An Adaptive Hand Exoskeleton for Teleoperation System

Teleoperation can assist people to complete various complex tasks in inaccessible or high-risk environments,in which a wearable hand exoskeleton is one of the key devices.Adequate adaptability would be available to enable the master hand exoskeleton to capture the motion of human fingers and reproduce the contact force between the slave hand and its object.This paper presents a novel finger exoskeleton based on the cascading four-link closed-loop kinematic chain.Each finger has an independent closed-loop kinematic chain,and the angle sensors are used to obtain the finger motion including the flexion/extension and the adduction/abduction.The cable tension is changed by the servo motor to transmit the contact force to the fingers in real time.Based on the finger exoskeleton,an adaptive hand exoskeleton is consequently developed.In addition,the hand exoskeleton is tested in a master-slave system.The experiment results show that the adaptive hand exoskeleton can be worn without any mechanical constraints,and the slave hand can follow the motions of each human finger.The accuracy and the real-time capability of the force reproduction are validated.The proposed adaptive hand exoskeleton can be employed as the master hand to remotely control the humanoid five-fingered dexterous slave hand,thus,enabling the teleoperation system to complete complex dexterous manipulation tasks.

Position Measurement Based Slave Torque Feedback Control for Teleoperation Systems With Time-Varying Communication Delays

Bilateral teleoperation system is referred to as a promising technology to extend human actions and intelligence to manipulating objects remotely.For the tracking control of teleoperation systems,velocity measurements are necessary to provide feedback information.However,due to hardware technology and cost constraints,the velocity measurements are not always available.In addition,the time-varying communication delay makes it challenging to achieve tracking task.This paper provides a solution to the issue of real-time tracking for teleoperation systems,subjected to unavailable velocity signals and time-varying communication delays.In order to estimate the velocity information,immersion and invariance(I&I)technique is employed to develop an exponential stability velocity observer.For the proposed velocity observer,a linear relationship between position and observation state is constructed,through which the need of solving partial differential and certain integral equations can be avoided.Meanwhile,the mean value theorem is exploited to separate the observation error terms,and hence,all functions in our observer can be analytically expressed.With the estimated velocity information,a slave-torque feedback control law is presented.A novel Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional is constructed to establish asymptotic tracking conditions.In particular,the relationship between the controller design parameters and the allowable maximum delay values is provided.Finally,simulation and experimental results reveal that the proposed velocity observer and controller can guarantee that the observation errors and tracking error converge to zero.

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

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.

Composite Nonlinear Bilateral Control for Teleoperation Systems With External Disturbances

This paper presents a new composite nonlinear bilateral control method based on the nonlinear disturbance observer(NDOB) for teleoperation systems with external disturbances. By introducing the estimations of NDOB and systems' nominal nonlinear dynamics into controller design, a NDOB based composite nonlinear bilateral controller is constructed to attenuate the influence of disturbance and uncertain nonlinearities. As compared with the existing bilateral control methods which usually achieve force haptic(i.e., contact force tracking)through a passive way, the newly proposed method has two major merits: 1) asymptotical convergence of both position and force tracking errors is guaranteed;2) disturbance influence on force tracking error dynamics is rejected through the direct feedforward compensation of disturbance estimation. Simulations on a nonlinear teleoperation system are carried out and the results validate the effectiveness of the proposed controller.

A Composite State Convergence Scheme for Bilateral Teleoperation Systems

State convergence is a novel control algorithm for bilateral teleoperation of robotic systems. First, it models the teleoperation system on state space and considers all the possible interactions between the master and slave systems. Second, it presents an elegant design procedure which requires a set of equations to be solved in order to compute the control gains of the bilateral loop. These design conditions are obtained by turning the master-slave error into an autonomous system and imposing the desired dynamic behavior of the teleoperation system. Resultantly, the convergence of master and slave states is achieved in a well-defined manner. The present study aims at achieving a similar convergence behavior offered by state convergence controller while reducing the number of variables sent across the communication channel. The proposal suggests transmitting composite master and slave variables instead of full master and slave states while keeping the operator's force channel intact. We show that,with these composite and force variables;it is indeed possible to achieve the convergence of states in a desired way by strictly following the method of state convergence. The proposal leads to a reduced complexity state convergence algorithm which is termed as composite state convergence controller. In order to validate the proposed scheme in the absence and presence of communication time delays, MATLAB simulations and semi-real time experiments are performed on a single degree-of-freedom teleoperation system.

