Local-remote telerobotics for underwater vehicles

An operational local-remote telerobot system which provides interactive supervisory control of robots which are spatially and/or temporally remote from the local operator station is described. The system has been implemented for the NASA Space Station Freedom engineering prototype development program as a technology prototype dual-arm local-remote system for space telerobotics. The system has two distinct parts: the local site user macro interface for interactive task description and execution, and the remote site task execution system providing single and dual-arm autonomous control. Various time delays can be artificially introduced into the laboratory system to study operations under communication time delay. The remote site of the system and the local site are described. Experimental results are presented. Advanced capabilities currently under development are discussed.<
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