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Human-Machine Collaborative Systems
Figure 1: The JHU Eye Robot, in which the surgeon and robot cooperate to perform retinal surgery, is a Human-Machine Collaborative System.
Figure 2: The robot guides the human to perform certain motions or stay away from delicate tissues, using reconstructions of the retinal surface.
Description
During micro-scale manipulation tasks such as microsurgery, the human operator performs at the limits of his or her motor control. The high accuracy required while performing such procedures makes the task both mentally and physically demanding. As part of the Engineering Research Center for Computer-Integrated Surgical Systems and Technology (ERC-CISST), Professor Allison Okamura in Mechanical Engineering and researchers in Computer Science (Gregory Hager and Russell Taylor) are designing systems that amplify or assist human physical capabilities when performing tasks that require learned skills, judgment, and dexterity. We refer to these systems as Human-Machine Collaborative Systems (HMCS), as they generally seek to combine human judgment and experience with physical and sensory augmentation using advanced display and robotic devices to improve the overall performance (Figure 1).
Human-machine systems offer the operator a direct interaction with the environment through a single robot (Cooperative manipulation) or remotely through multiple robots (Telemanipulation). In addition, the robots can guide the user using "Virtual Fixtures", which are control methods designed to encourage the user to move in certain directions and prevent tool entry into undesired regions. The target applications of HMCS include micro-surgical procedures such as retinal and sinus surgery (Figure 2) and industrial micro-assembly.
Publications
J. J. Abbott and A. M. Okamura, "Stable Forbidden-Region Virtual Fixtures for Bilateral Telemanipulation," ASME Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement, and Control, Vol. 128, pp. 53-64, 2006.
D. Kragic, P. Marayong, M. Li, A. M. Okamura, and G. D. Hager, "Human Machine Collaborative Systems for Microsurgical Applications,'' International Journal of Robotics Research, Vol. 24, No. 9, pp. 731-742, 2005.
P. Marayong and A. M. Okamura, "Speed-Accuracy Characteristics of Human-Machine Cooperative Manipulation Using Virtual Fixtures with Variable Admittance," Human Factors, Vol. 46, No. 3, pp. 518-532, 2004.
A. Bettini, P. Marayong, S. Lang, A. M. Okamura, and G. D. Hager, "Vision Assisted Control for Manipulation Using Virtual Fixtures," IEEE Transactions on Robotics, Vol. 20, No. 6, pp. 953-966, 2004.