#telerobotics

[disk28]

[teledyn]

Remotely Operated Robot Takes Straight Razor to Face of Brave Roboticist - IEEE Spectrum

Now, a straight razor is sort of like a safety razor, except with the safety part removed, which in fact does make it significantly less safe for humans, much less robots. Also not ideal for those worried about safety is that as part of the process the razor ends up in distressingly close proximity to things like the artery that is busily delivering your brain’s entire supply of blood, which is very close to the top of the list of things that most people want to keep blades very far away from.

But that didn’t stop Whitney from putting his whiskers where his mouth is and letting his robotic system mediate the ministrations of a professional barber. It’s not an autonomous robotic straight-razor shave (because Whitney is not totally crazy), but it’s a step in that direction, and requires that the hardware Whitney developed be dead reliable.

Remotely Operated Robot Takes Straight Razor to Face of Brave Roboticist

You should really probably definitely not ever try this at home or anywhere else

[postorbital]

My entire university in a backpack. Telerobotic arms adjusted my hand position as distant colleagues texted theory.

[golojan]

TeleRobotics: details from Wikipedia

TeleRobotics: details from Wikipedia

Telerobotics is the area of robotics concerned with the control of semi-autonomous robots from a distance, chiefly using Wireless network (like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, the Deep Space Network, and similar) or tethered connections. It is a combination of two major subfields, teleoperation and telepresence. Teleoperation indicates operation of a machine at a distance. It is similar in meaning to the…

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[spaceexp]

Haptics-2 experiment by europeanspaceagency on Flickr.

Via Flickr: This deceptively modest force-feedback joystick in ESA’s Telerobotics Laboratory is set to become a piece of space history. On Wednesday evening NASA astronaut Terry Virts will move an identical joystick in Europe’s Columbus module of the International Space Station, and this slaved joystick – sitting in ESA’s ESTEC technical centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands – will move in exactly the same way. Next, someone on the ground will grab this joystick and Terry will feel the force and movement up on the Station. This historic first ‘handshake’ from space is part of the Lab’s Haptics-2 experiment, testing systems to transmit the human sense of touch to (and from) space for advanced robot control. As a follow-up in the 40-minute orbital session, the terrestrial joystick will be moved against a variety of materials of differing stiffness, to test if its force-feedback is sufficiently sensitive for its human subject to differentiate hard metal from soft foam. The deceptively simple experiment requires sophisticated control software, not least because the signal between the Station and ESTEC will be relayed via satellites some 36 000 km over the equator, as well as through NASA’s ground system. So the users on each side will have to contend with a signal lag or ‘latency’ of around 0.8 seconds as each data packet travels from the Station to the satellite, to the ground, to ESTEC and back up to the Station. The danger is that packet loss and data communication disruption could lead to excessive force, so advanced control software will help to compensate and keep the two sets of equipment safe and in sync. In addition, the space element includes an augmented reality view of an overlay arrow on the realtime video stream to indicate the direction and degree of force being used on ground. One day, astronauts orbiting Mars might use evolved versions to control rovers on the ground to perform human-like tasks on the surface – without being there. Speeding along in orbit means the degree of latency will constantly shift, too, so ESA’s telerobotics team have designed a system to compensate as needed. Tests using this direct but changing view between controller and target will be carried out later this year. Credit: ESA-M. Aiple

[cbotella1]

An Experimental Feasibility Study on Robotic Endonasal Telesurgery Neurosurgery 76:479–484, 2015 Novel robots have recently been developed specifically for endonasal surgery. They can deliver several thin, tentacle-like surgical instruments through a single nostril.

