Cooperative control of robots as a basis for projective virtual reality

Experiences with a virtual reality (VR) system show that VR techniques provide the chance for a new generation and a new quality of intuitively operable man machine interfaces. In this paper the background is given for the control of a space laboratory mockup, that is operated by two 7 DOF robots which are commanded with the help of a virtual-reality based man machine interface. It is shown how actions that are carried out by the user in the virtual environment are translated into robotic actions in a way that the robots physically perform the task, that was commanded in the virtual reality.