CAREER: Haptic Exploration and Modeling of Unknown Environments

利用力和触觉反馈，人类能够在非结构化环境中完成复杂的探索和操作任务，即使其他感官模式受到限制。然而，我们无法到达空间和/或尺度上遥远的环境，如外层空间、水下和人体内部。拟议的研究活动将通过新颖的遥控系统利用人类探索的非凡能力。智能的优点是控制，人为因素和建模技术将用于开发多功能，实用的远程机械手，为操作员提供适当的触觉反馈，并自动生成探索环境的详细触觉模型。将解决一系列关键的遥控操作问题：(1)传感器/执行器的不对称，这在许多应用中是实际实现所必需的；(2)在遥控触觉探索过程中触觉反馈的水平和自由度的作用；(3)辅助遥控探索的虚拟夹具的设计和控制，同时不干扰操作员对远程环境的感知。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