of the Remote Characterization System (RCS). One of the main components of the RCS is a small remotely driven survey vehicle that can transport various combinations of geophysical and radiological sensors. Currently implemented sensors include ground-penetrating radar, magnetometers, an electromagnetic induction sensor, and a sodium iodide radiation detector. The survey vehicle was constructed predominantly of non-metallic materials to minimize its effect on the operation of its geophysical sensors. The system operator controls the vehicle from a remote, truck-mounted, base station. Video images are transmitted to the base station by an radio link to give the operator necessary visual information. Vehicle control commands, tracking information, and sensor data are transmitted between the survey vehicle and the base station by means of a radio ethernet link. Precise vehicle tracking coordinates are provided by a differential Global Positioning System (GPS). The sensors are environmentally protected, internally cooled, and interchangeable based on mission requirements. To date, the RCS has been successfully tested at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory

Buckling determination in reflected systems, program FLUXFIT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sotic, O [Boris Kidric Institute of Nuclear Sciences Vinca, Beograd (Yugoslavia)

1971-07-01

An improvement in accuracy of determining radial and axial buckling from foil activation distributions measured in reflected cylindrical systems is given. resultant activities are fitted to radial and axial spatial functions derived from homogeneous diffusion theory. A Fortran program FLUXFIT based on the derived method is included. (author)

The design and implementation of a windowing interface pinch force measurement system

Science.gov (United States)

Ho, Tze-Yee; Chen, Yuanu-Joan; Chung, Chin-Teng; Hsiao, Ming-Heng

2010-02-01

This paper presents a novel windowing interface pinch force measurement system that is basically based on an USB (Universal Series Bus) microcontroller which mainly processes the sensing data from the force sensing resistance sensors mounted on five digits. It possesses several friendly functions, such as the value and curve trace of the applied force by a hand injured patient displayed in real time on a monitoring screen, consequently, not only the physician can easily evaluate the effect of hand injury rehabilitation, but also the patients get more progressive during the hand physical therapy by interacting with the screen of pinch force measurement. In order to facilitate the pinch force measurement system and make it friendly, the detail hardware design and software programming flowchart are described in this paper. Through a series of carefully and detailed experimental tests, first of all, the relationship between the applying force and the FSR sensors are measured and verified. Later, the different type of pinch force measurements are verified by the oscilloscope and compared with the corresponding values and waveform traces in the window interface display panel to obtain the consistency. Finally, a windowing interface pinch force measurement system based on the USB microcontroller is implemented and demonstrated. The experimental results show the verification and feasibility of the designed system.

Robot technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vertut, Jean; Coiffet, Philippe.

1985-01-01

Teleoperation is concerned with the exploration and exploitation of of spaces which do not allow, because of their inaccessibility or hostility, direct access to man. This volume (Parts 2, 3 and 4) covers the contribution of computer science and automatic control to this technology. Part 2 includes a description of teleoperation systems followed by chapters on the operator substitution function by computer feedback to the operator. Part 3 has chapters on performance evaluation of teleoperation systems and the human operator in the teleoperation system. Part 4 is about applications of teleoperation in the nuclear industry, underwater, in space, in medicine, in industry and in security and civil protection. The nuclear applications include research and pilot facilities, reactor operation and maintenance, reactor decommissioning and dismantling and in emergencies, for example following a reactor accident. (U.K.)

Three-axis force sensor with fiber Bragg grating.

Science.gov (United States)

Hyundo Choi; Yoan Lim; Junhyung Kim

2017-07-01

Haptic feedback is critical for many surgical tasks, and it replicates force reflections at the surgical site. To meet the force reflection requirements, we propose a force sensor with an optical fiber Bragg grating (FBG) for robotic surgery. The force sensor can calculate three directional forces of an instrument from the strain of three FBGs, even under electromagnetic interference. A flexible ring-shape structure connects an instrument tip and fiber strain gages to sense three directional force. And a stopper mechanism is added in the structure to avoid plastic deformation under unexpected large force on the instrument tip. The proposed sensor is experimentally verified to have a sensing range from -12 N to 12 N, and its sensitivity was less than 0.06 N.

The Dynamics of Finite-Dimensional Systems Under Nonconservative Position Forces

Science.gov (United States)

Lobas, L. G.

2001-01-01

General theorems on the stability of stationary states of mechanical systems subjected to nonconservative position forces are presented. Specific mechanical problems on gyroscopic systems, a double-link pendulum with a follower force and elastically fixed upper tip, multilink pneumowheel vehicles, a monorail car, and rail-guided vehicles are analyzed. Methods for investigation of divergent bifurcations and catastrophes of stationary states are described

A simple polarized-based diffused reflectance colour imaging system

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A simple polarized-based diffuse reflectance imaging system has been developed. The system is designed for both in vivo and in vitro imaging of agricultural specimen in the visible region. The system uses a commercial web camera and a halogen lamp that makes it relatively simple and less expensive for diagnostic ...

Casimir force in O(n) systems with a diffuse interface.

Science.gov (United States)

Dantchev, Daniel; Grüneberg, Daniel

2009-04-01

We study the behavior of the Casimir force in O(n) systems with a diffuse interface and slab geometry infinity;{d-1}xL , where 2system. We consider a system with nearest-neighbor anisotropic interaction constants J_{ parallel} parallel to the film and J_{ perpendicular} across it. We argue that in such an anisotropic system the Casimir force, the free energy, and the helicity modulus will differ from those of the corresponding isotropic system, even at the bulk critical temperature, despite that these systems both belong to the same universality class. We suggest a relation between the scaling functions pertinent to the both systems. Explicit exact analytical results for the scaling functions, as a function of the temperature T , of the free energy density, Casimir force, and the helicity modulus are derived for the n-->infinity limit of O(n) models with antiperiodic boundary conditions applied along the finite dimension L of the film. We observe that the Casimir amplitude Delta_{Casimir}(dmid R:J_{ perpendicular},J_{ parallel}) of the anisotropic d -dimensional system is related to that of the isotropic system Delta_{Casimir}(d) via Delta_{Casimir}(dmid R:J_{ perpendicular},J_{ parallel})=(J_{ perpendicular}J_{ parallel});{(d-1)2}Delta_{Casimir}(d) . For d=3 we derive the exact Casimir amplitude Delta_{Casimir}(3,mid R:J_{ perpendicular},J_{ parallel})=[Cl_{2}(pi3)3-zeta(3)(6pi)](J_{ perpendicular}J_{ parallel}) , as well as the exact scaling functions of the Casimir force and of the helicity modulus Upsilon(T,L) . We obtain that beta_{c}Upsilon(T_{c},L)=(2pi;{2})[Cl_{2}(pi3)3+7zeta(3)(30pi)](J_{ perpendicular}J_{ parallel})L;{-1} , where T_{c} is the critical temperature of the bulk system. We find that the contributions in the excess free energy due to the existence of a diffuse interface result in a repulsive Casimir force in the whole temperature region.

Design, Modelling and Teleoperation of a 2 mm Diameter Compliant Instrument for the da Vinci Platform.

Science.gov (United States)

Francis, P; Eastwood, K W; Bodani, V; Looi, T; Drake, J M

2018-05-07

This work explores the feasibility of creating and accurately controlling an instrument for robotic surgery with a 2 mm diameter and a three degree-of-freedom (DoF) wrist which is compatible with the da Vinci platform. The instrument's wrist is composed of a two DoF bending notched-nitinol tube pattern, for which a kinematic model has been developed. A base mechanism for controlling the wrist is designed for integration with the da Vinci Research Kit. A basic teleoperation task is successfully performed using two of the miniature instruments. The performance and accuracy of the instrument suggest that creating and accurately controlling a 2 mm diameter instrument is feasible and the design and modelling proposed in this work provide a basis for future miniature instrument development.

Effect of the repulsive force in the HTSC-permanent magnet hybrid bearing system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohashi, S.; Kobayashi, S.

