Teleoperation is the remote operation of robots, used in space exploration, oil and gas industry, military and medical fields. Telepresence is created using sensors to collect data in the remote environment. Limitations include signal delay. ROVs are used for maintenance in deep waters and by the military to approach dangerous objects.
Teleoperation is the operation of a robot from a remote location. It is used in space exploration, oil and gas industry, military and medical fields. Robots are typically deployed and controlled through teleoperation because sending humans would be either too expensive or too dangerous. Typically, a single operator is in control of the robot and feels some level of immersion in the remote environment. The controls used by the operator are often intuitive enough to allow quick and smooth manipulation of the robot.
To allow for the possibility of teleoperation, a sense of telepresence must be created. This can be achieved by using sensors to collect data in the remote environment. For example, in an underwater robot, a sonar sensor can be used to determine vertical distance to the sea floor. Sonar technology bounces a sound wave off the ocean floor, recording the time it takes for the wave to make a round trip. All sensing data can then be recombined to allow the teleoperator, or human controller, to experiment in virtual reality. Once the teleoperator has a good “feel” for the remote environment, he can control the robot effectively.
On the International Space Station, astronauts in space suits were used to assemble the station and to perform maintenance. Preparing for an extravehicular activity, or spacewalk, however, is an expensive procedure that takes many hours. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the United States is currently designing a robot called Robonaut that will attempt many of these tasks. Robonaut has an upper body resembling a human and will use teleoperation for arm and hand control. The teleoperator will be wearing a headset and a set of sophisticated sensors to allow for a high level of control and dexterity with the robot.
There are some limitations to telepresence technology. Electromagnetic radiation travels at the speed of light and is the fastest way to transfer sensor data from a remote environment. Even at this speed, the round-trip signal delay between Earth and Mars ranges from six to 40 minutes. As a result, rovers on Mars cannot be operated from Earth with much real-time teleoperation feel. Operators would have to move to a location closer to the rovers themselves, such as low Mars orbit, for this to happen.
In the oil and gas industry, remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs) are used for maintenance of oil extraction equipment in the deep waters of the ocean. They are typically operated from a boat on the surface and have a long cable that connects the operator to the robot. They are usually equipped with lights and cameras to feed video signals back to the operator. In the past, human divers have serviced such subsea infrastructure, but recent drilling in deeper, more dangerous waters has spurred the use of remote operation with ROVs.
The military uses teleoperation in some situations that are deemed too dangerous for soldiers. ROVs are used by some navies to recover practice torpedoes and investigate other objects on the seabed. In Iraq, Afghanistan and Israel, robots are being used to approach improvised explosive devices (IEDs) or other potentially dangerous objects.
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