A force-reflecting teleoperated hand system for the study of tactile sensing in precision manipulation

The author describes a teleoperated hand system developed to study the role of tactile and fine-force sensing in telemanipulation. Both master and slave manipulators are two-fingered hands designed for precision tasks that humans typically execute with a pinch grasp. A direct drive parallel linkage configuration and brushless DC servomotors permit smooth, accurate control of contact forces and small motions, which is essential for effective tactile sensing and display. Initial experiments demonstrated that an operator can perform precision tasks using this system, and that the ability to convey small force levels to the operator required careful attention to the coupling between the operator's finger tips and the master manipulator. The system has been used to demonstrate that a tactile display can convey frictional information sensed at the slave manipulator.>