Dexterity enhancement for surgical and industrial applications

Summary form only given. Robotic technology is classically defined as pre-programmed and autonomous. Most robots are anthropomorphic in form. The term teleoperation implies remote manipulation. We coined the term "dexterity enhancements" to indicate the intent of a new class of technologies developed to augment the precision manipulation capabilities of the human operator. Dexterity enhancement systems can be used at the same site or for remote operation. The actual manipulators need not be anthropomorphic, but must have greater positioning and force control accuracy than the human operator can produce. Dexterity enhancements concepts include position and force downscaling; position, velocity, acceleration, and force limits; tremor filtering; gravity compensation (decreasing fatigue and enhancing precision). Applications in surgery and industry, including offline for training and research, are presented.