Robotic Telepresence

Abstract

The Air Force sees a need for a militarized robot, designed to perform flight line maintenance and repair operations during a chemical/biological/radiological attack, or to assist man in space operations such as constructing a space station or performing such tasks as satellite inspection, diagnosis, repair, modification or deactivation. Obviously, these tasks require more than the pre-programmed behavior of an industrial robot. To obtain the high degree of adaptability required, the robot needs either the closed-loop control of a human operator, or a high level “artificial intelligence” capable of emulating human cognitive functions. Robotic telepresence is a novel approach to closed-loop control. By coupling the human operator's visual, tactile, motor and cognitive functions with a remote robot's “head, eyes, and hands,” the human operator is placed effectively “in-the-scene.” With this approach, the natural synergism between the human visual system and hands is exploited to endow the robotic system with human-like capacities to inspect, evaluate, and manipulate. Through robotic telepresence technology, the essential human operator tasks can then be performed in a lethally hazardous environment without exposing the human operator directly.