Telerobotic control structures

Abstract

As Tom Sheridan, a pioneer in teleoperational systems, fomulated, telerobots combine the advantages of human remote control with the autonomy of industrial robots. In the beginning of this kind of technology in the 1950s and 1960s, local robot autonomy was not the key issue; so the terms teleoperation and telemanipulation essentially meant that an artificial anthropomorphic arm (a teleoperator or telemanipulator) is directly and remotely controlled by a human operator just like an extension of his or her own arm and hand. Typically, such a teleoperator system is supposed to work in hazardous and hostile environment, such as grasping a satellite to be repaired using a space shuttle manipulator, exploring sunken ships and amphores in the subsea, or handling radioactive material. The human operator in a safe, remote control station may make full use of his or her intelligence and decision capability.