This paper presents development of a new MEMS-based tactile microsensor to replicate the delicate sense of touch in robotic surgery. Using an epoxy-based photoresist, SU-8, as substrate, the piezoresistive type sensor is flexible, robust, and easy to fabricate in mass. Sensor characteristic tests indicate adequate sensitivity and linearity, and the multiple sensor elements can match full range of surgical tissue stiffness. Such characteristic nearly match the most delicate sense of touch at the human fingertip. It is expected such a sensor is essential for delicate surgeries, such as handling delicate tissues and microsurgery.
This paper addresses the implementation of sensory basis to support enhanced teleoperation. By adopting multiple structured light systems, each of which consists of a camera and patterned beam projector, the sensor basis supposedly provides an added level of flexibility and adaptability to variable and unstructured task conditions. The technological innovations include calibration of multiple structured light systems and on-line 3D pose measurement. The application of sensory basis is demonstrated for two types of enhanced teleoperation, namely tele-autonomy and tele-collaboration. The sensory information aids in tele-autonomy by generating autonomous motions, and is utilized in tele-collaboration for generating virtual fixtures.
To develop an efficient teleoperation, reactive agent based robotic architecture is proposed, in which manual operation is aided by autonomously acting motor agents. Perceptual agents provide environmental information to the motor agents on need-to-know basis. This paper presents a perceptual basis, consisting of structured light sensor and perceptual agents, for remote operation of a circular saw. The sensory information is integrated with the motor agents and also visually displayed to provide effective operator interface.
To improve task performance in partially structured environments, enhancements to teleoperation have been proposed by introducing autonomous behaviors. Such autonomy is implemented based on a reactive robotic architecture, where reactive motor agents that directly couple sensory inputs and motor actions become the building blocks. To this end, a perceptual basis for the motor agents is presented in this paper. The perceptual basis consists of perceptual agents that extract environmental information from a structured light vision system and provide action-oriented perception for the corresponding motor agents. Rather than performing general scene reconstruction, a perceptual agent directly provides the motion reference for the motor behavior. Various sensory mechanisms - sensor fission, fusion, and fashion - become basic building blocks of the perception process. Since perception is a process deeply intertwined with the motor actions, active perception may also incorporate motor behaviors as an integral perceptual process.
12 This paper presents a robotic architecture that facilitates semi-automatic teleoperation of a dual-arm manipulator system. The architecture is built upon reactive behavior agents tightly coupling sensing and action, where emergent behaviors correlate human intervention with sensor-based autonomous operation. Reactive agents are devised for perceptual and motor behaviors, and a structured light system is adopted to provide a visual reference to both behavioral agents and the human operator. The technical feasibility of the robotic behaviors is evaluated through simulation of the collaborative motion of a dual-arm manipulator. The presented sensor based semi-automatic teleoperation may improve human perception and simplify human action, and thus improve the efficiency and precision of teleoperation.
Conference Committee Involvement (3)
Optomechatronic Actuators and Manipulation
5 December 2005 | Sapporo, Japan
Optomechatronic Sensors, Actuators, and Control
25 October 2004 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
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