Coordinated controller of internet-based multi-telerobot cooperation

Abstract

Time delay over the Internet deteriorates the performance of multi-operator-multi-robot teleoperation system (MOMR). At present, several methods aiming at the problems of the Internet-based multi-telerobot collaboration only depend on the master side. In this paper, a coordinated controller was presented based on the idea of shared control that combined the intelligence of the master side with the slave side. It is composed of three modules, task coordination, motion planning and communication, which can not only increase the efficiency and safety of the system but also relieve the burden and the requirements to the operators. The controller also can cope with the collision between two telerobots in the common environment arising from the time delay. A simulation experiment via an Ethernet local area network (LAN) subject to simulated time delay was carried out to protect the medical staff from highly dangerous virus such as SARS, bird flu etc. And the validity of the coordinated controller was evaluated in the system.