Person:

Dupont, Pierre

Many applications can be imagined for a system that processes sensory information collected during telemanipulation tasks in order to automatically identify properties of the remote environment. These applications include generating model-based simulations for training operators in critical procedures and improving real-time performance in unstructured environments or when time delays are large. This paper explores the research issues involved in developing such an identification system, focusing on properties that can be identified from remote manipulator motion and force data. As a case study, a simple block-stacking task, performed with a teleoperated two-fingered planar hand, is considered. An algorithm is presented that automatically segments the data collected during the task, given only a general description of the temporal sequence of task events. Using the segmented data, the algorithm then successfully estimates the weight, width, height, and coefficient of friction of the two blocks handled during the task. This data is used to calibrate a virtual model incorporating visual and haptic feedback. This case study highlights the broader research issues that must be addressed in automatic property identification.

Abstract: In a variety of situations, an undesired shock excitation is applied to a master structure that supports shock-sensitive equipment. Often, one wishes to design and test a master structure that transmits the least amount of shock energy to the attached equipment. In scaled testing of new designs, a major task is to design and construct “equipment emulators ” – inexpensive mechanical systems which approximately mimic the dynamic behavior of the actual full-scale equipment as seen by the master structure. A new method is presented for assessing the fidelity of equipment emulators and for interpreting test data taken in the presence of imperfect emulators. The proposed approach uses easily obtainable frequency-domain impedance descriptions of the master structure and actual equipment at the attachment points. These ideas may provide a path by which experimentalists can efficiently arrive at conceptual designs of emulators that promise a specified degree of fidelity in terms of attachment point velocities and their associated shock spectra. The ideas are illustrated by application to the emulation of commercial-grade electronic cabinets for the testing of novel ship deck structures.