2009-01-01

Magnetic levitation using the pinning force of the YBaCuO high-T c bulk superconductor (HTSC) materials has an advantage to achieve stable levitation without control. To increase levitation force, the HTSC-permanent magnet hybrid magnetic bearing system is introduced. A circular shaped three phase Nd-Fe-B permanent magnet is installed on the rotor, and HTSC bulk superconductor is set on the stator. The additional permanent magnet is installed under the HTSC. Repulsive force of the permanent magnet is used for levitation, and pinning force between the HTSC and permanent magnet is used for guidance force of the bearing. In this system, relationship between permanent magnet and the HTSC is important. When repulsive force of the permanent magnet is large, pinning force of superconductor is used to keep the rotor position. As a result, stability for the lateral direction is decreased with hybrid system. For levitation force, effect of the hybrid system is not observed with column HTSC. Compared with the ring HTSC results, the following thing is considered. Because there is no space that flux of one permanent magnet acts on the other one with the column HTSC configuration, interaction between two permanent magnets becomes small.

EDDYTRAN program system for eddy current, electromagnetic force and structural analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kameari, A.; Nikura, S.

1983-01-01

A computer program system (EDDYTRAN), which is applicable to torus structures of magnetic fusion devices, has been developed to calculate the eddy current, electromagnetic force and structural analysis. The program system is designed to perform the following functions sequentially: 1) generation of model mesh and other data such as electromagnetic and mechanical properties of finite elements and boundary conditions, 2) calculations of eddy currents and electromagnetic forces, 3) transformation of the resultant force to load data fit to the structural analysis program, 4) structural analysis and 5) post-processing of the results. The EDDYTRAN utilizes the EDDYCUFF (EDDY CUrrent, magnetic Field and electromagnetic Force) program and the NASTRAN (NASA STRuctural ANalysis) program. Here, the EDDYCUFF program which has been developed by the authors is a generalized computer program to calculate transient eddy currents, resultant magnetic fields and electromagnetic forces in the conductive components. This paper describes the outline of the EDDYTRAN program system and preliminary results obtained through the application to the Tokamak reactor design which was performed for the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute

Reflective terahertz (THz) imaging: system calibration using hydration phantoms

Science.gov (United States)

Bajwa, Neha; Garritano, James; Lee, Yoon Kyung; Tewari, Priyamvada; Sung, Shijun; Maccabi, Ashkan; Nowroozi, Bryan; Babakhanian, Meghedi; Sanghvi, Sajan; Singh, Rahul; Grundfest, Warren; Taylor, Zachary

2013-02-01

Terahertz (THz) hydration sensing continues to gain traction in the medical imaging community due to its unparalleled sensitivity to tissue water content. Rapid and accurate detection of fluid shifts following induction of thermal skin burns as well as remote corneal hydration sensing have been previously demonstrated in vivo using reflective, pulsed THz imaging. The hydration contrast sensing capabilities of this technology were recently confirmed in a parallel 7 Tesla Magnetic Resonance (MR) imaging study, in which burn areas are associated with increases in local mobile water content. Successful clinical translation of THz sensing, however, still requires quantitative assessments of system performance measurements, specifically hydration concentration sensitivity, with tissue substitutes. This research aims to calibrate the sensitivity of a novel, reflective THz system to tissue water content through the use of hydration phantoms for quantitative comparisons of THz hydration imagery.Gelatin phantoms were identified as an appropriate tissue-mimicking model for reflective THz applications, and gel composition, comprising mixtures of water and protein, was varied between 83% to 95% hydration, a physiologically relevant range. A comparison of four series of gelatin phantom studies demonstrated a positive linear relationship between THz reflectivity and water concentration, with statistically significant hydration sensitivities (p hydration). The THz-phantom interaction is simulated with a three-layer model using the Transfer Matrix Method with agreement in hydration trends. Having demonstrated the ability to accurately and noninvasively measure water content in tissue equivalent targets with high sensitivity, reflective THz imaging is explored as a potential tool for early detection and intervention of corneal pathologies.

Medical telerobotic systems: current status and future trends.

Science.gov (United States)

Avgousti, Sotiris; Christoforou, Eftychios G; Panayides, Andreas S; Voskarides, Sotos; Novales, Cyril; Nouaille, Laurence; Pattichis, Constantinos S; Vieyres, Pierre

2016-08-12

Teleoperated medical robotic systems allow procedures such as surgeries, treatments, and diagnoses to be conducted across short or long distances while utilizing wired and/or wireless communication networks. This study presents a systematic review of the relevant literature between the years 2004 and 2015, focusing on medical teleoperated robotic systems which have witnessed tremendous growth over the examined period. A thorough insight of telerobotics systems discussing design concepts, enabling technologies (namely robotic manipulation, telecommunications, and vision systems), and potential applications in clinical practice is provided, while existing limitations and future trends are also highlighted. A representative paradigm of the short-distance case is the da Vinci Surgical System which is described in order to highlight relevant issues. The long-distance telerobotics concept is exemplified through a case study on diagnostic ultrasound scanning. Moreover, the present review provides a classification into short- and long-distance telerobotic systems, depending on the distance from which they are operated. Telerobotic systems are further categorized with respect to their application field. For the reviewed systems are also examined their engineering characteristics and the employed robotics technology. The current status of the field, its significance, the potential, as well as the challenges that lie ahead are thoroughly discussed.

Detection of forced oscillations in power systems with multichannel methods

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Follum, James D. [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

2015-09-30

The increasing availability of high fidelity, geographically dispersed measurements in power systems improves the ability of researchers and engineers to study dynamic behaviors in the grid. One such behavior that is garnering increased attention is the presence of forced oscillations. Power system engineers are interested in forced oscillations because they are often symptomatic of the malfunction or misoperation of equipment. Though the resulting oscillation is not always large in amplitude, the root cause may be serious. In this report, multi-channel forced oscillation detection methods are developed. These methods leverage previously developed detection approaches based on the periodogram and spectral-coherence. Making use of geographically distributed channels of data is shown to improved detection performance and shorten the delay before an oscillation can be detected in the online environment. Results from simulated and measured power system data are presented.

Reducing Fatigue Loading Due to Pressure Shift in Discrete Fluid Power Force Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Anders Hedegaard; Pedersen, Henrik Clemmensen

2016-01-01

power force system. The current paper investigates the correlation between pressure oscillations in the cylinder chambers and valve flow in the manifold. Furthermore, the correlation between the pressure shifting time and the pressure overshoot is investigated. The study therefore focus on how to shape......Discrete Fluid Power Force Systems is one of the topologies gaining focus in the pursuit of lowering energy losses in fluid power transmission systems. The cylinder based Fluid Power Force System considered in this article is constructed with a multi-chamber cylinder, a number of constant pressure...... oscillations in the cylinder chamber, especially for systems with long connections between the cylinder and the valve manifold. Hose pressure oscillations will induce oscillations in the produced piston force. Hence, pressure oscillations may increase the fatigue loading on systems employing a discrete fluid...

Ultrasound power measurements of HITU transducer with a more stable radiation force balance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karaboece, B; Sadiko'lu, E; Bilgic, E

2011-01-01

A new radiation force balance (RFB) system was established at Turkish National Metrology Institute (UME) Ultrasonics Laboratory for High intensity therapeutic ultrasound (HITU) power measurements. The new system is highly stable at high power levels up to 500 Watts. The measurement system consists of a Plexiglas cylindrical balance arm, target mounting scale disks, conical reflecting and absorbing targets, adjustment nuts, and a hanging wire. Both of the two sides of balance were mounted similar size and weight targets. The equilibrium of the balance arm can be adjusted with nuts on screws located at both sides of the balance arm. Transducer was mounted to bottom of water tank. Absorbers in the bottom and the near walls of the tank were used for reflecting target case. Ultrasound power was applied to one scale of the balance where the reflecting/absorbing target was mounted and corresponding force was measured on the other scale of balance where was connected to a balance with a thin wire while the thin rest standing on a support. Ultrasound power of two HITU transducers at frequencies 0.93 MHz, 1.1 MHz and 3.3 MHz were measured with conventional and new system, the values were compared and uncertainty components were assessed in this paper.

Ultrasound power measurements of HITU transducer with a more stable radiation force balance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Karaboece, B; Sadiko' lu, E; Bilgic, E, E-mail: baki.karaboce@ume.tubitak.gov.t [Tuebitak Ulusal Metroloji Enstituesue (UME), P.K. 54 41470 Gebze-Kocaeli (Turkey)

2011-02-01

A new radiation force balance (RFB) system was established at Turkish National Metrology Institute (UME) Ultrasonics Laboratory for High intensity therapeutic ultrasound (HITU) power measurements. The new system is highly stable at high power levels up to 500 Watts. The measurement system consists of a Plexiglas cylindrical balance arm, target mounting scale disks, conical reflecting and absorbing targets, adjustment nuts, and a hanging wire. Both of the two sides of balance were mounted similar size and weight targets. The equilibrium of the balance arm can be adjusted with nuts on screws located at both sides of the balance arm. Transducer was mounted to bottom of water tank. Absorbers in the bottom and the near walls of the tank were used for reflecting target case. Ultrasound power was applied to one scale of the balance where the reflecting/absorbing target was mounted and corresponding force was measured on the other scale of balance where was connected to a balance with a thin wire while the thin rest standing on a support. Ultrasound power of two HITU transducers at frequencies 0.93 MHz, 1.1 MHz and 3.3 MHz were measured with conventional and new system, the values were compared and uncertainty components were assessed in this paper.

