Bilateral teleoperation with time delay using modified wave variables

Force-reflecting teleoperators in which the remote environment is kinesthetically coupled to the operator can considerably increase task performance. However, wave-variable-based controllers can support the stable operation of force-reflecting teleoperators under arbitrary communication delays. Transparency in such systems is compromised in order to maintain stability. In this paper, we present a new controller for bilateral teleoperators based on the wave variable control method which provides superior force tracking performance compared to the traditional wave-variable-based method. Additionally, this method also improves the phase delay induced by the latency in the communication network. Both simulation and experimental results confirm the performance of this new controller.