Telerobotics and 3-D TV-what you need to know

Over the last five years work has concentrated on developing telerobotic techniques that can be used in the nuclear industry. The approach has been to apply available equipment, modify available equipment, or design and build anew. An input controller which can be used with standard industrial robots, converting them into telerobots, has been built. A clean-room industrial robot has been re-engineered into an advanced telerobot for the nuclear industry, using knowledge of radiation tolerance design principles and collaboration with the manufacturer. A powerful hydraulic manipulator has been built to respond to a need for more heavy-duty devices for in-cell handling. A variety of easy-to-use 3-D TV systems have been developed to enable versatile, totally remote teleoperated systems to become viable options for the nuclear industry. Each of these examples required careful attention to design criteria, performance evaluation, application studies, trials, and human interaction. The philosophy that has been used in their development is presented, together with a description of the resultant hardware