Sensor-based fine telemanipulation for space robotics

The control of a multifingered hand slave in order to accurately exert arbitrary forces and impart small movements to a grasped object is, at present, a knotty problem in teleoperation. Although a number of articulated robotic hands have been proposed in the recent past for dexterous manipulation in autonomous robots, the possible use of such hands as slaves in teleoperated manipulation is hindered by the present lack of sensors in those hands, and (even if those sensors were available) by the inherent difficulty of transmitting to the master operator the complex sensations elicited by such sensors at the slave level. An analysis of different problems related to sensor-based telemanipulation is presented. The general sensory systems requirements for dexterous slave manipulators are pointed out and the description of a practical sensory system set-up for the developed robotic system is presented. The problem of feeding back to the human master operator stimuli that can be interpreted by his central nervous system as originated during real dexterous manipulation is then considered. Finally, some preliminary work aimed at developing an instrumented glove designed purposely for commanding the master operation and incorporating Kevlar tendons and tension sensors, is discussed.