Costing for the Future: Exploring Cost Estimation With Unmanned Autonomous Systems

Science.gov (United States)

2016-04-30

country terrain. Control modes include tethered , radio control, teleoperation (NLOS and BLOS), supervised autonomy, and voice command. TRL level is 7–9...Technology Conference and Balloon Systems Conference. Acknowledgments This material is based upon work supported by the Naval Postgraduate School

Joint force protection advanced security system (JFPASS) "the future of force protection: integrate and automate"

Science.gov (United States)

Lama, Carlos E.; Fagan, Joe E.

2009-09-01

The United States Department of Defense (DoD) defines 'force protection' as "preventive measures taken to mitigate hostile actions against DoD personnel (to include family members), resources, facilities, and critical information." Advanced technologies enable significant improvements in automating and distributing situation awareness, optimizing operator time, and improving sustainability, which enhance protection and lower costs. The JFPASS Joint Capability Technology Demonstration (JCTD) demonstrates a force protection environment that combines physical security and Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosive (CBRNE) defense through the application of integrated command and control and data fusion. The JFPASS JCTD provides a layered approach to force protection by integrating traditional sensors used in physical security, such as video cameras, battlefield surveillance radars, unmanned and unattended ground sensors. The optimization of human participation and automation of processes is achieved by employment of unmanned ground vehicles, along with remotely operated lethal and less-than-lethal weapon systems. These capabilities are integrated via a tailorable, user-defined common operational picture display through a data fusion engine operating in the background. The combined systems automate the screening of alarms, manage the information displays, and provide assessment and response measures. The data fusion engine links disparate sensors and systems, and applies tailored logic to focus the assessment of events. It enables timely responses by providing the user with automated and semi-automated decision support tools. The JFPASS JCTD uses standard communication/data exchange protocols, which allow the system to incorporate future sensor technologies or communication networks, while maintaining the ability to communicate with legacy or existing systems.

Particle reflection along the magnetic field in nonlinear magnetosonic pulses

Science.gov (United States)

Ohsawa, Yukiharu

2017-11-01

Reflection of electrons and positrons in oblique, nonlinear magnetosonic pulses is theoretically analyzed. With the use of the parallel pseudo potential F, which is the integral of the parallel electric field along the magnetic field, a simple equation for reflection conditions is derived, which shows that reflection along the magnetic field is caused by two forces: one arising from the parallel pseudo potential multiplied by the particle charge and the other from the magnetic mirror effect. The two forces push electrons in the opposite directions. In compressive solitons, in which the magnetic field is intensified, electrons with large magnetic moments can be reflected by the magnetic mirror effect, whereas in rarefactive solitons, in which the magnetic field is weaker than outside, electrons with small magnetic moments can be reflected by the parallel pseudo potential. Although F is basically positive and large in shock waves, it occasionally becomes negative in some regions behind the shock front in nonstationary wave evolution. These negative spikes of F can reflect electrons. In contrast to the case of electrons, the two forces push positrons in the same direction. For this reason, compressive solitons in an electron-positron-ion plasma reflect a large fraction of positrons compared with electrons, whereas rarefactive solitons will reflect no positrons. A shock wave can reflect a majority of positrons with its large F. However, in a pure electron-positron plasma, in which F becomes zero, positron reflection will rarely occur.

Composting of tobacco plant waste by manual turning and forced aeration system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nonglak Saithep

2009-05-01

Full Text Available The efficiency of tobacco plant waste composting, by the manual turning and the forced aeration system, was compared. Tobacco plant waste, cow manure, urea fertiliser, and a compost inoculum mixture at a 100:10:0.2:0.01 ratio respectively, with 60% (w/v moisture content, were set up in piling forms. The piles of the manual turning system were provided with turning aeration by hand at intervals of 7 days during the composting process. For the forced aeration system, each pile was aerated by a 3-HP air pump with a flow rate of 19 litres min-1 for 15 minutes every morning and evening. The completely randomised design of turned and force-aerated piles was performed in triplicate. The composting activity of both systems during the composting period was measured by several parameters: temperature, pH, moisture content, C/N ratio, growth of microorganisms, cellulase activity, and nicotine degradation in the set-up piles. Both systems had similar temperature, pH, and moisture content conditions in the piles during the composting process. However, the forced aeration system was more advantageous for the growth of mesophilic and thermophilic microorganisms, for cellulase activity from cellulase-producing microorganisms, and for nicotine degradation, when compared to the manual turning system. In conclusion, the forced aeration system was more efficient than the manual turning system in composting and is a viable alternative method for the composting process.

Real-Time Obstacle Avoidance for Telerobotic Systems Based on Equipotential Surface

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xin Li

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Redundant manipulators offer a dual advantage of flexibility and dexterity and can be used in many civilian and military areas. However, operating such systems by teleoperation is challenging because of the redundancy and unstructured task environment, which result in the human operator suffering a huge burden when telemanipulator is facing the complicated obstacles. The existing methods usually use some off-line algorithms to solve the problem of obstacle avoidance. It is difficult for them to meet the requirements of real-time teleoperation in some unknown environment. This paper presents an on-line method for a telerobotic system to take advantage of redundancy to avoid obstacle, which is based on real-time sensor information. With this method, the human operator can focus attention on the end-effector operation regardless of the obstacle avoidance of other parts. The effectiveness and advantage of the method are well demonstrated by experiments.

Comparison of the initial orthodontic force systems produced by a new lingual bracket system and a straight-wire appliance.

Science.gov (United States)

Fuck, Lars-Michael; Wiechmann, Dirk; Drescher, Dieter

2005-09-01

Over the last few years, lingual appliances have become an established orthodontic treatment technique. Many studies have concentrated on various esthetic aspects, on laboratory and clinical procedures, and on patient comfort and compliance. The orthodontic force systems of these appliances, however, have not yet been investigated. The aim of this study was thus to determine the forces and moments produced by a new lingual bracket system during the leveling phase of orthodontic treatment and to compare those with the corresponding force system of a labial straight-wire appliance. The intra-oral situation of ten patients undergoing orthodontic treatment was replicated in measurement casts fitted with lingual and labial brackets. Special care was taken to precisely reproduce each patient's interbracket geometry. We measured each tooth's force systems as generated by a leveling arch inserted into the lingual and labial brackets. The resulting force systems of both appliances were found to be quite similar with regard to the magnitude of most force and moment components. Only the first molars were subjected to considerably greater single forces with the lingual appliance. Tipping moments were found to be significantly smaller with the lingual technique, whereas the rotational moments were significantly smaller with the labial appliance. All in all we noted significant differences between the two techniques only in certain areas which upon closer examination were distributed over only a few tooth types. The initial force systems produced by the new lingual bracket system proved to be comparable with those delivered by a conventional straight-wire appliance. The actual levels of forces and moments, however, were found in certain cases to be too heavy with both techniques. We therefore recommend the development of leveling wires producing considerably lighter forces and moments.

Optical pulling force and conveyor belt effect in resonator-waveguide system.

Science.gov (United States)

Intaraprasonk, Varat; Fan, Shanhui

2013-09-01

We present the theoretical condition and actual numerical design that achieves an optical pulling force in resonator-waveguide systems, where the direction of the force on the resonator is in the opposite direction to the input light in the waveguide. We also show that this pulling force can occur in conjunction with the lateral optical equilibrium effect, such that the resonator is maintained at the fixed distance from the waveguide while experiencing the pulling force.

