TELEOPERATORS FOR ADVANCED MANUFACTURING - APPLICATIONS AND HUMAN-FACTORS CHALLENGES

Advanced manufacturing systems integrate human workers with computers, automation, and robots. However, they do not often include a class of robotic device called a teleoperator. Teleoperators are human-robot s ystems that combine powerful human perceptual and problem-solving capa bilities with the hardiness of machines. Therefore, they are more capa ble of interacting with dynamic environments than autonomous robots an d yet insulate the human user from hazards in the work environment. Th e aims of this paper are to (1) introduce the reader to teleoperators and show how they might find a niche in advanced manufacturing systems and (2) discuss the human factors challenges presented by teleoperati on. The paper concentrates on the existing state-of-the-art, including examples of the capabilities of existing teleoperator technology and current challenges in teleoperator human-machine interfaces. (C) 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.