Network-based infrastructure for distributed remote operations and robotics research

The establishment of a unique infrastructure for distributed robotics and remote operations research within an educational environment is reported. The distributed laboratory consists of sites at four universities and NASA's Johnson Space Center. The distributed laboratory configuration provides the opportunity to quantitatively study the effects of various system components and technologies on overall telerobotic task performance. The ability to execute representative inspection and manipulation tasks with multiple control, robot, and performance/workload monitoring sites simultaneously connected has been demonstrated. Operations are carried out on a routine basis. During the process, needs for hardware and software standards development have been identified. The current implementation provides a basis for linking government, industrial, and university facilities to realize a truly collaborative research and development environment, enabling graduate students to experience educational opportunities that would otherwise not be possible.<
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