<title>High-performance parallel input device</title>

Abstract

Research into force reflecting remote manipulation has recently started to move away from common error systems towards explicit force control. In order to maximize the benefit provided by explicit force reflection the designer has to take into account the asymmetry of the bandwidths of the forward and reflecting loops. This paper reports on a high performance system designed and built at Oxford University and Harwell Laboratories and on the preliminary results achieved when performing simple force reflecting tasks. The input device is based on a modified Stewart Platform, which offers the potential of very high bandwidth force reflection, well above the normal 2 - 10 Hz range achieved with common error systems. The slave is a nuclear hardened Puma industrial robot, offering a low cost, reliable solution to remote manipulation tasks.