Meshing Force of Misaligned Spline Coupling and the Influence on Rotor System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guang Zhao

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Meshing force of misaligned spline coupling is derived, dynamic equation of rotor-spline coupling system is established based on finite element analysis, the influence of meshing force on rotor-spline coupling system is simulated by numerical integral method. According to the theoretical analysis, meshing force of spline coupling is related to coupling parameters, misalignment, transmitting torque, static misalignment, dynamic vibration displacement, and so on. The meshing force increases nonlinearly with increasing the spline thickness and static misalignment or decreasing alignment meshing distance (AMD. Stiffness of coupling relates to dynamic vibration displacement, and static misalignment is not a constant. Dynamic behaviors of rotor-spline coupling system reveal the following: 1X-rotating speed is the main response frequency of system when there is no misalignment; while 2X-rotating speed appears when misalignment is present. Moreover, when misalignment increases, vibration of the system gets intricate; shaft orbit departs from origin, and magnitudes of all frequencies increase. Research results can provide important criterions on both optimization design of spline coupling and trouble shooting of rotor systems.

Unmanned aerial system nadir reflectance and MODIS nadir BRDF-adjusted surface reflectances intercompared over Greenland

Science.gov (United States)

Faulkner Burkhart, John; Kylling, Arve; Schaaf, Crystal B.; Wang, Zhuosen; Bogren, Wiley; Storvold, Rune; Solbø, Stian; Pedersen, Christina A.; Gerland, Sebastian

2017-07-01

Albedo is a fundamental parameter in earth sciences, and many analyses utilize the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF)/albedo (MCD43) algorithms. While derivative albedo products have been evaluated over Greenland, we present a novel, direct comparison with nadir surface reflectance collected from an unmanned aerial system (UAS). The UAS was flown from Summit, Greenland, on 210 km transects coincident with the MODIS sensor overpass on board the Aqua and Terra satellites on 5 and 6 August 2010. Clear-sky acquisitions were available from the overpasses within 2 h of the UAS flights. The UAS was equipped with upward- and downward-looking spectrometers (300-920 nm) with a spectral resolution of 10 nm, allowing for direct integration into the MODIS bands 1, 3, and 4. The data provide a unique opportunity to directly compare UAS nadir reflectance with the MODIS nadir BRDF-adjusted surface reflectance (NBAR) products. The data show UAS measurements are slightly higher than the MODIS NBARs for all bands but agree within their stated uncertainties. Differences in variability are observed as expected due to different footprints of the platforms. The UAS data demonstrate potentially large sub-pixel variability of MODIS reflectance products and the potential to explore this variability using the UAS as a platform. It is also found that, even at the low elevations flown typically by a UAS, reflectance measurements may be influenced by haze if present at and/or below the flight altitude of the UAS. This impact could explain some differences between data from the two platforms and should be considered in any use of airborne platforms.

Force analysis of linear induction motor for magnetic levitation system

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kuijpers, A.A.; Nemlioglu, C.; Sahin, F.; Verdel, A.J.D.; Compter, J.C.; Lomonova, E.

2010-01-01

This paper presents the analyses of thrust and normal forces of linear induction motor (LIM) segments which are implemented in a rotating ring system. To obtain magnetic levitation in a cost effective and sustainable way, decoupled control of thrust and normal forces is required. This study includes

Evaluation of the attractive force of different types of new-generation magnetic attachment systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Akin, Hakan; Coskun, M Emre; Akin, E Gulsah; Ozdemir, A Kemal

2011-03-01

Rare earth magnets have been used in prosthodontics, but their tendency for corrosion in the oral cavity and insufficient attractive forces limit long-term clinical application. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the attractive force of different types of new-generation magnetic attachment systems. The attractive force of the neodymium-iron-boron (Nd-Fe-B) and samarium-cobalt (Sm-Co) magnetic attachment systems, including closed-field (Hilop and Hicorex) and open-field (Dyna and Steco) systems, was measured in a universal testing machine (n=5). The data were statistically evaluated with 1-way ANOVA and post hoc Tukey-Kramer multiple comparison test (α=.05). The closed-field systems exhibited greater (Pattractive force than the open-field systems. Moreover, there was a statistically significant difference in attractive force between Nd-Fe-B and Sm-Co magnets (Pattractive force was found with the Hilop system (9.2 N), and the lowest force was found with the Steco system (2.3 N). The new generation of Nd-Fe-B closed-field magnets, along with improved technology, provides sufficient denture retention for clinical application. Copyright © 2011 The Editorial Council of the Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Measuring system and method of determining the Adaptive Force

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura Schaefer

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The term Adaptive Force (AF describes the capability of adaptation of the nerve-muscle-system to externally applied forces during isometric and eccentric muscle action. This ability plays an important role in real life motions as well as in sports. The focus of this paper is on the specific measurement method of this neuromuscular action, which can be seen as innovative. A measuring system based on the use of compressed air was constructed and evaluated for this neuromuscular function. It depends on the physical conditions of the subject, at which force level it deviates from the quasi isometric position and merges into eccentric muscle action. The device enables – in contrast to the isokinetic systems – a measure of strength without forced motion. Evaluation of the scientific quality criteria of the devices was done by measurements regarding the intra- and interrater-, the test-retest-reliability and fatiguing measurements. Comparisons of the pneumatic device with a dynamometer were also done. Looking at the mechanical evaluation, the results show a high level of consistency (r²=0.94 to 0.96. The parallel test reliability delivers a very high and significant correlation (ρ=0.976; p=0.000. Including the biological system, the concordance of three different raters is very high (p=0.001, Cronbachs alpha α=0.987. The test retest with 4 subjects over five weeks speaks for the reliability of the device in showing no statistically significant differences. These evaluations indicate that the scientific evaluation criteria are fulfilled. The specific feature of this system is that an isometric position can be maintained while the externally impacting force rises. Moreover, the device can capture concentric, static and eccentric strength values. Fields of application are performance diagnostics in sports and medicine.

Developing Tele-Operated Laboratories for Manufacturing Engineering Education. Platform for E-Learning and Telemetric Experimentation (PeTEX

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Erman Tekkaya

2010-09-01

Full Text Available The aim of the PeTEX-project is to establish an e-Learning platform for the development, implementation, and delivery of educational training programs in the field of manufacturing engineering. The PeTEX team designs both: a technical platform for eLearning based on “Moodle” including distributed tele-operated experimentation facilities, and didactic and socio-technical requirements for a successful online learning community. User interfaces are deployed for remote access to instruments, data analysis and multiplexed data access via network protocols. Hence, the platform provides complex tools in order to perform various activities to support the educational process, from telemetric experimentation to virtual project groups for an entire community to the purpose of domain specific learning. This paper describes important steps of interdisciplinary participatory design and development of a remote lab-prototype in the field of manufacturing engineering.

Direct Reflectance Measurements from Drones: Sensor Absolute Radiometric Calibration and System Tests for Forest Reflectance Characterization

Science.gov (United States)

Hakala, Teemu; Scott, Barry; Theocharous, Theo; Näsi, Roope; Suomalainen, Juha; Greenwell, Claire; Fox, Nigel

2018-01-01

Drone-based remote sensing has evolved rapidly in recent years. Miniaturized hyperspectral imaging sensors are becoming more common as they provide more abundant information of the object compared to traditional cameras. Reflectance is a physically defined object property and therefore often preferred output of the remote sensing data capture to be used in the further processes. Absolute calibration of the sensor provides a possibility for physical modelling of the imaging process and enables efficient procedures for reflectance correction. Our objective is to develop a method for direct reflectance measurements for drone-based remote sensing. It is based on an imaging spectrometer and irradiance spectrometer. This approach is highly attractive for many practical applications as it does not require in situ reflectance panels for converting the sensor radiance to ground reflectance factors. We performed SI-traceable spectral and radiance calibration of a tuneable Fabry-Pérot Interferometer -based (FPI) hyperspectral camera at the National Physical Laboratory NPL (Teddington, UK). The camera represents novel technology by collecting 2D format hyperspectral image cubes using time sequential spectral scanning principle. The radiance accuracy of different channels varied between ±4% when evaluated using independent test data, and linearity of the camera response was on average 0.9994. The spectral response calibration showed side peaks on several channels that were due to the multiple orders of interference of the FPI. The drone-based direct reflectance measurement system showed promising results with imagery collected over Wytham Forest (Oxford, UK). PMID:29751560

Direct Reflectance Measurements from Drones: Sensor Absolute Radiometric Calibration and System Tests for Forest Reflectance Characterization.

