Distributed control architecture for real-time telerobotic operation

The emerging field of telerobotics places new demands on control system architecture to allow both autonomous operations and natural human-machine interfacing. The feasibility of multiprocessor systems performing parallel control computations is realizable. A practical distribution of control processors is presented and the issues involved in the realization of this architecture are discussed. A prototype dual axis controller based on the NOVIX computer is described, and results of its implementation are discussed. Application of this type of control system to a replicated, redundant manipulator system is also described.