Controller Design for a Teleoperation System with Time Delay

A robust controller design method is presented to guarantee the stability and zero tracking error for teleoperation system with time delay. Through choosing appropriate master and slave parameters, extended state equation about master and master-slave error is achieved, which can be analyzed by using time delay knowledge. Thus delay-independent and delay-dependent criteria are derived in terms of the Lyapunov stability theorem, control parameters are obtained by the feasible of linear matrix inequalities. Experimental results show the validity of these approaches and the performance of master and slave manipulators with delay variations is analyzed.

A Teleoperation System Based on Predictive Simulation and Its Application to Spacecraft Maintenance

A teleoperation system based on predictive simulation is proposed for the sake of compensating the large time delay in the process of teleoperation to a degree and providing a friendly operating interface. The framework and function architecture of the system is discussed firstly. Then, the operator interface and a graphics simulation system is described in detail. Furthermore, a predictive algorithm aiming at position control based teleoperation is studied in our research, and the relative framework of predictive simulation is discussed. Finally, the system is applied to spacecraft breakdown maintenance; multi-agent reinforcement learning based semi-autonomous teleoperation is discussed at the same time for safe operation.

Safety architecture of internet based multi-robot teleoperation system

Safety subsystem is one of the important parts in robot teleoperation system. In this paper, a safety architecture of safety subsystem in Internet based multi-operator-multi-robot (MOMR) teleoperation system is presented. The subsystem is divided into three layers in its logic architecture: interactive monitor layer, collaborative control layer and real-time control layer. The safety problems and the related strategy are clarified by detailed analysis of each layer and relationship among the layers. So we can obtain a high performance MOMR teleoperation system with multi-layer safety architecture.

A Robotic Teleoperation System for Precise Robotic Manipulation by Human-Machine Interaction

Teleoperation is of great importance in the area of robotics,especially when people are unavailable in the robot workshop.It provides a way for people to control robots remotely using human intelligence.In this paper,a robotic teleoperation system for precise robotic manipulation is established.The data glove and the 7-degrees of freedom(DOFs)force feedback controller are used for the remote control interaction.The control system and the monitor system are designed for the remote precise manipulation.The monitor system contains an image acquisition system and a human-machine interaction module,and aims to simulate and detect the robot running state.Besides,a visual object tracking algorithm is developed to estimate the states of the dynamic system from noisy observations.The established robotic teleoperation systemis applied to a series of experiments,and high-precision results are obtained,showing the effectiveness of the physical system.

A new impedance and robust adaptive inverse control approach for a teleoperation system with varying time delay

This paper presents a new robust adaptive inverse control approach for a force-reflecting teleoperation system with varying time delay. First,an impedance control is designed for the master robot. Second,an adaptive inverse control is proposed for the slave robot. Finally,the slave side controller is modified such that the robust stability and performance are achieved. In addition,robust stability analysis has been performed and optimal behavior is ensured by using standard characteristic polynomials. It is shown that despite of presence of randomly-varying time delay,the proposed control algorithm compensates the position drifts efficiently. Demonstrable simulation studies confirm the effectiveness of the proposed control system and its advantages over the existing sliding mode control strategies.

