Control Systems Design for Stable Telerobotic and Haptic Interactions

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Telerobotic and haptic simulation systems enable humans to scale and project their sensing and manipulation capabilities to remote, dangerous or virtual worlds, by means of interfacing with an actuated hand-held mechanism, known as a haptic device. With the advent of fast computing and advanced telecommunication systems, collaborative haptics has transpired as a viable technology by which two or more users interact or collaborate remotely to perform a common or complex task. Emerging applications of these systems are in tele-surgery (da Vinci Surgical System), tele-rehabilitation, tele-maintenance, and tele-microtweezing of cells.A fundamental challenge for a widespread use of such systems reside in designing controllers that maintain contact stability and convey a true sense of manipulation amid uncertainties in the dynamics of users and often unknown environments, and the delays in data processing and transmission. A holistic approach both at the component and system levels that involves the human user response in the control loop will lend to a significantly improved trade-off between stability and performance. The proposed research program, with a focus on collaborative haptics, will develop core technologies, including novel control algorithms, electronic hardware for analog haptic actuation, and efficient analytical tools, that will pave the way for the development of new applications, and a widespread adoption of haptic technology by industry. The impact of the proposed research is expected to be felt through various industries including healthcare, manufacturing, construction, energy and military at both the economic and technological fronts. The program will offer unique and diverse training opportunities in mechatronics, haptics, controls, biomechanics, biosignal processing and programming to seven graduate students in a well-equipped collaborative environment.