Page 45 - Introduction to AI Robotics

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1 From Teleoperation To Autonomy
uses for computers were. One outcome of the conference was the term “ar-
tificial intelligence”; the attending scientists believed that computers might
become powerful enough to understand human speech and duplicate hu-
man reasoning. This in turn suggested that computers might mimic the ca-
pabilities of animals and humans sufficiently for a planetary rover to survive
for long periods with only simple instructions from Earth.
As an indirect result of the need for robotics converging with the possi-
bility of artificial intelligence, the space program became one of the earliest
proponents of developing AI for robotics. NASA also introduced the notion
that AI robots would of course be mobile, rather than strapped to a factory
floor, and would have to integrate all forms of AI (understanding speech,
planning, reasoning, representing the world, learning) into one program—a
daunting task which has not yet been reached.

1.5 Teleoperation

TELEOPERATION Teleoperation is when a human operator controls a robot from a distance (tele
means “remote”). The connotation of teleoperation is that the distance is too
great for the operator to see what the robot is doing, so radio controlled toy
cars are not considered teleoperation systems. The operator and robot have
some type of master-slave relationship. In most cases, the human operator
sits at a workstation and directs a robot through some sort of interface, as
seen in Fig. 1.6.
The control interface could be a joystick, virtual reality gear, or any num-
ber of innovative interfaces. The human operator, or teleoperator, is often
LOCAL referred to as the local (due to being at the local workstation) and the robot
REMOTE as the remote (since it is operating at a remote location from the teleoperator).
The local must have some type of display and control mechanisms, while the
remote must have sensors, effectors, power, and in the case of mobile robots,
mobility. 141 The teleoperator cannot look at what the remote is doing directly,
either because the robot is physically remote (e.g., on Mars) or the local has
to be shielded (e.g., in a nuclear or pharmaceutical processing plant hot cell).
SENSORS Therefore, the sensors which acquire information about the remote location,
DISPLAY the display technology for allowing the operator to see the sensor data, and
COMMUNICATION LINK the communication link between the local and remote are critical components
of a telesystem. 141
Teleoperation is a popular solution for controlling remotes because AI tech-
nology is nowhere near human levels of competence, especially in terms of