Model-Mediated Teleoperation With Predictive Models and Relative Tracking

This paper presents a model-mediated approach for teleoperation with haptic feedback in the presence of time delays on the order of seconds. The target application for the control scheme is teleoperation of robotic manipulators for space systems in geosynchronous orbit. Previous work in model-mediated teleoperation allowed operators to interact with a virtual model of the remote robot and environment, where the remote robot follows the operator’s commands after a delay and the virtual model is updated when the remote data is available. Our approach adds predictive models, mediated command execution, and a dynamic slave model. A single-degree-of-freedom experiment using a simulated robot and environment demonstrate improvements in the control of remote robot position and environment contact forces, in comparison to previous approaches.