Operator interaction, for time-delayed teleoperation, with a behavior-based controller

In many teleoperation applications including undersea and shallow space operations, communication time delay limits the applicability of force reflecting master-slave devices. We instead employ teleprogramming, a supervisory control approach to remote manipulation. A behavior-based controller, constructed under the principles of the subsumption architecture, fulfils the need for semi-autonomy at the remote site prescribed by supervisory control. In this paper we present an interface allowing operator interaction with the behavior-based controller. The use of a behavior-based controller provides a rich means of presenting diagnostic and kinesthetic state information to the operator when used with diagnostic interfaces previously developed. We demonstrate the supervisory control system on a GRASP Laboratory mock-up of a slicing task performed during a satellite repair operation where a robot held knife cuts securing tape along seams of panels of a thermal protection blanket