Delayed Force Feedback

Abstract

In master-slave manipulators, forces encountered by the remote hand are transmitted back to the operator. At very great distances there will be a transmission delay between an operator's movement and a resulting force. Investigation was made of the effect of long delays and differences in strategy on positioning time with force feedback alone. Positioning could be accomplished, but delay coupled with high loop gain creates serious instability. Experimental results suggest that alternative displays of the feedback force can overcome the stability problem.