Single-master Multi-slave System Research Articles

Bilateral Teleoperation of Single-Master Multislave Systems With Semi-Markovian Jump Stochastic Interval Time-Varying Delayed Communication Channels.

Communication time delays in a bilateral teleoperation system often carries a stochastic nature, particularly when we have multiple masters or slaves. In this paper, we tackle the problem for a single-master multislave (SMMS) teleoperation system by assuming an asymmetric and semi-Markovian jump protocol for communication of the slaves with the master under time-varying transition rates. A nonlinear robust controller is designed for the system that guarantees its global robust H∞ stochastic stability in the sense of the Lyapunov theory. Employing the nonlinear feedback linearization technique, the dynamics of the closed-loop teleoperator is decoupled into two interconnected subsystems: 1) master-slave tracking dynamics (coordination) and 2) multislave synchronization dynamics. Employing an improved reciprocally convex combination technique, the stability analysis of the closed-loop teleoperator is conducted using the Lyapunov-Krasovskii methodology, and the stability conditions are expressed in the form of linear matrix inequalities that can be solved efficiently using numerical algorithms. Numerical studies and simulation results validate the effectiveness of the proposed controller design algorithm in both tracking and synchronization performance of the SMMS system, and robustly handling the stochastic and nondifferentiable nature of communication delays.

Development of a Human-Robot-Shared Controlled Teletweezing System

This brief proposes a process of implementing a teletweezing system using multiple slaves for deformable object manipulation such as bio tweezing tasks. The multiple slave feature is desirable to improve both the manipulation dexterity and stable grasping force control capability. A flexible multiple robot connection environment is assured in a very quick and easy manner using an RT-Middleware platform. In this brief, we propose the control strategy for a single-master multislave telemicrotweezer. Also, several simulations and experiments are performed to prove the validity of the proposed control scheme and the design methodology. These involve biomanipulation tasks such as Ikura (salmon roe) tweezing, which is a magnified version of a wide variety of bio-cell tweezing. To realize the Ikura remote tweezing using a single-master multislave system and a human's dexterous operation skill, we first decompose the dynamics of multiple slaves into two decoupled systems, which are the shape system describing cooperative tweezing aspect and the locked system that preserves energetic passivity. Scattering-based communication is used to passify the master-slave communication delay. Last, a preliminary pick-and-place experiment and some simulation results are provided to verify the validity of the proposed control method.

Development of a single-master multi-slave tele-micromanipulation system

This paper proposes the development of a human–robot cooperative tele-micromanipulation system through a network. We have developed a novel single-master (PHANToM haptic device) multi-slave (6-d.o.f. parallel manipulator) scaled tele-micromanipulation system which enables human operators to perform meso or small-size object manipulation such as assembly or manufacturing with sufficient telepresence. It is expected to improve the human's operability and the overall dexterity of conventional tele-micromanipulation systems. To overcome the problems of the multiple parallel mechanism manipulator, virtual kinematic mapping is considered, based on the manipulability analysis of the workspace. The pick-and-place experiment results prove the validity of the developed single-master multi-slave system.