The research in this study will develop a force feedback system for telerobotic manipulation based on magnetorheological (MR) fluid devices. Telerobotic systems consist of an operator handling one manipulator (the master) directly controlling a remote manipulator (the slave), which acts on an external object. Current state of the art force feedback telerobotic systems employ DC motors, hydraulics, or other linear actuators to simulate the resistances encountered when the remote slave touches an external object. These systems suffer from the following drawbacks: (1) Slave inertias are in general considerably larger than their corresponding master inertias, which leads to the feedback of large signals emanating from impacts between the slave and its external object. (2) Force feedback necessitates larger components (motors, hydraulics, etc.), limiting the systems' use in a number of applications, especially minimally invasive telerobotic surgery. (3) Multi degree of freedom force feedback systems are inherently complex due to the coupling of electromechanical and control issues with a human interface, leading to prohibitive cost. By synergistically combining novel 3-D MR fluid devices with the full 3-D microstructural analysis and control, the PIs will create novel force feedback systems that overcome the limitations of traditional force feedback systems, listed above.
This study will focus on telerobotic systems, mainly telerobotic surgery which consists of a surgeon handling one manipulator (the master) directly controlling a remote robot (the slave), which acts on the patient. Current systems only produce visual feedback. The goal of this endeavor will be to provide not only visual feedback to the surgeon but tactile feedback as well. Among the many applications of this research will be the ability to enable a surgeon in New York to safely operate on a soldier in Iraq. The fundamental research contribution is the development of specially designed magnetorheological (MR) fluid devices and the accompanying software to control them. An MR fluid, consisting of micro and nano sized iron particles suspended in oil, greatly changes its ability to flow with the application of a low level applied magnetic field. These MR fluid devices will have the ability to mimic from afar the resistance encountered by the robot, thereby enabling the surgeon to realistically "feel" what the remote robot encounters. The advances of this research can also be applied to industrial machines, biomedicine, aerospace systems, robotics, video and computer games, and virtual reality devices. As a part of the effort to promote learning and education in broad levels, the investigators will engage both college undergraduates and middle school students in the research. In reference to outreach, the investigators will spearhead a two-week engineering mini camp for "at risk" 8th grade girls.
