The implications of force reflection for teleoperation in space
This paper reviews previous research on teleoperator force feedback and reports results of a testing program which assessed the impact of force reflection on teleoperator task performance. Force reflection is a type of force feedback in which the forces acting on the remote portion of the teleoperator are displayed to the operator by back-driving the master controller. The testing program compared three force reflection levels: 4 to 1 (four units of force on the slave produce one unit of force at the master controller), 1 to 1, and infinity to 1 (no force reflection). Time required to complete tasks, rate of occurrence of errors, the maximum force applied to tasks components, and variability in forces applied to components during completion of representative remote handling tasks were used as dependent variables. Operators exhibited lower error rates, lower peak forces, and more consistent application of forces using force reflection than they did without it. These data support the hypothesis that force reflection provides useful information for teleoperator users. The earlier literature and the results of the experiment are discussed in terms of their implications for space-based teleoperator systems. The discussion describes the impact of force reflection on task completion performance and task strategies, as suggested by the literature. It is important to understand the trade-offs involved in using telerobotic systems with and without force reflection. Force-reflecting systems are typically more expensive (in mass, volume, and price per unit), but they reduce mean time to repair and may be safer to use, compared to systems without force reflection.
- Research Organization:
- Human Machine Interfaces, Inc., Knoxville, TN (USA); Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-84OR21400
- OSTI ID:
- 6536421
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-870591-1; ON: DE87008585
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Goddard conference on space applications of artificial intelligence and robotics, Greenbelt, MD, USA, 14 May 1987; Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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