Control Schemes for Passive Teleoperation Systems over Wide Area Communication Networks with Time Varying Delay

In this paper,the problem of time varying telecommunication delays in passive teleoperation systems is addressed.The design comprises delayed position,velocity and position-velocity signals with the local position and velocity signals of the master and slave manipulators.Nonlinear adaptive control terms are employed locally to cope with uncertain parameters associated with the gravity loading vector of the master and slave manipulators.Lyapunov-Krasovskii function is employed for three methods to establish asymptotic tracking property of the closed loop teleoperation systems.The stability analysis is derived for both symmetrical and unsymmetrical time varying delays in the forward and backward communication channel that connects the local and remote sites.Finally,evaluation results are presented to illustrate the efectiveness of the proposed design for real-time applications.

Teleoperation strategies research for collaborative welding systems based on virtual reality

Teleoperation control strategies for collaborative welding system which is targeting at giving full play to human’s superiority is designed and the fitness for teleoperation welding task of which are studied. During the teleoperation welding process, 6-DOF controller’s signal can be converted into welding torch’s position, velocity or acceleration changing which is being controlled. For welding purposes, control strategies of four modes are designed, which are static position and posture mode, dynamic position and posture mode, velocity mode and acceleration mode. A test and analysis system for testing the tracking accuracy and reliability of control strategy based on virtual reality is developed. The tracking accuracies of the four control strategies are studied in the following tests with straight line trajectory, curve trajectory or space curve trajectory. The results show that the control strategy in dynamic position and posture mode has best stability and strong adaptability which is the most suitable for the teleoperation system.

Finite-time fault-tolerant control of teleoperating cyber physical system against faults

This paper studies a finite-time adaptive fractionalorder fault-tolerant control(FTC)scheme for the slave position tracking of the teleoperating cyber physical system(TCPS)with external disturbances and actuator faults.Based on the fractional Lyapunov stability theory and the finite-time stability theory,a fractional-order nonsingular fast terminal sliding mode(FONFTSM)control law is proposed to promote the tracking and fault tolerance performance of the considered system.Meanwhile,the adaptive fractional-order update laws are designed to cope with the unknown upper bounds of the unknown actuator faults and external disturbances.Furthermore,the finite-time stability of the closed-loop system is proved.Finally,comparison simulation results are also provided to show the validity and the advantages of the proposed techniques.

Design of multisensory integration gripper system for Internet-based teleoperation

A layered architecture of muhisensory integration gripper system is first developed, which includes data acquisition layer, data processing layer and network interface layer. Then we propose a novel support-vector-machine-based data fusion algorithm and also design the gripper system by combining data fusion with CAN bus and CORBA technology, which provides the gripper system with outstanding characteristics such as modularization and intelligence. A multisensory integration gripper test bed is finally built on which a circuit board replacement job based on Internet-based teleoperation is achieved. The experimental results verify the validity of this gripper system design.

Application of Predictive Algorithm in Head-Tracking System

The worldwide research status of head tracking is introduced and the works made in the research of the predictive algorithm and in the exploration of the rule of the head tracking are set forth. A time delay model for the telerobotic scout system is built. In respect of eliminating error caused by time delay and making reasonable prediction to the data stream, many methods are experimented in order to realize the aim of real time tracking. The application of extrapolation algorithm and auto recursive algorithm in the orientation tracking is described in detail. These two algorithms are realized in Matlab environment. Through analysis of the curves generated by using these two predictive algorithms, an appropriate method was applied in the telerobotic scout system. The effect is satisfying.

NOVEL 6-DOF WEARABLE EXOSKELETON ARM WITH PNEUMATIC FORCE-FEEDBACK FOR BILATERAL TELEOPERATION

A particular emphasis is put on a novel wearable exoskeleton arm, ZJUESA, with 6 degrees of freedom, which is used for the robot teleoperation with the force-feedback in the unknown environment. In this external structure mechanism, the 3-revolution-prismatic-spherical （3RPS） parallel mechanism is devised from the concept of the human upper-limb anatomy and applied for the shoulder 3-DOF joint. Meanwhile, the orthogonal experiment design method is introduced for its optimal design. Aiming at enhancing the performance of teleoperation, the force feedback is employed by the pneumatic system on ZJUESA to produce the vivid feeling in addition to the soft control interface. Due to the compressibility and nonlinearity of the pneumatic force feedback system, a novel hybrid fuzzy controller for the precise force control is proposed and realized based on the Mega8 microcontroller units as the units of the distributed control system on ZJUESA. With the results of several experiments for master-slave control with force feedback, the feasibility of ZJUESA system and the effect of its hybrid fuzzy controller are verified.

