Force reflecting telemanipulators with time-delay: stability analysis and control design

Two results concerning the control of force-reflecting teleoperation systems with time-delays are presented. The first result consists of a general framework for stability analysis of such systems. This analysis is performed on the basis of methods developed for linear time-delay systems, here extended and applied to the case of teleoperation schemes. The analysis shows whether the overall system is asymptotically stable independently of time-delay, or determines the maximum time-delay which guarantees asymptotic stability. The second issue discussed in the paper is the design of a control law able, under proper conditions, to stabilize the time-delay teleoperator. Examples of application of the stability criteria are discussed and experimental results of the control law are given.