Re-configurable Control Scheme for Guiding Telerobotics

In telerobotics two control modes are usually implemented for guiding: position control and rate control. Numerous works have been carried out comparing them. This chapter introduces a new re-configurable system for guiding robots. It is based on the fact that guiding performance depends directly on the task requirement. The system presented is able to change its control scheme during task execution in order to accommodate itself to the task requirement at all times. An architecture for the re-configurable system is proposed. It has been experimentally implemented and tested. Its performance is compared to conventional force-position and force-rate bilateral control schemes. Findings show that the re-configurable system obtains the best results in all analysed variables.