Science.gov (United States)

Hakala, Teemu; Markelin, Lauri; Honkavaara, Eija; Scott, Barry; Theocharous, Theo; Nevalainen, Olli; Näsi, Roope; Suomalainen, Juha; Viljanen, Niko; Greenwell, Claire; Fox, Nigel

2018-05-03

Drone-based remote sensing has evolved rapidly in recent years. Miniaturized hyperspectral imaging sensors are becoming more common as they provide more abundant information of the object compared to traditional cameras. Reflectance is a physically defined object property and therefore often preferred output of the remote sensing data capture to be used in the further processes. Absolute calibration of the sensor provides a possibility for physical modelling of the imaging process and enables efficient procedures for reflectance correction. Our objective is to develop a method for direct reflectance measurements for drone-based remote sensing. It is based on an imaging spectrometer and irradiance spectrometer. This approach is highly attractive for many practical applications as it does not require in situ reflectance panels for converting the sensor radiance to ground reflectance factors. We performed SI-traceable spectral and radiance calibration of a tuneable Fabry-Pérot Interferometer -based (FPI) hyperspectral camera at the National Physical Laboratory NPL (Teddington, UK). The camera represents novel technology by collecting 2D format hyperspectral image cubes using time sequential spectral scanning principle. The radiance accuracy of different channels varied between ±4% when evaluated using independent test data, and linearity of the camera response was on average 0.9994. The spectral response calibration showed side peaks on several channels that were due to the multiple orders of interference of the FPI. The drone-based direct reflectance measurement system showed promising results with imagery collected over Wytham Forest (Oxford, UK).

Giving the force direction : Analysis of speed skater push off forces with respect to an inertial coordinate system

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Kruk, E.; van der Helm, F.C.T.; Schwab, A.L.; Veeger, H.E.J.

2016-01-01

Pushoff in speed skating requires an extensive motion strategy. During speed skating the skater continuously changes the lean and steering angle of the skate and therewith the direction of push-off, The forces in an inertial coordinate system can give insight into what amount of the push-off force

Quantitative study of FORC diagrams in thermally corrected Stoner– Wohlfarth nanoparticles systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Biasi, E.; Curiale, J.; Zysler, R.D.

2016-01-01

The use of FORC diagrams is becoming increasingly popular among researchers devoted to magnetism and magnetic materials. However, a thorough interpretation of this kind of diagrams, in order to achieve quantitative information, requires an appropriate model of the studied system. For that reason most of the FORC studies are used for a qualitative analysis. In magnetic systems thermal fluctuations 'blur' the signatures of the anisotropy, volume and particle interactions distributions, therefore thermal effects in nanoparticles systems conspire against a proper interpretation and analysis of these diagrams. Motivated by this fact, we have quantitatively studied the degree of accuracy of the information extracted from FORC diagrams for the special case of single-domain thermal corrected Stoner– Wohlfarth (easy axes along the external field orientation) nanoparticles systems. In this work, the starting point is an analytical model that describes the behavior of a magnetic nanoparticles system as a function of field, anisotropy, temperature and measurement time. In order to study the quantitative degree of accuracy of our model, we built FORC diagrams for different archetypical cases of magnetic nanoparticles. Our results show that from the quantitative information obtained from the diagrams, under the hypotheses of the proposed model, is possible to recover the features of the original system with accuracy above 95%. This accuracy is improved at low temperatures and also it is possible to access to the anisotropy distribution directly from the FORC coercive field profile. Indeed, our simulations predict that the volume distribution plays a secondary role being the mean value and its deviation the only important parameters. Therefore it is possible to obtain an accurate result for the inversion and interaction fields despite the features of the volume distribution. - Highlights: • Quantify the degree of accuracy of the information obtained using the FORC diagrams. �

Experimental StudyHigh Altitude Forced Convective Cooling of Electromechanical Actuation Systems

Science.gov (United States)

2016-01-01

34 Massachusetts Institute of Technology , 1989. [3] FedBizOps.Gov, " Integrated Vehicle Energy Technology (INVENT) Development Program for the 6th...AFRL-RQ-WP-TR-2016-0043 EXPERIMENTAL STUDY—HIGH ALTITUDE FORCED CONVECTIVE COOLING OF ELECTROMECHANICAL ACTUATION SYSTEMS Evan M. Racine...TITLE AND SUBTITLE EXPERIMENTAL STUDY—HIGH ALTITUDE FORCED CONVECTIVE COOLING OF ELECTROMECHANICAL ACTUATION SYSTEMS 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER In-house

Identification of Motive Forces on the Whole Body System during Walking

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raghdan J. AlKhoury

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Motive forces by muscles are applied to different parts of the human body in a periodic fashion when walking at a uniform rate. In this study, the whole human body is modeled as a multidegree of freedom (MDOF system with seven degrees of freedom. In view of the changing contact conditions with the ground due to alternating feet movements, the system under study is considered piecewise time invariant for each half-period when one foot is in contact with the ground. Forces transmitted from the body to the ground while walking at a normal pace are experimentally measured and numerically simulated. Fourth-order Runge-Kutta method is employed to numerically simulate the forces acting on different masses of the body. An optimization problem is formulated with the squared difference between the measured and simulated forces transmitted to the ground as the objective function, and the motive forces on the body masses as the design variables to solve.

Forced vibration of nonlinear system with symmetrical piecewise-linear characteristics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Watanabe, Takeshi

1983-01-01

It is fairly difficult to treat exactly the analysis of a vibrating system including some play because it is accompanied by a strong nonlinear phenomenon of collision. The author attempted the theoretical analysis by the exact solution using series solution and the approximate solution, treating the forced vibration of a system having some play as the forced vibration of a continuous system with nonlinear boundary condition or the colliding vibration of a continuum. In this report, the problem of such system with play is treated as a nonlinear system having the symmetrical, piecewise linear characteristics of one degree of freedom. That is, it is considered that at the time of collision due to play, the collided body causes the deformation accompanied by triangular hystersis elastically and plastically, and the spring characteristics of restitution force change piecewise by the collision. The exact solution using series solution and the approximate solution are performed, and the effectiveness of these theoretical solutions is confirmed by comparing with the solution using an analog computer. The relation between the accuracy of two analysis methods and nonlinear parameters is shown by the examples of numerical calculation. (Kako, I.)

Force fields of charged particles in micro-nanofluidic preconcentration systems

Science.gov (United States)

Gong, Lingyan; Ouyang, Wei; Li, Zirui; Han, Jongyoon

2017-12-01

Electrokinetic concentration devices based on the ion concentration polarization (ICP) phenomenon have drawn much attention due to their simple setup, high enrichment factor, and easy integration with many subsequent processes, such as separation, reaction, and extraction etc. Despite significant progress in the experimental research, fundamental understanding and detailed modeling of the preconcentration systems is still lacking. The mechanism of the electrokinetic trapping of charged particles is currently limited to the force balance analysis between the electric force and fluid drag force in an over-simplified one-dimensional (1D) model, which misses many signatures of the actual system. This letter studies the particle trapping phenomena that are not explainable in the 1D model through the calculation of the two-dimensional (2D) force fields. The trapping of charged particles is shown to significantly distort the electric field and fluid flow pattern, which in turn leads to the different trapping behaviors of particles of different sizes. The mechanisms behind the protrusions and instability of the focused band, which are important factors determining overall preconcentration efficiency, are revealed through analyzing the rotating fluxes of particles in the vicinity of the ion-selective membrane. The differences in the enrichment factors of differently sized particles are understood through the interplay between the electric force and convective fluid flow. These results provide insights into the electrokinetic concentration effect, which could facilitate the design and optimization of ICP-based preconcentration systems.

Giving the force direction: Analysis of speed skater push off forces with respect to an inertial coordinate system

OpenAIRE

van der Kruk, E.; van der Helm, F.C.T.; Schwab, A.L.; Veeger, H.E.J.

2016-01-01

Pushoff in speed skating requires an extensive motion strategy. During speed skating the skater continuously changes the lean and steering angle of the skate and therewith the direction of push-off, The forces in an inertial coordinate system can give insight into what amount of the push-off force is directed into the forward motion. In this paper we present the preliminary results of a study on the global forces in speed skating. From a mechanical viewpoint, increasing the lean angle of the ...

Intensifying the Casimir force between two silicon substrates within three different layers of materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seyedzahedi, A.; Moradian, A.; Setare, M.R.

