Human Control of Remote Computer-Manipulators

Abstract

This paper describes a man-computer-manipulator system for doing a variety of exploration and assembly tasks for space, undersea, hazardous terrestial environments, warehousing and medical applications. Emphasis is placed upon the allocation of functions to man and machine and the nature of their on-line interaction. The human operator through a combination of analogic commands (hand movements to specify direction,magnitude 1 time relative to his vie~1 of the task) and symbolic commands (typewritten alphanumeric characters), sets subgoals, subroutines, and stopping conditions in terms of the manipulator's position and touch sensors, The computer internrets the human commands, reads data from the manipulator's own sensors, performs geometric transformations and executes optimal or heuristic procedures to drive the manipulator actuators. Laboratory experiments with such a system are described, and problems of organizing command languages, designing touch sensors and manipulators are detailed.