[fuckyeahdarkextropian]

As the robot disappears beneath the surface, your eyes move away from direct visual contact and onto the screen where you regain a different kind of connection. All of a sudden, your senses become acutely aware of the physical mobility, as well as the limitations, of the robot. I’ve heard experienced ROV pilots articulate this feeling: flying a large ROV, they feel big and slow, whereas a small ROV feels nimble and vulnerable. I’ve heard others — people with no prior experience — talk of their surprise when they started cheering for the robot to succeed, a phenomena the world witnessed when NASA landed the Curiosity rover on Mars. Surprise isn’t quite the right word. It’s more of a realization — a reawakening of your own human spirit. Those of us with the restless gene — the tendency towards wanderlust and an aching for what lies beyond the horizon — see ourselves inside these intrepid machines. Personal computers made us turn inward. Mobile computers made that introspection ubiquitous. As Sherry Turkle and others have articulated, computers have become a mirror of our own selves — our hopes and dreams and fears. Telerobotics is different. It’s outward facing. A new window into our world and universe. … The steady march of communication technologies — radios, televisions, internet, mobile devices — have given us more and more compelling reasons (and options) to join up with some Other Now, a distant space in the present moment. The Other Now is the region just beyond the boundaries of cyberspace. It’s the physical spaces the network enables us to inhabit without actually being there. The innate desire for the Other Now is multifaceted. The obvious reasons are to be closer to family and friends (Facebook and Skype calls), for work reasons (conference calls, meetings), or education (MOOCs, TED Talks). Increasingly, though, we find ourselves in this Other Now for, quite simply, wonder. A good example is the Live Earth Experiment. On April 30th, 2014, NASA flipped a camera on the International Space Station back towards our planet and began live-streaming a view of Earth over the internet. The result has been wildly popular, if not profound. It’s a unique feeling that’s difficult to describe, and certainly a rare type of moment on the internet. Clicking through another link, something you do thousands of times everyday, pushing a play button on yet another video stream and then this little realization goes off in your mind: this is our earth, right now. It’s catching a glimpse of yourself on the convenience store security camera multiplied by Carl Sagan’s enthusiasm in Cosmos. It’s beautiful and mesmerizing. … The coming era of connected exploration picks up where experiments like the Live Earth Experiment leave off. By adding agency — the ability to act inside and manipulate the Other Now — it becomes something much more than a spectator sport. It opens up a whole new world to play inside. … It’s the same draw that has pulled the past few generations of kids (and adults) into video games: distant worlds coupled with intense agency. I’ve marveled that the past year’s enthusiasm about virtual reality, spurred by the Oculus Rift, has largely ignored the potential for connected exploration. I wasn’t completely surprised, though. For me, building and using an OpenROV was the first opportunity I had to experience the feeling, and it was new to my senses. I suspect that the majority of people simply haven’t imagined it yet. It’s all coming, though. And seeing (and flying and diving) will be believing. Perhaps the most important aspect of this potential future: it’s very human-centric. Unlike discussions of AI or autonomous drone deliveries, the reaction to discussing connected exploration is excitement and possibility; not fear and worry. It doesn’t marginalize our sense of humanity; it enhances it. The reactions are not: The robots are taking over! They’ll destroy all the jobs! They’ll destroy us! Instead, the questions are: Does this mean I can do ____? That I could visit _____? That I could explore _____? … ROVs are less threatening than drones, because we quickly understand that they are not a threat and their innate purpose is, like boats, to help us travel further and farther than we ever could alone. These devices are not drones as humans are still very much in the loop. They are distant relatives of the Internet of Things as no thermostat or refrigerator — no matter how smart they become — could open up entirely new worlds. Connected exploration is something altogether new and wonderful. It’s a future that will make your spirit soar, but also one that could break your heart if you lose one of your mechanical friends.

When Bad Things Happen to Good Robots — Backchannel — Medium

[protoslacker]

Personal computers made us turn inward. Mobile computers made that introspection ubiquitous. As Sherry Turkle and others have articulated, computers have become a mirror of our own selves — our hopes and dreams and fears. Telerobotics is different. It’s outward facing. A new window into our world and universe.

David Lang in Backchannel at Medium. When Bad Things Happen to Good Robots

What a deep ocean tragedy tells us about our telerobotic future.