The overall objective of the Phase I work shall be to design and fabricate telepresent master/slave (M/S) tools capable of providing force and tactile feedback to the hand of a human operator. This work shall incorporate the extensive previous development activities at Begej Corporation in the areas of tactile sensors and tactile displays. The scope of the Phase I work includes: (1) design and fabrication of miniature, tool-mounted force/torque (F/T) sensors capable of measuring six components of force; (2) fabrication of a high-density optical tactile sensor for the slave tool handle; (3); fabrication of a 128-element tactile display for the master tool handle, and; (4) preliminary evaluation of the master/slave tools. Follow-on work during Phase II would concern: (1) the implementation of force feedback to the master tool holder by a dedicated 6-DOF robot arm controlled by the F/T sensors on the tools; (2) performance of a more complete evaluation of the telepresent M/S tool concept using a modified mechanical M/S manipulator and a three-fingered, fully-telepresent glove controller with associated robot hand (currently under development); and (3) design, develop, and fabricate second-generation telepresent M/S tool components for delivery to the sponsor.
