Tele-manipulation system based on task-oriented virtual tool

This paper proposes an alternative control algorithm for a tele-manipulator system based on a task-oriented virtual mechanism. For a given task, a task-oriented virtual tool (or a task-oriented virtual mechanism) is designed so that it has the tool dynamics which is used as a tool and assists an operator. Then the authors design a controller for the tele-manipulator system which has the dynamics of the task-oriented tool. Thus, the maneuverability of the system is greatly improved by controlling the tele-manipulator system so that the system behaves as a tool. In this paper, the authors discuss the total stability of the resultant system in view of passivity. Because the system satisfies the passivity condition, the total stability is guaranteed for a passive environment with unknown dynamics by assuming the passivity of a human operator. The proposed control algorithm is experimentally applied to a tele-manipulator system. The experimental results illustrate the validity of the proposed control algorithm.