Author: Dylan Wallace Email: wallad3@unlv.nevada.edu
Date: Last modified on 05/07/17
Keywords: Communications, Teleoperation, Humanoids, Networks

Telerobotics Papers

1. A Tele-operated Humanoid Drives a Lift Truck
Publisher: 2002 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) Keywords: Humanoids, telerobotics, tele-operation, virtual reality

Hasunuma, H., Kobayashi, M., Moriyama, H., Itoko, T., Yanagihara, Y., Ueno, T., Ohya, K., & Yokoil, K. (2002). A tele-operated humanoid robot drives a lift truck. In 2002 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA). Washington D.C, USA: IEEE RAS. doi:10.1109/ROBOT.2002.1013566

This paper describes using a tele-operated humanoid to drive a fork lift. The authors present the motion platform & tele-operation set-up, as well as experimental results using the set-up. From this presentation, the paper concludes that the humanoid robot using construction machinery via tele-operation shows promise, but needs improvement in visual feedback, collision checking, and stair climbing.

From the state-of-the-art, the paper identifies challenges in automated machinery performance and flexibility. The paper addresses these challenges by introducing a tele-operated humanoid robot to remotely operate the construction machinery. The results of this approach are novel, showing that a humanoid robot can be used to operate construction machinery, as well as many other devices, giving them flexibility over traditional single-purpose automation.

The paper presents the following theoretical principles: tele-operation parameters & input/output. Little discussion was provided on the humanoid robot principles, however these were provided in some of the cited works.

The principles behind the tele-operation are explained fairly, however no specifics of equations or algorithms used are provided.

From the principles and results, the paper concludes that the humanoid robot operating the construction machinery is viable, with the following improvements: (1) Improved software for leg-control during stair climbing; (2) Software for checking the collisions between the robot & the machine, and also for collisions between the machine and the environment; and (3) Improved visual feedback, including zoom functionality for the on-board camera.

I liked this paper because: (1) it presents fundamental work toward utilizing a tele-operated for vehicle driving; (2) it utilized a motion and virtual reality platform for feedback; and (3) it provided comprehensive experimental results for all aspects of the tele-operation. However, I would have liked to see a better explanation of the underlying principles, and any equations used to tele-operate the humanoid.

Three things I learned from this paper were: (1) how important visual and physical feedback are for tele-operation; (2) how both macro and micro scale manipulation can be used with tele-operation; and (3) insight on how to translate master commands into slave operations.

2. Repeat…