TELEOPERATOR PERFORMANCE WITH VARYING FORCE AND VISUAL FEEDBACK

An experimental study was conducted to determine the effects of variou s forms of visual and force feedback on human performance for several ''peg-in-hole''-type telemanipulation tasks. Each of six human test su bjects used a master/slave manipulator during two experimental session s. In one session the subjects performed the tasks with direct vision, where subtended visual angle, force feedback, task difficulty, and th e interaction of subtended visual angle and force feedback made signif icant differences in task completion times. During the other session t he tasks were performed using a video monitor for visual feedback, and video frame rate, force feedback, task difficulty, and the interactio n of frame rate and force feedback were found to make significant diff erences in task times. An analysis between the direct and video viewin g environments showed that apart from subtended visual angle and reduc ed frame rate, the video medium itself did not significantly affect ta sk times relative to direct viewing.