This research enables shared control between man and robot for certain tasks, and computer autonomous control for other tasks, depending on the level of complexity and task repetitiveness. At the remote site, the system has two 8 degrees-of-freedom arms, equipped with "smart hands" that sense contact forces and grasp force, and can handle a variety of tools. At the operations station, the system has two 6 degrees-of-freedom force reflecting hand controllers, and video displays with calibrated three dimensional model overlays. Dexterous operations, such as selecting tools and cutting wire bundles, have been demonstrated and performance has been quantified.