2016-01-01

We investigate the Casimir force for a system composed of two thick slabs as substrates within three different homogeneous layers. We use the scattering approach along with the Matsubara formalism in order to calculate the Casimir force at finite temperature. First, we focus on constructing the reflection matrices and then we calculate the Casimir force for a water–lipid system. According to the conventional use of silicon as a substrate, we apply the formalism to calculate the Casimir force for layers of Au, VO 2 , mica, KCl and foam rubber on the thick slabs of silicon. Afterwards, introducing an increasing factor, we compare our results with Lifshitz force in the vacuum between two semispaces of silicon in order to illustrate the influence of the layers on intensifying the Casimir force. We also calculate the Casimir force between two slabs of the forementioned materials with finite thicknesses to indicate the substrate's role in increasing the obtained Casimir force. Our simple calculation is interesting since one can extend it along with the Rigorous Coupled Wave Analysis to systems containing inhomogeneous layers as good candidates for designing nanomechanical devices.

Intensifying the Casimir force between two silicon substrates within three different layers of materials

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Seyedzahedi, A. [Department of Science, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Moradian, A., E-mail: a.moradian@uok.ac.ir [Department of Science, Campus of Bijar, University of Kurdistan, Bijar (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Setare, M.R., E-mail: rezakord@ipm.ir [Department of Science, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2016-04-01

We investigate the Casimir force for a system composed of two thick slabs as substrates within three different homogeneous layers. We use the scattering approach along with the Matsubara formalism in order to calculate the Casimir force at finite temperature. First, we focus on constructing the reflection matrices and then we calculate the Casimir force for a water–lipid system. According to the conventional use of silicon as a substrate, we apply the formalism to calculate the Casimir force for layers of Au, VO{sub 2}, mica, KCl and foam rubber on the thick slabs of silicon. Afterwards, introducing an increasing factor, we compare our results with Lifshitz force in the vacuum between two semispaces of silicon in order to illustrate the influence of the layers on intensifying the Casimir force. We also calculate the Casimir force between two slabs of the forementioned materials with finite thicknesses to indicate the substrate's role in increasing the obtained Casimir force. Our simple calculation is interesting since one can extend it along with the Rigorous Coupled Wave Analysis to systems containing inhomogeneous layers as good candidates for designing nanomechanical devices.

Effects of realistic force feedback in a robotic assisted minimally invasive surgery system.

Science.gov (United States)

Moradi Dalvand, Mohsen; Shirinzadeh, Bijan; Nahavandi, Saeid; Smith, Julian

2014-06-01

Robotic assisted minimally invasive surgery systems not only have the advantages of traditional laparoscopic procedures but also restore the surgeon's hand-eye coordination and improve the surgeon's precision by filtering hand tremors. Unfortunately, these benefits have come at the expense of the surgeon's ability to feel. Several research efforts have already attempted to restore this feature and study the effects of force feedback in robotic systems. The proposed methods and studies have some shortcomings. The main focus of this research is to overcome some of these limitations and to study the effects of force feedback in palpation in a more realistic fashion. A parallel robot assisted minimally invasive surgery system (PRAMiSS) with force feedback capabilities was employed to study the effects of realistic force feedback in palpation of artificial tissue samples. PRAMiSS is capable of actually measuring the tip/tissue interaction forces directly from the surgery site. Four sets of experiments using only vision feedback, only force feedback, simultaneous force and vision feedback and direct manipulation were conducted to evaluate the role of sensory feedback from sideways tip/tissue interaction forces with a scale factor of 100% in characterising tissues of varying stiffness. Twenty human subjects were involved in the experiments for at least 1440 trials. Friedman and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were employed to statistically analyse the experimental results. Providing realistic force feedback in robotic assisted surgery systems improves the quality of tissue characterization procedures. Force feedback capability also increases the certainty of characterizing soft tissues compared with direct palpation using the lateral sides of index fingers. The force feedback capability can improve the quality of palpation and characterization of soft tissues of varying stiffness by restoring sense of touch in robotic assisted minimally invasive surgery operations.

Development of a teleoperated backhoe for buried waste excavation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burks, B.L.; Killough, S.M.; Thompson, D.H.

1992-01-01

For nearly five decades the United States (US) Department of Energy (DOE) and its predecessor agencies have engaged in broad-based research and development activities as well as nuclear weapons component production. As a by-product of these activities, large quantities of waste materials have been granted. One of the most common approaches used for solid waste storage was to bury waste containers in pits and trenches. With the current emphasis on environmental restoration, DOE now plans to either retrieve much of the legacy of buried waste or stabilize the waste in place via in situ vitrification or other means. Because of the variety of materials that have been buried over the years, the hazards of retrieval are significant if performed using conventional manned operations. The potential hazards, in addition to radiation exposure, include pyrophorics, toxic chemicals, and explosives. Although manifests exist for much of the buried waste, these records are often incomplete compared to today's requirements. Because of the potential hazards and uncertainty about waste contents and container integrity, it is highly desirable to excavate these wastes using remotely operated equipment. In this paper the authors describe the development of a teleoperated military tractor called the Small Emplacement Excavator (SEE). Development of the SEE is being funded jointly by both DOE and the US Army. The DOE sponsor is the Office of Technology Development (OTD) Robotics Program. The US Army sponsor is the Program Manager for Ammunition Logistics, Picatinny Arsenal. The primary interest for DOE is in the application to remote excavation of buried waste, while the primary emphasis for the US Army is in the remote retrieval of unexploded ordnance. Technical requirements for these two tasks are very similar and, therefore, justify a joint development project. 1 ref

A methodology for controlling motion and constraint forces in holonomically constrained systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sapio, Vincent De; Srinivasa, Narayan

2015-01-01

Holonomic constraints are ubiquitous in multibody systems. We present an approach to effectively address the control of holonomically constrained systems using a novel decomposition of task, constraint, and posture space. In addition to providing a natural approach for motion control in the presence of constraints, this scheme also allows for concurrent specification of desired constraint forces, given sufficient actuation. It does this by exposing both motion coordinates and constraint forces within the control formalism, allowing for substantial flexibility in control synthesis. Implementations are presented based on a partitioning of the constraint forces into controlled and uncontrolled subsets, as well as a specification of implicit conditions on the constraint forces. A number of examples demonstrate the practical efficacy of the approach. Finally, a system-level methodology for constraint management during robot interactions with the environment is presented

A methodology for controlling motion and constraint forces in holonomically constrained systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sapio, Vincent De, E-mail: vdesapio@hrl.com; Srinivasa, Narayan, E-mail: nsrinivasa@hrl.com [HRL Laboratories, LLC, Information and Systems Sciences Laboratory (United States)

2015-02-15

Holonomic constraints are ubiquitous in multibody systems. We present an approach to effectively address the control of holonomically constrained systems using a novel decomposition of task, constraint, and posture space. In addition to providing a natural approach for motion control in the presence of constraints, this scheme also allows for concurrent specification of desired constraint forces, given sufficient actuation. It does this by exposing both motion coordinates and constraint forces within the control formalism, allowing for substantial flexibility in control synthesis. Implementations are presented based on a partitioning of the constraint forces into controlled and uncontrolled subsets, as well as a specification of implicit conditions on the constraint forces. A number of examples demonstrate the practical efficacy of the approach. Finally, a system-level methodology for constraint management during robot interactions with the environment is presented.

The Development of a Scientific Evaluation System of Force-on-Force (FOF) Exercise for Performance-based Regulation in Nuclear Security

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Koh, Moonsung; Jung, Myungtak [Korea Institute of Nuclear Nonproliferation and Control, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2015-05-15

A terrorist attack or sabotage at a nuclear facility could lead result in a great amount of loss of life and social chaos, in addition to serious radiological damage. As threats have been evolved more intelligent, divergent, advanced, the international societies including IAEA encourage for all member states to establish the performance-based regulation using Forceon- Force (FOF) exercise, computer simulation. Consequently, the performance evaluation for physical protection at nuclear facilities should focus on properly reacting to threat scenarios. Physical protection should also include detecting, blocking, delaying, interrupting including the human and technical factors the adversary having malicious intention of the realistic main threat element before he accomplishes the goal based on Design Basis Threat (DBT). After the completion of the FOF evaluation system, KINAC will evaluate, and later strengthen its overall security program in response to changes in the threat environment, technological advancements, and lessons learned. As a result, substantial improvements to a nuclear facility security can be predicted. These improvements will focus on a plant security force, physical barriers, intrusion detection systems, surveillance systems, and access controls. Through the building a Force-on-Force scientific evaluation system, KINAC will establish an efficient physical protection implementation system for nuclear energy facilities.