A robotic tele-drill system over network using predictive display

Based on a robotic telesurgery system whose function is to liberate doctor from X-ray radiation, a robotic tele-drill system is constructed. The system is in client/server structure. Client part includes main control interface, video-audio interface and predictive display interface. Server part includes robot control server and video, audio server. For applying to teleoperation, a virtual reality environment of the system developed by using Java, Java 3D, Pro/E, etc. is established. The geometry and kinematics model of serial robot MOTOMAN sv3x, parallel robot, C-type arm and X-ray machine, surgery bed and its work environment are fulfilled in it. Simulation engine and its simulation syntax are finished, which made the environment controllable. This environment is used as predictive display interface in the telerobotics in order to tackling the problem in visualization feedback as ambiguous or time delay. Experiments that verified feasibility of the system have been done.

A Telepresence-Guaranteed Control Scheme for Teleoperation Applications of Transferring Weight-Unknown Objects

Currently,most teleoperation work is focusing on scenarios where slave robots interact with unknown environments.However,in some fields such as medical robots or rescue robots,the other typical teleoperation application is precise object transportation.Generally,the object’s weight is unknown yet essential for both accurate control of the slave robot and intuitive perception of the human operator.However,due to high cost and limited installation space,it is unreliable to employ a force sensor to directly measure the weight.Therefore,in this paper,a control scheme free of force sensor is proposed for teleoperation robots to transfer a weight-unknown object accurately.In this scheme,the workspace mapping between master and slave robot is firstly established,based on which,the operator can generate command trajectory on-line by operating the master robot.Then,a slave controller is designed to follow the master command closely and estimate the object’s weight rapidly,accurately and robust to unmodeled uncertainties.Finally,for the sake of telepresence,a master controller is designed to generate force feedback to reproduce the estimated weight of the object.In the end,comparative experiments show that the proposed scheme can achieve better control accuracy and telepresence,with accurate force feedback generated in only 500 ms.

A Novel 6‑DOF Force‑Sensed Human‑Robot Interface for an Intuitive Teleoperation

The teleoperation of a 6 degrees-of-freedom(DOF)manipulator is one of the basic methods to extend people’s capabilities in the wide variety of applications.The master interface based on the force/torque(FT)sensor could provide the full-dimension intuitive teleoperation of a 6-DOF robot since it has the ability to trigger 6-DOF command input.However,due to the force coupling,noise disturbance and unlimited input signals of the FT sensor,this force-sensed interface could not be widely used in practice.In this paper,we present an intuitive teleoperation method based on the FT sensor to overcome these challenges.In this method,the input signals from the force-sensed joystick were filtered and then processed to the force commands by force limit algorithm,with the merits of anti-interference,output limitation,and online velocity adjustment.Furthermore,based on the admittance control and position controller,the manipulator could be teleoperated by the force commands.Three experiments were conducted on our self-designed robotic system.The result of the first experiment shows that the interfered force from the force coupling could be effectively suppressed with the limitation of the input force through force limit algorithm.Then,a parameter was introduced in the other two experiments to adjust the velocity online practically with force limit algorithm.The proposed method could give a practical solution to the intuitive teleoperation based on the FT sensor.

Tremor suppression in master-slave robot remote welding system

Welding seam tracking precision was decreased due to human hand tremor during the master-slave welding teleoperation. To solve this problem, a master-slave robot remote welding system was built, the system consisted of a master manipulator with six degree of freedom （ DOF ） , an industrial computer control system and a slave Motoman HP3 J robot, and human hand tremor and digital filtering were discussed. An optimal digital filter was designed to clean human tremor signal for improving the welding seam tracking precision. The experimental results show that the digital filter suppresses the operator＇ s tremor signal.