A survey of perceptual feedback issues in dexterous telemanipulation. I. Finger force feedback

Some specific requirements on the design of dexterous master devices meant for teleoperating multifingered robotic hands, within the context of finger force feedback, are identified and analyzed. The requirements are of two categories, i.e., constructional and functional. The constructional issues consist of the isomorphism, portability, motion range capability, and accommodation for human hand size variability. The functional issues consist of bandwidth compatibility with the human hand (which itself has asymmetric input/output characteristics), proprioceptive (force limit) compatibility, and consideration of the psychometric stability of the human hand in sensing force magnitudes and variations. Also of importance is the sensitivity of the master device that must be more than that of the human hand. In this regard, 14 existing designs of hand masters are evaluated to see how well they satisfy the stated constructional and functional requirements