CAREER: Haptic Exploration and Modeling of Unknown Environments

使用力和触觉反馈，人类能够在非结构化环境中完成复杂的探索和操纵任务，即使其他感官模式受到限制。然而，我们无法到达空间和/或规模遥远的环境，例如外层空间，水体下和人体内。拟议的研究活动将通过新颖的远程操纵系统利用人类探索的非凡能力。智力的优点是，控制，人为因素和建模技术将被用来开发多功能的，实用的遥控机械手，提供适当的触觉反馈给操作员，并自动生成详细的触觉模型的探索环境。一组关键的远程操纵问题将得到解决：（1）传感器/执行器的不对称性，这是必要的实际实施在许多应用中，（2）的作用水平和自由度的触觉反馈在遥控触觉探索，以及（3）的设计和控制的虚拟夹具，协助遥控探索，而不干扰操作员的感知远程环境。这项工作的更广泛影响是在危险环境中工作的人类的安全，以及通过机器人辅助手术改善医疗保健。具体的教育目标是创建触觉实验室和公共展示，利用触觉来提高科学理解和对技术的兴趣

Using force and tactile (haptic) feedback, humans are able to accomplish complex exploration and manipulation tasks in unstructured environments, even when other sensory modes are limited. However, we cannot reach environments that are remote in space and/or scale, such as outer space, under bodies of water, and inside the human body. The proposed research activity will harness the extraordinary ability of human exploration through novel telemanipulation systems. The intellectual merit is that controls, human factors, and modeling techniques will be used to develop versatile, practical telemanipulators that provide appropriate haptic feedback to the operator and automatically generate detailed haptic models of explored environments. A set of crucial telemanipulation issues will be addressed: (1) sensor/actuator asymmetry, which is necessary for practical implementation in many applications, (2) the roles of level and degrees of freedom of haptic feedback during teleoperated haptic exploration, and (3) the design and control of virtual fixtures that assist in teleoperated exploration, while not interfering with the operator's perception of the remote environment. The broader impacts of this work are safety for humans working in hazardous environments and improved health care through robot-assisted surgery. Specific education goals are to create haptic laboratories and public displays that use the sense of touch to improve scientific understanding and interest in technology