The Development of a Scientific Evaluation System of Force-on-Force (FOF) Exercise for Performance-based Regulation in Nuclear Security

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koh, Moonsung; Jung, Myungtak

2015-01-01

A terrorist attack or sabotage at a nuclear facility could lead result in a great amount of loss of life and social chaos, in addition to serious radiological damage. As threats have been evolved more intelligent, divergent, advanced, the international societies including IAEA encourage for all member states to establish the performance-based regulation using Forceon- Force (FOF) exercise, computer simulation. Consequently, the performance evaluation for physical protection at nuclear facilities should focus on properly reacting to threat scenarios. Physical protection should also include detecting, blocking, delaying, interrupting including the human and technical factors the adversary having malicious intention of the realistic main threat element before he accomplishes the goal based on Design Basis Threat (DBT). After the completion of the FOF evaluation system, KINAC will evaluate, and later strengthen its overall security program in response to changes in the threat environment, technological advancements, and lessons learned. As a result, substantial improvements to a nuclear facility security can be predicted. These improvements will focus on a plant security force, physical barriers, intrusion detection systems, surveillance systems, and access controls. Through the building a Force-on-Force scientific evaluation system, KINAC will establish an efficient physical protection implementation system for nuclear energy facilities

Repetitive output laser system and method using target reflectivity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johnson, R.R.

1978-01-01

An improved laser system and method for implosion of a thermonuclear fuel pellet is described in which that portion of a laser pulse reflected by the target pellet is utilized in the laser system to initiate a succeeding target implosion, and in which the energy stored in the laser system to amplify the initial laser pulse, but not completely absorbed thereby, is used to amplify succeeding laser pulses initiated by target refγlection

Mobile Intelligent Autonomous Systems

OpenAIRE

Jitendra R. Raol; Ajith Gopal

2010-01-01

Mobile intelligent autonomous systems (MIAS) is a fast emerging research area. Although it can be regarded as a general R&D area, it is mainly directed towards robotics. Several important subtopics within MIAS research are:(i) perception and reasoning, (ii) mobility and navigation,(iii) haptics and teleoperation, (iv) image fusion/computervision, (v) modelling of manipulators, (vi) hardware/software architectures for planning and behaviour learning leadingto robotic architecture, (vii) ve...

The effect of reflections on the performance of an acoustic energy transfer system

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Roes, M.G.L.; Hendrix, M.A.M.; Duarte, J.L.

2012-01-01

Abstract—The performance of an acoustic energy transfer (AET) system, defined as the ratio of electrical output to input power, is affected to a large extent by reflections. Their effect is examined in this paper. A finite element model is created to model reflections in a typical AET system, of

Collision avoidance for multiple Lagrangian dynamical systems with gyroscopic forces

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lorenzo Sabattini

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This article introduces a novel methodology for dealing with collision avoidance for groups of mobile robots. In particular, full dynamics are considered, since each robot is modeled as a Lagrangian dynamical system moving in a three-dimensional environment. Gyroscopic forces are utilized for defining the collision avoidance control strategy: This kind of forces leads to avoiding collisions, without interfering with the convergence properties of the multi-robot system’s desired control law. Collision avoidance introduces, in fact, a perturbation on the nominal behavior of the system: We define a method for choosing the direction of the gyroscopic force in an optimal manner, in such a way that perturbation is minimized. Collision avoidance and convergence properties are analytically demonstrated, and simulation results are provided for validation purpose.

Study on real-time force feedback for a master-slave interventional surgical robotic system.

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Shuxiang; Wang, Yuan; Xiao, Nan; Li, Youxiang; Jiang, Yuhua

2018-04-13

In robot-assisted catheterization, haptic feedback is important, but is currently lacking. In addition, conventional interventional surgical robotic systems typically employ a master-slave architecture with an open-loop force feedback, which results in inaccurate control. We develop herein a novel real-time master-slave (RTMS) interventional surgical robotic system with a closed-loop force feedback that allows a surgeon to sense the true force during remote operation, provide adequate haptic feedback, and improve control accuracy in robot-assisted catheterization. As part of this system, we also design a unique master control handle that measures the true force felt by a surgeon, providing the basis for the closed-loop control of the entire system. We use theoretical and empirical methods to demonstrate that the proposed RTMS system provides a surgeon (using the master control handle) with a more accurate and realistic force sensation, which subsequently improves the precision of the master-slave manipulation. The experimental results show a substantial increase in the control accuracy of the force feedback and an increase in operational efficiency during surgery.

Natural interaction for unmanned systems

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Glenn; Purman, Ben; Schermerhorn, Paul; Garcia-Sampedro, Guillermo; Lanting, Matt; Quist, Michael; Kawatsu, Chris

2015-05-01

Military unmanned systems today are typically controlled by two methods: tele-operation or menu-based, search-andclick interfaces. Both approaches require the operator's constant vigilance: tele-operation requires constant input to drive the vehicle inch by inch; a menu-based interface requires eyes on the screen in order to search through alternatives and select the right menu item. In both cases, operators spend most of their time and attention driving and minding the unmanned systems rather than on being a warfighter. With these approaches, the platform and interface become more of a burden than a benefit. The availability of inexpensive sensor systems in products such as Microsoft Kinect™ or Nintendo Wii™ has resulted in new ways of interacting with computing systems, but new sensors alone are not enough. Developing useful and usable human-system interfaces requires understanding users and interaction in context: not just what new sensors afford in terms of interaction, but how users want to interact with these systems, for what purpose, and how sensors might enable those interactions. Additionally, the system needs to reliably make sense of the user's inputs in context, translate that interpretation into commands for the unmanned system, and give feedback to the user. In this paper, we describe an example natural interface for unmanned systems, called the Smart Interaction Device (SID), which enables natural two-way interaction with unmanned systems including the use of speech, sketch, and gestures. We present a few example applications SID to different types of unmanned systems and different kinds of interactions.

Characteristics of electromagnetic forces of a single winding EDS MAGLEV system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hong, Soon Heum [Korea High Speed Rail Construction Authority (Korea, Republic of); Cha, Guee Soo [Seoul National University (Korea, Republic of); Hahn, Song Yop [Soonchunhyang University (Korea, Republic of)

1995-07-01

This paper describes the characteristics of electromagnetic forces of Combined superconducting maglev system. Generation of the levitation, the propulsion and the guidance force by a single coil is proved by the phasor analysis. It is also shown that double-layered configuration has better characteristics in efficiency, pulsation of the forces and drag ration than single-layered configuration. (author). 3 refs., 7 figs., 1 tab.

Experimental study of regenerative desiccant integrated solar dryer with and without reflective mirror

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shanmugam, V. [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sathyabama University, Chennai, 600 119 (India); Natarajan, E. [Institute for Energy Studies, College of Engineering, Anna University, Chennai, 600 025 (India)

2007-06-15

An indirect forced convection with desiccant integrated solar dryer has been built and tested. The main parts are: a flat plate solar air collector, a drying chamber, desiccant bed and a centrifugal blower. The system is operated in two modes, sunshine hours and off sunshine hours. During sun shine hours the hot air from the flat plate collector is forced to the drying chamber for drying the product and simultaneously the desiccant bed receives solar radiation directly and through the reflected mirror. In the off sunshine hours, the dryer is operated by circulating the air inside the drying chamber through the desiccant bed by a reversible fan. The dryer is used to dry 20 kg of green peas and pineapple slices. Drying experiments were conducted with and without the integration of desiccant unit. The effect of reflective mirror on the drying potential of desiccant unit was also investigated. With the inclusion of reflective mirror, the drying potential of the desiccant material is increased by 20% and the drying time is reduced. The drying efficiency of the system varies between 43% and 55% and the pick-up efficiency varies between 20% and 60%, respectively. Approximately in all the drying experiments 60% of moisture is removed by air heated using solar energy and the remainder by the desiccant. The inclusion of reflective mirror on the desiccant bed makes faster regeneration of the desiccant material. (author)

Air Force Integrated Personnel and Pay System (AFIPPS)

Science.gov (United States)

2016-03-01

Technical Guidance to include Information Technolgy (IT) Standards identified in the Technical View One (1) (TV-1) and implementation guidance of GIG...Compliant with Global Information Grid (GIG) Technical Guidance to include Information Technolgy (IT) Standards identified in the Technical View One...2016 Major Automated Information System Annual Report Air Force Integrated Personnel and Pay System (AFIPPS) Defense Acquisition Management

Defining the Levels of Adjustable Autonomy: A Means of Improving Resilience in an Unmanned Aerial System

Science.gov (United States)

2014-09-01

implemented in a system, some level of human-operator involvement will be required in interacting with that system (Glas and Kanda 2012). This is the...September 23–24, 2010. Glas, Dylan F., Takayuki Kanda , Hiroshi Ishiguro, and Norihiro Hagita. 2012. Teleoperation of Multiple Social Robots." IEEE

Atomic force microscopy of starch systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Fan

2017-09-22

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) generates information on topography, adhesion, and elasticity of sample surface by touching with a tip. Under suitable experimental settings, AFM can image biopolymers of few nanometers. Starch is a major food and industrial component. AFM has been used to probe the morphology, properties, modifications, and interactions of starches from diverse botanical origins at both micro- and nano-structural levels. The structural information obtained by AFM supports the blocklet structure of the granules, and provides qualitative and quantitative basis for some physicochemical properties of diverse starch systems. It becomes evident that AFM can complement other microscopic techniques to provide novel structural insights for starch systems.

