Haptic Information in Internet-Based Teleoperation

Many tasks done easily by humans turn out to be very difficult to accomplish with a teleoperated robot. The main reason for this is the lack of tactile sensing, which cannot be replaced by visual feedback alone. Once haptic devices were developed, their potential in many fields was obvious. Especially in teleoperation systems, where haptic feedback can increase the efficiency and even render some tasks feasible. This paper studies Internet-based teleoperation systems that include haptic feedback, concentrating on the control of such systems and their performance. The potential of this technology and its advantages will be explored. In addition, key issues, such as stability, synchronization, and transparency will be analyzed and studied. Specifically, event-based planning and control of Internet-based teleoperation systems is presented with experimental results of several implemented system scenarios in micro– and macroscales.