Network unfoldment and application to wave variables using measured forces

There has been long discussion on whether or not environment sensed forces can be used in wave variables based teleoperation schemes. Indeed, the use of sensed forces together with wave variables is one of the main issues of the wave variables framework. In this paper we show that using sensed forces to encode wave variables is energy inconsistent and can lead to non-passive systems. In particular, the network representation of such systems reveals the actual energy flows due to the delayed communication channel and shows which ports in the system must be taken to encode power variables into wave variables. The approach is validated with experimental results.