Mathematical modeling and calculation of forced resonant vibrations of composite electromechanical system

OpenAIRE

Ластівка, Іван Олексійович

2014-01-01

Resonant vibrations of composite electromechanical symmetric three-element system “metal plate - piezoceramic cylindrical panels” are considered. Forced vibrations are made under the influence of external alternating electric field, supplied to the electrodes of piezoceramic segments of cylindrical panels, previously polarized in the tangential direction.Based on the improved theory, such as the S.P. Timoshenko’s, the system of differential equations of forced vibrations of the system, taking...

Study on Characteristics of Hydraulic Servo System for Force Control of Hydraulic Robots

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Hyo-gon; Han, Changsoo; Lee, Jong-won; Park, Sangdeok

2015-01-01

Because a hydraulic actuator has high power and force densities, this allows the weight of the robot's limbs to be reduced. This allows for good dynamic characteristics and high energy efficiency. Thus, hydraulic actuators are used in some exoskeleton robots and quadrupedal robots that require high torque. Force control is useful for robot compliance with a user or environment. However, force control of a hydraulic robot is difficult because a hydraulic servo system is highly nonlinear from a control perspective. In this study, a nonlinear model was used to develop a simulation program for a hydraulic servo system consisting of a servo valve, transmission lines, and a cylinder. The problems and considerations with regard to the force control performance for a hydraulic servo system were investigated. A force control method using the nonlinear model was proposed, and its effect was evaluated with the simulation program

Study on Characteristics of Hydraulic Servo System for Force Control of Hydraulic Robots

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Hyo-gon; Han, Changsoo [Hanyang University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Jong-won [Korea University of Science and Technology, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Park, Sangdeok [Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2015-02-15

Because a hydraulic actuator has high power and force densities, this allows the weight of the robot's limbs to be reduced. This allows for good dynamic characteristics and high energy efficiency. Thus, hydraulic actuators are used in some exoskeleton robots and quadrupedal robots that require high torque. Force control is useful for robot compliance with a user or environment. However, force control of a hydraulic robot is difficult because a hydraulic servo system is highly nonlinear from a control perspective. In this study, a nonlinear model was used to develop a simulation program for a hydraulic servo system consisting of a servo valve, transmission lines, and a cylinder. The problems and considerations with regard to the force control performance for a hydraulic servo system were investigated. A force control method using the nonlinear model was proposed, and its effect was evaluated with the simulation program.

Stochastic resonance in a periodic potential system under a constant force

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hu Gang.

1992-10-01

An overdamped particle moving in a periodic potential, and subject to a constant force and a stochastic force (i.e., χ = -sin(2πχ) + B + Γ(t),Γ(t) is a white noise) is considered. The mobility of the particle, d /dt, is investigated. The stochastic resonance type of behaviour is revealed. The study of the SR problem can thus be extended to systems with periodic force. (author). 13 refs

LOKI: a practical modelling and support system for telepresence systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Griffin, M.; Bridgewater, C.E.

1993-01-01

The use of Virtual Reality headset systems, in combination with a tele-presence ''head'' is discussed. The system is attached to a Unimate Puma robot arm and manipulated by the operator, using information gathered by the camera and auditory system, displayed via the Virtual Reality helmet. Operator commands are cross checked by using a modelling system, held on the Virtual Reality system. This system was found to supply a good sense of spacial awareness of the robot's domain. Actions which might move the robot outside its suitable operating envelope, or create a collision with the environment, were successfully blocked. This approach is seen as useful within the area of tele-operation. (author)

Nonlinear dynamic analysis of piping systems using the pseudo force method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prachuktam, S.; Bezler, P.; Hartzman, M.

1979-01-01

Simple piping systems are composed of linear elastic elements and can be analyzed using conventional linear methods. The introduction of constraint springs separated from the pipe with clearance gaps to such systems to cope with the pipe whip or other extreme excitation conditions introduces nonlinearities to the system, the nonlinearities being associated with the gaps. Since these spring-damper constraints are usually limited in number, descretely located, and produce only weak nonlinearities, the analysis of linear systems including these nonlinearities can be carried out by using modified linear methods. In particular, the application of pseudo force methods wherein the nonlinearities are treated as displacement dependent forcing functions acting on the linear system were investigated. The nonlinearities induced by the constraints are taken into account as generalized pseudo forces on the right-hand side of the governing dynamic equilibrium equations. Then an existing linear elastic finite element piping code, EPIPE, was modified to permit application of the procedure. This option was inserted such that the analyses could be performed using either the direct integration method or via a modal superposition method, the Newmark-Beta integration procedure being employed in both methods. The modified code was proof tested against several problems taken from the literature or developed with the nonlinear dynamics code OSCIL. The problems included a simple pipe loop, cantilever beam, and lumped mass system subjected to pulsed and periodic forcing functions. The problems were selected to gage the overall accuracy of the method and to insure that it properly predicted the jump phenomena associated with nonlinear systems. (orig.)

Teleoperated robotic sorting system

Science.gov (United States)

Roos, Charles E.; Sommer, Edward J.; Parrish, Robert H.; Russell, James R.

2000-01-01

A method and apparatus are disclosed for classifying materials utilizing a computerized touch sensitive screen or other computerized pointing device for operator identification and electronic marking of spatial coordinates of materials to be extracted. An operator positioned at a computerized touch sensitive screen views electronic images of the mixture of materials to be sorted as they are conveyed past a sensor array which transmits sequences of images of the mixture either directly or through a computer to the touch sensitive display screen. The operator manually "touches" objects displayed on the screen to be extracted from the mixture thereby registering the spatial coordinates of the objects within the computer. The computer then tracks the registered objects as they are conveyed and directs automated devices including mechanical means such as air jets, robotic arms, or other mechanical diverters to extract the registered objects.

The exclusion problem in seasonally forced epidemiological systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Greenman, J V; Adams, B

2015-02-21

The pathogen exclusion problem is the problem of finding control measures that will exclude a pathogen from an ecological system or, if the system is already disease-free, maintain it in that state. To solve this problem we work within a holistic control theory framework which is consistent with conventional theory for simple systems (where there is no external forcing and constant controls) and seamlessly generalises to complex systems that are subject to multiple component seasonal forcing and targeted variable controls. We develop, customise and integrate a range of numerical and algebraic procedures that provide a coherent methodology powerful enough to solve the exclusion problem in the general case. An important aspect of our solution procedure is its two-stage structure which reveals the epidemiological consequences of the controls used for exclusion. This information augments technical and economic considerations in the design of an acceptable exclusion strategy. Our methodology is used in two examples to show how time-varying controls can exploit the interference and reinforcement created by the external and internal lag structure and encourage the system to 'take over' some of the exclusion effort. On-off control switching, resonant amplification, optimality and controllability are important issues that emerge in the discussion. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Preliminary evaluation of the Accident Response Mobile Manipulation System for accident site salvage operations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Trujillo, J.M.; Morse, W.D.; Jones, D.P.

1994-01-01

This paper describes and evaluates operational experiences with the Accident Response Mobile Manipulation System (ARMMS) during simulated accident site salvage operations which might involve nuclear weapons. The ARMMS is based upon a teleoperated mobility platform with two Schilling Titan 7F Manipulators

Goals for a waste management system: a task force report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bishop, W.